# Paralysis Frog



## Runswith (Jan 24, 2013)

I received a wood frog from my friend recently and we noticed unusual moments of what seems to be paralysis in his back legs. I'm unsure of what this could be, I looked for an answer online by looking at mutations found in wood frogs as well as their behavior and so far I have found nothing. At the moment Paralysis Frog is staying in quarantine in fear that what might be causing his problems is a parasite. None of my other frogs (including his body he came with) show any similar ailments.

Edit-
Along with paralysis in his back legs (which lasts up to around 30 mins) he has small muscle spasms in random spots on his body. 
Paralysis frog is wild caught and he and a few others were brought home by my friend. 
I have just been contacted today that one of the others had a terrible spasm, worse then mine, which caused him to scream as if in horrific pain. It is unknown rather or not the frog will make it but has been placed in quarantine just like paralysis frog. I will be notified of its condition in a few hours, along with more detail of its spasm. Unfortunately, if its condition does not improve, it will be put out of its misery so it no longer has to experience such pain.

Edit edit- 
Unfortunaly my friends frog died and the cause is still unknown. Paralysis frog is still alive and well other then the apparent spasms. Last time he ate, he ate well and he likes to sit in his little water dish in quarantine.

It would be very very appreciated if someone could shed some light on this issue  

-Rsw


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## Drayvan (Jul 7, 2010)

MBD will cause muscular spasms, so my best guess would be to say a calcium deficiency. From my own experiences, I have a tiny baby toadlet, who I accidentally forgot I had put into his feeding tub one time (I have insomnia, and one night I passed out for a very long time after not sleeping for quite a few days) and when I came to he was quite dehydrated and wasn't using his back legs. I put him under a 6% UV light and bathed him in water with a little calcium mixed in and after a few hours he was as good as new (and is still alive and kicking) so might be worth a shot with something like this.

Being wild caught, it's also possible there could be something parasitic, viral or fungal going on. Would be hard to say without doing tests, if your friend could get a post mortem done on the other one then that might give your one a higher chance of surviving :2thumb:

On top of that, wood frogs are the species who hibernate in a completely frozen state if I remember right, is there any way this cycle could have been interrupted? Could possibly have caused rupturing of cells if not allowed to thaw naturally.


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## RubyTiger (Dec 12, 2012)

I wouldn't be surprised if it was down to parasites if it is wild caught. Amphibians in the wild tend to carry a small amount of parasites which don't become apparent until the animal is stressed. Being wild caught obviously means they have been captured and transported which to no surprised can stress them out but also agree with Drayvan, best not to rule out other possibilities if there is a chance of correcting it


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## Runswith (Jan 24, 2013)

Thank you for replying.  Mr.frog was caught during the summer, not interrupting his time of hibernation. He has not yet hibernated, I am uncertain if it is necessary for wood frogs in captivity and I'm terrified of doing something wrong. I will most certainly try Drayvan's suggestion for MBD, sounds very similar to Paralysis frogs symptoms. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if he has a calcium deficiency since my oldest tree frog needed to be treated for it while ago. I just feed him and he ate very well with no trouble, I did notice some muscle twitching though. I have some calcium dust but haven't used it lately, can I mix it into the water? I don't know what other then me picking him up for examination once in awhile, could stress him out to the point of such spasms, his tank is in a very quite and undisturbed room and I check on them only once a day being sure to cause as little disruption as possible. I have had them for more then 2 months now. I will check with my friend if she still has the carcass, she might of buried him already.


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## Drayvan (Jul 7, 2010)

I don't think it's necessary to hibernate them in captivity, although it has been done successfully under laboratory conditions. 

Also forgot to ask, what is he being fed on? muscle spasms are also a sign of thiamine deficiency so if his diet contains fish for some reason that might be a factor :2thumb:

Mix a small pinch into his water (i did it until the water was ever so slightly cloudy) make sure that the powder is still in date as if not it will be completely ineffective. You also want to make sure the frogs getting a source of vitamin D3 from the powder :2thumb:


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## Runswith (Jan 24, 2013)

Good, If I were to accidently kill him I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.
He is feed I diet of store brought crickets, ranging large to small. No fishies in his stomach. Will do! I have to change his water right now, so I will mix some in then  And I will check the date, but I don't think it would be expired since I bought it recently.


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## Drayvan (Jul 7, 2010)

Awesome  hopefully he'll start making an improvement soon. If it is MBD id make sure that he has clean water at all times...might be worth providing more than one access to water for this to make it easier, the disease gives their kidneys a bit of a knock, even during recovery so having clean water will help reduce the burden on them by preventing additional toxins entering the frogs body. :2thumb: 

Will go have a root through my medical book and see what I can come up with for you in the morning


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## Runswith (Jan 24, 2013)

Drayvan-
The calcium dust did wonderfully! I checked on him today and he was actually jumping away from my hand instead of hunkering down into his substrate. I will be stopping at the store soon to pick up some bulbs for the frogs and my turtles (whom I by expensive water proof bulbs that keep dying on me..) Thank you so much for your advice om Paralysis frog! Further info on his new condition will come soon once I get a better chance to fully evaluate him.


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## Drayvan (Jul 7, 2010)

Very glad to hear it :2thumb: hopefully he keeps on improving, looking forward to hearing how the little chap gets on : victory:


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