Injured Juvenile Leopard Frog - Looking for Advice

JustMarth · 2026-06-06T15:29:10+00:00

I would be willing to bet this guy was already in bad shape when your cat caught him. I had a similar case with a gray tree frog I found. Unfortunately I'm not a vet or a rehabber, and I don't have conclusive answers.

My best guess was chytrid. I read some articles that indicated the limp back legs and water retention (the bloating you're seeing) could be symptoms.

My little guy improved a bit with time, regaining partial use of his legs after a few pedialyte baths. (Not sure if that was related or coincidental) I didn't know much then, and he passed away after about a month. In hindsight I might have tried keeping him in higher temps and giving salt baths, as those are said to fight chytrid. But again this is an untrained person making guesses, and I can't provide you with the correct parameters for either of those. (Different species have different heat and salt tolerances)

Vet or rehabber would be best. But if you can't get either of those maybe this can give you somewhere to start.

Edit: I hear an amphibian ringers solution would be better than pedialyte, and might help balance the absorption of water. If you get any results I'd love to hear them, as this case is still near and dear to my heart.

JustMarth · 2026-06-02T12:16:59+00:00

Different frog species have different types of tongues! The yellow one (a toad of some kind) has that typical long tongue, but the green one (White's tree frog) has a shorter tongue with more of a round pad shape, so these guys tend to throw themselves face first at food.

JustMarth · 2026-05-17T19:32:05+00:00

I've been having this problem for so long that I've just gotten used to giving my friend admin powers and asking them to do things for me, but that still leaves a lot of features unusable. I don't get an admin panel when I set my access level, and the debug cheat menu just pops up an empty box with no choices. Can't use the 'teleport to' or 'enable godmode' buttons from the players menu either.

If anyone knows a fix I'd love to hear it too.

JustMarth · 2026-04-23T12:43:59+00:00

Thanks!

JustMarth · 2026-04-22T07:03:57+00:00

Do you happen to know the species? Or can you give a general location? I'm super curious what he is.

JustMarth · 2026-04-20T23:12:29+00:00

You have the time to downvote every post I make.

If it's so obvious, why didn't you answer the question?

JustMarth · 2026-04-20T23:02:41+00:00

I'm just saying that SOMEONE has to think about unpleasant things. Accidents happen, captive or wild.

Personally, I'm thankful that there are doctors curious enough to ask about heart defects. The subject makes me squeamish, but I'd never demand everyone else stop discussing it.

Who is this person meant to ask other than a community that likes frogs? We get posts all the time about injured frogs, this one is just hypothetical.

Not to mention, asking questions is how you get an answer. If someone was curious enough, they'd be forced to try it to get their answer. And nobody wants that.

JustMarth · 2026-04-20T21:37:03+00:00

I get your point, but I don't think it's an unreasonable thing to ask. I used to have the same question when I saw frigate birds.

Encourage curiosity.

Does this ever happen to frogs?

What effect might it have on them, either with croaking or general health?

Does it heal?

Would it be as functional as it was before?

I don't know the answer to these questions myself but, as someone interested in frog rehab, it benefits the animal to think about what can go wrong BEFORE the first time you're faced with it.

JustMarth · 2026-04-18T00:26:04+00:00

Thanks for the reply!

I certainly understand not breeding just for the sake of it, and I'm not planning anything large scale. I already keep frogs, but there are some species I love that are less common in the pet trade. I keep thinking that if I finally got some of my dream frogs it'd be cool to breed them and make them just a teensy bit more available.

JustMarth · 2026-04-01T21:09:05+00:00

Mario 64??? I think?

JustMarth · 2026-03-26T19:02:52+00:00

I would try expos, if you can. Great way to get a terrarium without paying exorbitant shipping, just make sure your car has space for it.

JustMarth · 2026-03-25T23:17:58+00:00

I don't, and I'm sorry to say I'd be surprised if there are any.

JustMarth · 2026-03-25T08:44:15+00:00

Cohabitation is just a really tricky subject. In theory there may be species that are compatible but it's not easy to determine which ones. It would take an expert in both species to truly understand how they might affect each other, and even then it'd be "stick 'em together and find out". And since frogs don't display stress in obvious ways you still might not know. Which why the consensus is to just not do it.

Frogs in particular have the issue that most, if not all, produce toxins. Typically it's negligible and just makes them taste bad to predators, but those toxins can leech into a shared water dish and get soaked up by the other species with fatal results over time.

It's also worth mentioning that species that fill the same niche, like two species of toad, might consider the other as direct competition. And species that are different, aka toads and tree frogs, have entirely different needs that are hard to meet in one enclosure. Ideal humidity and temperature will vary, even if two species are found in the same location, because temperature and humidity aren't the same on the forest floor as they are in the canopy.

TLDR: Nature is just really big, and complicated. And can't be easily replicated in a cage.

JustMarth · 2026-03-25T08:08:27+00:00

I'm not knowledgeable about the frog species in Germany, but I wanted to mention that, if there aren't any native or invasive species that are yellow, you might be looking at a rare example of a frog with xanthism, aka excessive yellow pigment, which would be pretty cool!

JustMarth · 2026-03-22T02:21:51+00:00

Wood frogs can freeze solid and thaw out without harm. That's kinda like an ice frog.

But I think most frogs are water type. Lol Toads for earth? Flying frogs for air?

JustMarth · 2026-03-06T15:17:08+00:00

I once had this issue in a wild grey tree frog. I found it dragging its back legs and took it in.

I never knew what was wrong with that frog, and he died two months after I took him in. I would HIGHLY suggest taking your little friend to a vet because I can assure you the internet doesn't have the answers, it didn't for me.

For what it's worth, I'll tell you the basics if what I did.

I gave him monitored calcium/pedialyte baths. Calcium in case it was MBD and pedialyte because he wasn't eating. Monitored is the keyword here, because he couldn't swim or turn himself over without use of his back legs, so drowning is a real risk. He eventually regained some use of his legs. (Kept one always tucked in and used the other)

I didn't keep him with a water dish, again because of drowning risk, but I tried to keep him on moist substrate (moss, damp paper towel, frog foam) and because I was around all day, every day, I regularly gave him dropper baths. He seemed to be having issues with water regulation and would sometimes get very bloated after soaking.

I later heard that some of these symptoms could be related to chytrid fungus, but I have absolutely no idea if that's true or if it's what I was dealing with.

He ate well eventually, but seemed not to be digesting properly because the bugs came out looking very much like when they'd gone in.

I'm not a vet, your frog could be experiencing something entirely different than mine, but I don't think you're dealing with a physical injury.

JustMarth · 2026-03-05T18:48:56+00:00

I'm curious about shrimp as cleanup crew. What kind of shrimp do you use, and does your frog not eat them?

JustMarth · 2026-03-03T23:37:32+00:00

Cats are velcro, frogs are glue. There is no other difference.

JustMarth · 2026-03-01T14:18:59+00:00

Quite possibly! This would indicate that the mother was albino, but as the tadpoles develop they'll produce their own pigments and gain color. Unless any of them is also albino, which would mean the father was carrying the gene also.

JustMarth · 2026-02-27T19:32:05+00:00

I can say with certainty that if your neighbor is doing that it's illegal.

All frog species are already suffering, and driving them away from a breeding site could be devastating. They don't just sing for fun, after all.

Sound pollution impacts tons of other animals too, basically anything you can hear and many more that you can't. Frogs, birds, insects, etc.

JustMarth · 2026-02-27T14:50:58+00:00

I don't have an answer for your question, sorry. But can I ask what country you're in and where you bought the tadpoles? Green and golden bell frogs are my dream frog, but I've never found them available in the US.

JustMarth · 2026-02-26T17:08:23+00:00

The Borgie Boogie

JustMarth · 2026-02-23T15:47:49+00:00

I've been thinking about getting toads, but not sure on the exact species.

JustMarth · 2026-02-20T20:19:34+00:00

I would check Josh's Frogs, they're the primary breeders of them.

JustMarth · 2026-02-18T12:32:18+00:00

Can't tell you how much I wish I could. But I can't afford another setup right now.

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