Clarification for Missfit Dolly and missiekay

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: I wish I had seen your posts earlier and want to clarify something, since it could cause serious problems otherwise. : Seizures and hindleg extensions are a sign of toxicity, which could include calcium EXCESS or any other toxic exposure. These convulsions are a common symptom of what some folks like to call Red Leg Disease and it usually means that the kidneys are breaking down. Red Leg Disease, as you know, has nothing to do with red legs and is believed to be the result of activation of the aeromonus bacterium. More on that later. : <b>Calcium will do absolutely nothing to aid this condition and may in fact make it worse</b>. I'm afraid that at the stage you were describing, there was little hope for recovery and the frog will typically die within a few days. : On the other hand, generalized clumsiness (which is very different from rigid hindleg extension and paralysis) especially in a young frog, may be a sign of calcium deficiency. This is far rarer than any of the literature would have you believe. Too often calcium deficiency has been blamed for every frog malady when there seems precious little evidence to back up the diagnosis. So Misfit Dolly, my guess to you was based on a young frog with general clumsiness only. Once you have a full-blown seizure, I think you can rule out calcium deficiency. : The milky stuff oozing out of the frog is a natural defensive tactic against being eaten. The stuff is generally pretty irritating and distasteful and is meant to discourage predators since this is the primary source of trouble for a frog. And while this defense is not appropriate for all stress situations, it is what the frog will do any time he feels his life is in danger. In your case, missiekay, the frog's response was a measure of the distress he was in. Another sign that he was unlikely to recover and that low calcium was not the cause. Misfit, if you are also seeing this, then I completely withdraw the calcium recommendation. Your frog is in acute distress; not in nutritional deficit. : Red Leg Disease is a toxic condition and usually with rigid hind-leg extensions, paralysis and finally bloating. Don't look for redness in the legs; it is irrelevant and unreliable as a symptom. The prevailing theory is that under conditions of stress, the aeromonus bacterium which normally resides dormant and harmless in the frog's body, becomes active and begins to break the frog's system down. It may take a few days or several weeks. I have only heard a couple of accounts of a frog recovering once he reaches the convulsions and paralysis stage. The aforementioned stressors may be anything -- too hot, too cold, too much handling, dirty waterdish, mixed tank, plants with pesticide on them. Any of this can set of the disease, which I prefer to call Frog Crash Syndrome, since "Red Leg Disease" causes nothing but confusion. : - henry

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