African dwarf frog: Spinning, red streak near eye

[Bertram]

Hello, our little african dwarf frog Maple is sick.

She usually lives in a 10 gallon long tank which we keep filled up a little over half way (about 6 gallons of water) to make it easier for these little guys to swim up. She shares the tank with 3 other ADFs, no other species.

I noticed her odd behavior yesterday. She was acting extremely skittish whenever the other frogs came close. When she would move away from them it was accompanied by a weird spin she would make while swimming away. When trying to feed her she would also just swim away from the food instead of eating it. I will include a link to a video below to demonstrate this behavior.

Upon inspection she has a red streak near her left eye. I couldn't tell whether it was an external injury or something internal, but since we keep the tank clear of anything that could be sharp I can't imagine what could have caused it. The frogs themselves can get a little nippy over feeding time but I haven't seen any of them ever actually injure another.

I have moved her out to her own tank for now. I did a water test before the move and things seem okay. pH right at 7, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, nitrate levels is somewhere between 10 or 20 ppm (I'm awful at reading them.) It had been a week since their last water change and they were due for one, which I've since done. We have a small water heater for them, the temperature is kept between 76 - 80 degrees Fahrenheit and we have a gentle filter.

Some more details for anyone kind enough to help and interested. We got Maple along with two other frogs back in February. We kept them in quarantine for 60 days before joining our other frogs, Darby, who we've had for over 3 years now, and Glenn-Peter who's been around since the end of December. A few days before quarantine was up, the male frog in the group of three became sick with what seemed to be bloating issues and later redness in the limbs, underside and head. It struck quickly and he passed within 24 hours. The water parameters at that time all were normal as well, and the other frogs never exhibited any signs of illness. We kept them separate for another week before joining them together and until now all has been fine.
Furthermore, we got another frog along with Glenn-Peter who also passed away about a month into quarantine. It was hard to tell what happened with her because they are leucistic dwarf frogs and I couldn't notice any redness, but there did appear to be some bump on the underside of her jaw.

Image of the redness by her eye.

Video of the spinning she's been doing

This is a link to the filter we use for the ADFs, it's been gentle enough for them. I've even seen them occasionally resting on top of it and swimming off without any trouble.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HSCB9GC/?tag=ff0d01-20

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

The frog that bloated up and got red skin while in quarantine probably had a bacterial infection.
As for the one in the video turning, I have no idea but it could be a protozoan or bacterial infection in the brain.

What are you feeding them?

Try doing a 75% water change every day for a couple of weeks. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

A froggy forum might be able to offer more help. Perhaps join one and ask there as well.

 

[Bertram]

Thank you Colin!

Bacterial infection was my suspicion with the other frog as well. I have some maracyn 2 left over from when I attempted treatment with him. I believe he was too far gone at the time I started. With this one I believe I caught it a bit earlier, but the fact that it seems to be manifesting from the head (still can't see any redness on the limbs or elsewhere) and effecting motor skills doesn't leave me too hopeful.
Strangely this one also isn't really floating around listlessly at the top the way I've seen the other sick frogs do. I'll perform the water changes and keep my fingers crossed.

I have been feeding them frozen brine shrimp and pellets. Used to give them frozen bloodworms as well but I developed an allergy to them.

Thanks, I'm hoping someone somewhere may have some info on this. I also signed up for a couple of other forums, but had to wait for approval before posting. Are there any in particular you'd recommend?

 

[Colin_T]

Lots of people develop allergies to frozen bloodworms. Some brands are worse than others but you should always wash hands with soapy water after handling any raw fish foods, and avoid touching your face if you have frozen fish food on your fingers.

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You need to feed the frogs more variety of food. The more different types of food they get, the less chance of nutritional deficiencies developing. Frogs will eat just about anything ranging from small fish, shrimp, worms and insects.

I don't think nutritional deficiency is the problem here, but they need more than brineshrimp and pellets.

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I don't know of any frog forums. I would just google them and join a number, then post the question on all of them and see what responses you get.

You could try contacting a zoo and asking the herpetologists there. Museums usually have scientists that collect frogs and study them too.

 

[Bertram]

I'll take a look at the local store. I think they have a fridge in the back so hopefully we can find something else to add in to their diet.

Regarding the handling of the food, I even used disposable gloves but just having the bloodworms nearby seemed to trigger a reaction within a few minutes. I kinda learned the hard way that reactions could worsen over the time with repeat exposure!

I'll have to do some more research, interesting suggestion about a zoo, I hadn't thought of that. Last time we had difficulty finding any veterinarians nearby that would take a look at these little frogs. There was one animal clinic nearby that checked out a variety of animals, but even the exotics vet there was more experienced in aviary rather than amphibians.

Keepin' fingers crossed and the water clean over here. She's holding in there still. Thanks for all your suggestions, info, and attention on the subject Colin!

 

[Colin_T]

You might be able to get more info from the government. Most governments have an animal health lab that deals with animal diseases including fish, birds and other livestock. They are usually part of the Department of Agriculture. Try contacting them and see if they have any herpetologists on staff who can help.

 

[Bertram]

I wanted to post a follow up.

On another forum someone pointed out that the spinning looks similar to when these frogs are trying to shed and remove old skin. This got me thinking, and I watched back in the video I recorded to see the exact way she would spin around. Whenever she starts it up she always goes to the left, the same side her injury is on.

Now I have no idea why frogs would exhibit this behavior, as these ones don't have teeth or even a tongue, but it made me think of the way an animal would try to lick its wounds when injured. So is she just aware that there is pain on her left side and trying to reach it somehow... but it being right on her face she's never able to reach it and keeps spinning? I don't really know for sure, don't even know if these frogs would have some similar behavior.

But this could explain the bizarre spinning thing which I can't find any info on elsewhere, and wanted to keep this thread updated on that regard. So far she's still hanging in there, but as she still refuses to eat I feel like her activity level has started to drop. Hoping she recovers enough to get her appetite back before much longer. Still no signs that there is an infection that has spread anywhere else for now.

I might try to see if I can find someone nearby who will examine these frogs and confirm whether or not it is a physical wound. It was my first thought when I saw the injury but I couldn't fathom what could be the cause. Now I'm starting to suspect that it may have been the work of one of the other frogs. They can get into fights during feeding time, just today I noticed the biggest one latched onto another's leg and was particularly aggressive. Wouldn't let go until I reached in and lifted them both in my palm out of the water for a few seconds. Due to the nature of the bare bottom tank I have them in, these frogs seem to retain their claws. I have no idea how sharp they are, but it seems plausible that it could injure the skin.

I'll update again with the outcome or if there are any other significant developments. Thanks again for your responses and help, Colin!