Why do frogs float?

[vcorey04]

my froggle is obviously not feeling well...

just did a water change. all fish fine..

dropped in some blood worms...

when they float i know it's not good.... but why do they float?

when i touch him he seems to try to swim down under, but physically cannot?

why is that?

 

[vcorey04]

anyone?

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I honestly don't know but maybe they have one of those air bladder things that make them float, just in case they are not getting air or something.

Lol wild guess to be honest.

 

[Jnam]

No air bladders they use thier lungs for bouyancy. I would say he could be ill, when was the last time he molted or shed his skin? Im assuming you are talking about the small aquatic frogs not the african clawed frogs. My frogs float all the time sometimes they just look dead but then a quick little poke and off they go. Is he actively eating the blood worms or not eating at all?

 

[vcorey04]

when i do poke him, he doesn't do anything... then i pick him up and cradle him in my hand... he seems to be weak..

no, hasn't eaten.. the blood worms sink to the bottom...

like i said, he TRIES to make it down, but gets about halfway and floats back up...

i can't recall the last time he shed...

african dwarf frog.. does have little claws... but this is a freshwater aquaria frog i bought at the LFS for $3.99?? something like that..

he's been floating a full 24 hours now...

will update...

 

[mike47517]

maybe he feels threatened and is acting like a dead leaf floating down the river. Thats what they do in the wild anyway.

 

[vcorey04]

um....

creative. but i doubt it.

i thought it was more physiological. some sort of an air pocket in one of his cavities.

bladder, stomach, i'm out of ideas.

most inneresting symptom is that he does try to go deep, and seems to struggle..

 

[vcorey04]

well... it's about 5 hours since my last post..

went downstairs to go to bed.. and he was floating upsidown. :-(

when i went to flush him, i noticed he was still alive.

so then, i went and got some frozen blood worms and tried to hand feed him..

nothing. i can't flush him until i'm sure he's totally dead. so.

floating on for the night. i'm expecting a deader than dead frog tomorrow morning.

:..-( very sad.

 

[Jnam]

Im sorry to hear that. It does sound like its a aquatic frog. how long did you have him?

 

[Zagz]

I'm sorry to hear of your loss. When ADF's float they are usually suffering from bloat. In the future you can QT him and add some epsom salt to the water to aid in the bloat. Make sure you keep them in a tank that is less than 18" tall as they need to be able to get to the top to get air. I'm sorry I didn't see this thread before.

 

[vcorey04]

he's still alive!! bloat huh? epsom salt huh?

any other type of salt that wuld work? i have sea salt, ionized salt, bath salt..

he's still alive. but i don't have a QT tank.. i DO have bowls... how long does he have to be quarantineD?


Can i have him in a glass beta bowl and just continue to do water changes? what about heating? i only have one heater..

EPSOM SALT EPSOM SALT YAAYY

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Well it's good to hear that he is still alive

 

[Zagz]

What else is in the tank with him? It would not be good to put him in a betta bowl. He needs the heater.

 

[vcorey04]

well, there is another frog
2 galaxy rasboras
2 clown loaches
1 long finned rosy barb
1 platy
1 black phantom
shrimp
and lots of plants.

he's in the big tank.. i'd like to QT, but i can't $$... if there was another way... how long does QT take?

he's still alive.... just floating...

he's been floating for 3 days now, and i can't flush him cause he's NOT dead.

i'm watching him die....

 

[vcorey04]

sionara

 

[Zagz]

Flushing him is NOT humane! He may live in the sewer suffering. If you want to euthanize, there are many methods. You can safely add the epsom salts with another fish in the tank. It will not harm the other fish. It will also not harm the plants. Aquarium salt will but not epsom salt.