Failing to thrive-- suggestions?

[tomatogirl]

Hi All--

My tomato frog has been acting weird. In the last couple of weeks he has not eaten more than 5 crickets, maybe. I tried red wigglers and waxworms, but he doesn't seem to recognize these as food. He just watches as they crawl around him. A waxy even crawled under him for a while, but I removed it, afraid it could possibly hurt his skin (can they? I know crickets can).

I had to leave town in the middle of this, unfortunately, and placed him in the care of a friend who knows lizards better than amphibs but is far from a novice. When I got him back he was dehydrated and had wrinkles in his skin. A five-minute soak in water relieved most of this. I got him to eat a cricket that night, but eating it exhausted him-- he slimed himself (which he never does unless he's being handled) and sort of collapsed on the ground with his legs splayed behind him for 20 minutes or so. I honestly thought he might die.

Needless to say, he went to the vet the next morning, who told me to keep him warmer, around 80. I found some waste near him when I collected him for transport so the vet could analyze it. He said he had protozoans but wanted to see if he could fight it because sometimes the treatment can mess their stomachs up worse.

Each time he has fed he has reacted like this, though he has recovered faster.

Anyone have any ideas? I am dusting the crap out of his food with repcal and dusting them with vitamins every 10 days or so per vet's rec.

Sorry for the long post, and I would appreciate any suggestions you might have.

[Rainfrog]

I would Follow the the vet advice as close as possible. Make sure with the increase in heat the humidity stays where it should. Make sure you keep His water and soil as clean as possible without Stressing him. Spot check as often as possible for feces and clean the small areas to avoid the big clean and having to move him around. Also you might want to get some small wooden tongs (they sell them at Petco) and use these to feed him. it should not put him off like your hand would but will restrain his food so there is less work in the meal thus reserving strength to fight the buggers in his digestive tract. I hope this helps and I wish you luck. It realy sucks when a pet succombs to illness.