Obese Or Bloated African Dwarf Frog?

0ppm ammonia
0ppm nitrite
0-10ppm nitrate (cycled but I've been doing water changes every day because of this)
78f
10 gallons, planted, sponge filter
I came back from a vacation and I left my frogs in the care of my sister. She fed them, however one of the frogs would feed much more aggressively than the other, so instead of ensuring they got equal amounts she just let the fat one take all the food. The bloated one (goober, both females) doesn't look like most pictures of dropsy I see on the internet, but I'm sure that it's mostly just because they're all extreme cases. She's been like this since I got back on Monday and got one single bloodworm on Tuesday, the only reduction in size I saw was after a BIG burp. It hides in its cave all day and won't come out, even for the feeding tongs. I read one thread about pricking it with a syringe to drain the fluid, is that too drastic at this stage?

 

If normal behavior and energetic, the frog may be pregananant or pregart (I know frogs don't give birth. I'm saying it could be egg laden.) or just fat. If not, bloated.

 

Hides in the cave all day and hasn't seen a male in months. Other than that it comes out when the lights are off to hang out at the surface (not in a death kind of way, they breathe at the surface). When I removed the cave to get pictures it seemed "normal", if you can say these creatures have normal behaviour. They always just kinda chill around unless its chasing its reflection. Does anyone think it could be bloat from constipation? The arms and legs are regular size and I see the occasional burp bubble coming from the cave.

 

Have you tried fasting the frogs for a few days?

 

The fat/bloated/whatever one got one bloodworm on Tuesday before I noticed something was up, has been fasting since. The other one gets 3-6 a day, with one or two breaks a week.

 

Are the blood worms frozen, or freeze dried?

 

Frozen and thawed with aquarium water, then I feed them the worms with tongs.

 

ADF are more active at night. So for him to be hiding in the day is normal. He's probably super bloated from overindulging. Just keep up the fast. Hope your little guy gets better!

P.S. they also enjoy a change up in meals every once in a while i.e. brine shrimp

 

Thank you, will update if anything changes for any other frustrated frog owners! It's so hard searching for information on these guys.

 

yikes, she's definitely fat, lol. I wouldn't feed her for a few days and see if she loses some of that weight. hiding and floating are common side effects of discomfort and bloat.

I overfed my female adf frozen bloodworms and she got dropsy from it after 4 months. my male frog knew when to stop eating, but she wouldn't stop, even though I fed them worms individually, one after the other. my mistake lol. she slowly got fatter and fatter, until one night she blew up like a balloon overnight. she only got worse, and I ordered some needle syringes because I was going to try draining her, but I had to euthanize her before they arrived because she looked like a goner once you see a chin bubble (like a double chin), then it's trouble. I stopped feeding my adfs bloodworms after some research while trying to treat her. not saying bloodworms will always cause bloat (that's all I fed my male frog for 5+ years), but I personally don't feel it's safe to feed them that anymore.

if you want to see if she's constipated, quarantine her in a bare-bottom container and see if she poops. it could very well be a blockage since her digestive system couldn't keep up with everything she was eating.

I really hope she gets better!!!!

 

Update: same size as yesterday.

I woke up at 3am with classic aquarium keeper anxiety and pricked it with a sterile syringe, I used my flashlight to determine where the internal organs were before I pricked it (very useful advice I found on a thread last night). There was no change in bloating or size. I found her hiding this morning but when I got back from work she was just chillin (bless this fat little goober). I try not to be attached to my fish but when you look at this thicc frog with those dumb eyes, you can't help but feel bad.

Edit: Midna, what foods do you recommend? At my LFS they don't have live blackworms like I had hoped before getting them, but they have a big selection of frozen foods.

 

Have you tried un shelled peas?

 

then she's probably full of food and poop if the needle didn't do anything do try the unshelled blanched peas if you must, they act as a laxative. daphnia and brine shrimp are also good laxatives.

I changed their diet to piscine energetics frozen mysis shrimp and hikarI spirulina brine shrimp (they didn't have regular brine shrimp. brine shrimp isn't super healthy though, apparently, so baby brine shrimp is best [hikarI brand carries this, babies are supposed to be at their peak nutritional value]). I haven't been able to find any live foods either; I think you have to buy cultures online. frozen daphnia will also work. frozen tubifex worms or glass and white worms. microworms, vinegar eels, chopped up cleaned earth worms, maybe fish fry.

 

Yes she spits peas out. It still tried to steal food during feeding today though, but I'm still doubtful of its survival.

I'm thinking the cause was ammonia/nitrate since the water change was slightly late from me being away.

I have dried daphnia, how could I go about trying this? She's currently hanging out by the floating plants should I sprinkle a couple there?

 

she was overfed tho. I mean, it could be from any leftover food that was rotting, but you said it yourself that it was probably from overfeeding. if your other frog is okay, then it's probably not the spike that caused the bloat. y'know?

she tried to swallow it but just spit it out, right? my frogs did the same when they were bloated or ill. they couldn't keep their food down I hope she still has a chance of recovering though. keep trying!! let us know if she gets paler, gets any redness on her legs, head and/or underside, or floats more. also, if she tries to swim down but ends up automatically floating back up. she will be able to go over a week without eating, especially if she's bloated.

dried food can usually cause bloat, but you can try soaking the daphnia in tank water first and then feeding it to her once it's rehydrated.

 

I'm not 100% sure what caused it. I know she fed them and she did at least 1 water change, but was very vague about how much food they got and just said that goober took more than the other by stealing it. I did the water change when I came back which was 2 days late.

 

HI ChadTheBetta! My ADF, affectionately named Wit, is a female and she’s been bloated (or fat, or gourdo) for the past year and a half. I woke up one morning and found her to be bloated! She had been the same size as her buddy, Nit (my male ADF), up until then.

I have no idea what caused it other than the thought that maybe going from a 6” cube (yep! My neighbor kept her and Nit in a cube since she got them) for 3 years, to a 3 gallon tank, had some strange affect on her. I think they’re about 6-7 years old, now and in a 30 gal.

I read everything about bloat and dropsy that I could find. In the meantime she’s continued to thrive and seems to be doing just fine. I would definitely NOT stick her with a syringe but let her be.

As you can see by my avatar, and the pics, she loves to hang out with her snail buddies, is quite active and does tend to hide during the day. I do catch her floating around at times, too. I’ve included a pic of my male, too.

I have a 30 gallon tank and she has no problem getting to the top for air. I do have some Java moss in the tank which she likes to hang out on close to the waterline.

 

HI ChadTheBetta! My ADF, affectionately named Wit, is a female and she’s been bloated (or fat, or gourdo) for the past year and a half. I woke up one morning and found her to be bloated! She had been the same size as her buddy, Nit (my male ADF), up until then.

I have no idea what caused it other than the thought that maybe going from a 6” cube (yep! My neighbor kept her and Nit in a cube since she got them) for 3 years, to a 3 gallon tank, had some strange affect on her. I think they’re about 6-7 years old, now and in a 30 gal.

I read everything about bloat and dropsy that I could find. In the meantime she’s continued to thrive and seems to be doing just fine. I would definitely NOT stick her with a syringe but let her be.

As you can see by my avatar, and the pics, she loves to hang out with her snail buddies, is quite active and does tend to hide during the day. I do catch her floating around at times, too. I’ve included a pic of my male, too.

I have a 30 gallon tank and she has no problem getting to the top for air. I do have some Java moss in the tank which she likes to hang out on close to the waterline.
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I'm not adding anything of value to this thread, I just wanted to say that I laughed out loud at these pictures of your lovely , pleasantly plump, frog! Too adorable!

 

HI ChadTheBetta! My ADF, affectionately named Wit, is a female and she’s been bloated (or fat, or gourdo) for the past year and a half. I woke up one morning and found her to be bloated! She had been the same size as her buddy, Nit (my male ADF), up until then.

I have no idea what caused it other than the thought that maybe going from a 6” cube (yep! My neighbor kept her and Nit in a cube since she got them) for 3 years, to a 3 gallon tank, had some strange affect on her. I think they’re about 6-7 years old, now and in a 30 gal.

I read everything about bloat and dropsy that I could find. In the meantime she’s continued to thrive and seems to be doing just fine. I would definitely NOT stick her with a syringe but let her be.

As you can see by my avatar, and the pics, she loves to hang out with her snail buddies, is quite active and does tend to hide during the day. I do catch her floating around at times, too. I’ve included a pic of my male, too.

I have a 30 gallon tank and she has no problem getting to the top for air. I do have some Java moss in the tank which she likes to hang out on close to the waterline.
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Good lord!! that frog is amazing! Can't unsee those imagines.

 

Hey just an update everyone it looks like goober is in the phase where she has trouble shedding. I don't suspect she will make it through because this is another very bad sign. Thanks for your help I will update again if she passes.

 

oh man i'm so sorry. I really hope she pulls through!!!

 

Is there a chance she could have eaten a rock and its stuck and she can't pass it maybe .... Just asking she don't look like she feels very well . poor baby

 

It's the next day and she died. I have medium sized gravel and aquarium plants so I guess it could be possible she swallowed something. In the times I held her she felt full of fluid but lancing did nothing.

RIP goober

 

Hey just an update everyone it looks like goober is in the phase where she has trouble shedding. I don't suspect she will make it through because this is another very bad sign. Thanks for your help I will update again if she passes.

See next post...

It's the next day and she died. I have medium sized gravel and aquarium plants so I guess it could be possible she swallowed something. In the times I held her she felt full of fluid but lancing did nothing.

RIP goober

So you ended up lancing her? How? With what?! I’m so sorry Goober didn’t make it. It’s never easy when they pass. Sorry for your loss, Chad.

 

I used a sterile needle and a flashlight a few days before but it did nothing. The flashlight lets you see the internal organs.