Early riser emergency!

[Akuma223]

A friend of mine found a gray tree frog again at school. He was sitting on the pavement where there has been salt all winter. I think he must have woken up when the weather got real warm all of a sudden, and If I were to release him he might not get back underground in time even if he wasn't injured.

He also seems to have a very broken back leg. It doesn't fold right against his body and when I examined it closely it looked and felt broken. He has an ill color to him, kind of sickly yellowish-gray, and his skin has a rough kinda dry texture even when I mist him. His breathing is also a bit more rapid than my other gray tree frogs. He is in a small container with moss and dirt right now and I mist him often, he does seem to change position occasionally in his container. he seems to have feeling in his toes on the broken leg. He seems alert enough, he opens and closes his eyes.

What can I do to help him that doesn't include putting him out of his misery?
I need to save him. Should he have UV light, soaking, extra dark, warm, cool, what? I really need to save him. Would the leg need amputating? I don't know....

[TheFrogman]

I suggest taking to a veterinarian that takes care of Frogs as soon as you can

[Akuma223]

I'm not sure my dad would pay for that, he doesn't understand why even a little frog I've had for a few years is important let alone one I just got.

[smy_749]

Post a picture. Maybe someone with amphib experience can tell from pics if she will be able to recover. If not, put her down yourself and save her from a prolonged death.

[Hotchkiss]

Originally Posted by smy_749

Post a picture. Maybe someone with amphib experience can tell from pics if she will be able to recover. If not, put her down yourself and save her from a prolonged death.

I'm going to have to agree with this even though I'm not an amphib guy. Just seems like the best course of action

[Starbuck]

My advice would be to do what you can to keep it comfortable, feed it etc. If it eats or continues to improve then the leg will probably heal on its own. If it won't eat and starts to look worse, I agree with Amy that you should euthanize it.
Unless youre pretty lucky, you are going to be unlikely to find an amphibian vet near you.

[Akuma223]

Is it possible to put a splint on his broken leg?

[Starbuck]

i don't see why not. I would use a length of paper clip or a toothpick, but cover the ends with wax or file them carefully so there are no splintered edges that will irritate the frogs skin.

As a note: for a splint to be effective, you have to immobilize the joint both ABOVE and below the break, otherwise you can still get rotation of the break, and it will move around and not heal.
So for a break of the femur, it may not be possible, but for the tibia/fibula (below the knee) you could splint the leg. I will try to do some research on it tonight...
Though my opinion at this point is that splint will do more to make you feel better than the frog; though it is possible that it could help the break to set.

[Akuma223]

The break is right below his knee, and the hope is to have his leg heal.

[Akuma223]

A little update, Mr.frogs color is back to that of a normal gray tree frog, I didn't want to toy around with his leg least I hurt him more so I'm leaving it alone. He has perked up a lot and has even eaten and pooped for me! He is currently in a little container on paper towels with a bit of moss. I mist him every day, and just put another cricket in with him. The head was dipped in a tiny bit of calcium powder with d3, is this okay? Also precisely what kind of uv light is best for these kinds of frogs? I need to buy a new fixture for them.

[Brylee1233]

Thats really cool/lucky that you found him. I hope he gets better!

[Akuma223]

Me too, he ate again last night and i'm glad I can help him.