Snail Tried To Dismember My Frog!

[Jenste]

I came home from work, and as usual I walked into my bedroom to look at my ACF tank.

I notice my young albino male on his back...he then jerks and flails around....His front arm is stuck inside an apple snail!! He must have swam by and scared it, and while it was shutting it's trap door his arm got stuck!

My tank is 20" of water... I started panicking that my frog was going to drown.

I grabbed my net and scooped them out into a kritter keeper I keep next to the tank "just in case". ran them to the kitchen, put half an inch of water in to keep him wet...and froze. how the h@ll was I supposed to get his arm out? he kept flopping around twisting his arm as he dragged the snail.

I called my fiance, he was 45 minutes away on his commute home.
I called my mother and she was over with in 10 minutes after hearing my panic.

we tried to "crowbar" the trap door open with a fork but it was way to big....desperate we grabbed pliers and kept yanking off shell pieces until we could untwist the frogs arm and pull it free.
I held the frog in moist paper towel during the process and now he is sitting in the critter keeper in an inch of water.

his arm is awful red and purple and pinched in half in the middle.

What do I do? I have no idea how long he was trapped...is he going to lose his arm? is he at risk of it rotting off his body from being clamped?



in the snail's evil clutches: (picture taken in case we couldnt free his arm and needed to come on to the forums.)

after. can't get a descent picture of the exact coloring. it's the frog's left forearm

 

[rdp50734]

From the last pic I would say he'll be ok, but I'm no expert. Never heard of this happening before I suppose its just a freak accident.

 

[stevereade]

Blimey!!! One of my Red Clawed Crabs got hold of one of my frogs once but me being naive at the time didn't know they couldn't be kept together and he didn't survive, hope he does ok.

 

[Carlovel1]

Aww, poor frogy
Hope he recovers

 

[Jenste]

it was definitely frightening. I keep going to check on him in his temporary tank (the kritter keeper)

he did eat one small earth worm for me, so that is a good sign. I am going to keep the water level low until tomorrow to make sure I don't stress him out too much.

I am somewhat glad I took that first picture - - I have to keep looking back at it to believe it! his arm is looking much better....hopefully he heals swiftly!

 

[Jenste]

his arm has nearly normal coloring now! I have given the fiance the job of watching him today as I go in for my 14 hour shift at work!

 

[Harlequins]

Awe poor frog,i hope it recovers well...

 

[the biffster]

I came home from work, and as usual I walked into my bedroom to look at my ACF tank.

I notice my young albino male on his back...he then jerks and flails around....His front arm is stuck inside an apple snail!! He must have swam by and scared it, and while it was shutting it's trap door his arm got stuck!

My tank is 20" of water... I started panicking that my frog was going to drown.

I grabbed my net and scooped them out into a kritter keeper I keep next to the tank "just in case". ran them to the kitchen, put half an inch of water in to keep him wet...and froze. how the h@ll was I supposed to get his arm out? he kept flopping around twisting his arm as he dragged the snail.

I called my fiance, he was 45 minutes away on his commute home.
I called my mother and she was over with in 10 minutes after hearing my panic.

we tried to "crowbar" the trap door open with a fork but it was way to big....desperate we grabbed pliers and kept yanking off shell pieces until we could untwist the frogs arm and pull it free.
I held the frog in moist paper towel during the process and now he is sitting in the critter keeper in an inch of water.

his arm is awful red and purple and pinched in half in the middle.

What do I do? I have no idea how long he was trapped...is he going to lose his arm? is he at risk of it rotting off his body from being clamped?



in the snail's evil clutches: (picture taken in case we couldnt free his arm and needed to come on to the forums.)

after. can't get a descent picture of the exact coloring. it's the frog's left forearm

i found this you might find it interesting
http/www.mrswashburn.com/ourfrogs.html

 

[WILDER]

Bless him.
Pinch his arm gently with tweezers to see if it moves.

 

[Jenste]

He is definitely moving his shoulder, but barely moving the rest of his arm....his fingers stay in a almost clamped position. he has started to shed that arm....but instead of eating the skin like he normally does, he is just letting it hang there. ?

he is eating his worms well and I have raised the water to two inches and he seems to be ok with that....I am still concerned about his arm poor thing

 

[WILDER]

Poor thing.
Does he drag his arm when he moves,. it dosn't sound good.
Keep a look out for red patching, red streaking, bleeding beneath the skin.

 

[Jenste]

LOUIE UPDATE

He is still favoring his arm... he moves his shoulder but barely moves the rest of his arm... he has a slight lump near his "elbow area"...compare it to his normal right arm in the second picture

here are some updated pictures

 

[chilli-spice]

glad to see he's still hanging in there x

 

[Assaye]

Poor little man! Not sure what to advise - I imagine he'll heal up with time. Hope he'll be ok!

 

[Jenste]

thanks!!! I can't help but checking on him a million times a day!