She certainly has a chance! Vitamin supplements and food. Also honey / antibiotic bath. If she survives the next few days and weeks she will likely fully recover.
Toads can really come back from some dire injuries. I've kept toads who have lost entire legs successfully! As others suggested consider a vet if possible (may not be any exotic vets near you). Otherwise look into anti parasitics at home. Probably wild caught as has been suggested.
hi, I did the honey bath a bit ago and she perked up! THEN SHE ATE FOOD! and yes, she is going to the vet as soon as I have my other toad they are shipping to me (the correct one I paid for) and both of them will get their parasite meds and she will likely get some better ointment or antibiotics from the vet.
I was fully planning on having to force feed her in a day or so, but I plopped a handful of superworms and when I checked just now, they were GONE!
this makes me feel much better about her outcome!!!
To add to this. Cane toads/Suriname marine toads are extremely hardy. Part of what makes them so hard to get rid of in areas where they are invasive. You put them in a tank with freshly changed paper towels, and apply neopsorin without pain relief 2 times a day, and change the paper towels frequently then your toad will be right as rain in now time. Keep a water dish big enough for them to soak and change that every 8 hours or so. Get repti safe and treat all water with that before putting it in the tank. As for the skinny, feed every day and try to get some de wormer or something for the(probable) parasites she has
I also confirm a bit warm honey bath would do wonder. They absorb thru their skin so its also much faster to heal from that. Also make sure to supplement calcium and vitamins. Toads are hardy. If he is this big he is already a strong genetic one.
I am giving them a chance to rectify the situation by sending me the toad I actually asked for (that they sent me photos of) and see what condition the new one is in. This toad ate 10+ meal worms! So she wants to fight for her healing!
Its not uncommon in the came toad world for them to come with rub marks on their noses and such, but I just wasn't expecting it to be THIS bad. She might be an odd duck, I will find out when the new one arrives within the week
I'd still leave a review with your experience. Some rubs are plenty expected, but this animal should Not have been shipped with such severe wounds (or shipped in a manner that would allow for it to harm itself This badly)
The seller shouldn't be allowed to just sweep this under the rug
HEY GUYS UPDATE: (see my other separate update comments as well, this is the first one so far)
SHE ATE FOOD ALREADY! I put about 12 superworms in a bowl for her and dusted them with multivitamin, and when I checked on her they were GONE!
I was NOT expecting her to eat anything after having been through the mail with such injuries and then harrassed for over an hour by me as I inspected her and soaked her, I was expecting her to be too stressed and mistrusting of me to eat for a few days. she apparently has a firey will to make it!
So far I have given her a bath in honey water, she perked up a bit and started jumping around, I dried her off and I got her on dry paper towels in her tub, and put holes in the lid for air flow. She just has 2 layers of paper towels and a water bowl big enough for her to sit in fully, and a food bowl for her food.
I will have to find out how to add new photos (I cant edit my post above???) when I bother her tomorrow, BUT
She must be feeling okay enough to eat, and your comments have given me a better opinion on whether or not she will make it! I'm still unsure of her one foot where the bone is showing, I hope her bones itself do not get infected,
SO I plan to do the following over the next few days/week(s):
tomorrow I will get good pics of her wounds when they will be dry. I'll post them here, somehow. I'll keep taking pics of her wounds every few days I can document progress, and then when it's all over, one way or the other, I'll make a post for future toad owners so if they have the same issue they can see what might be possible!!
then I will put some triple anti-biotic ointment on her wounds and use a tiny strip of that self-sticking ace wrap that you see used for other pets after surgery (and some human wounds, too, its not truly sticky to the touch, but it sticks to itself.) and wrap it around some cotton with the ointment on her feet, that way she can put some weight on it and not be in pain AND it will keep anything off of it while it heals.
I will alternate her having the bandages on and off so it can get some air and heal a bit in between ointment slathering,
then I plan to observe everything she does for the next few days while the seller of this toad gets me my refund AND ships me the original toad I purchased (I asked for pics of the specific toad, and received an entirely different and way skinnier toad, so they are going to send the original toad to me ASAP, I'm assuming so far that it will be healthier and this time will match the photos they sent, and that one will go into a separate quarantine tub as well.)
once I have both new toads, they will go to the vet ASAP and get any higher-end meds for wounds, and also parasite meds for both of them (and I might as well dose my other toad too, since someday they will all live together after this mess is figured out) and then stay in their separate quarantine tubs for the next month (probably longer for this injured toad, until she is all healed and has a good weight.)
I will change bandages and bathe this injured toad every other day, and will be feeding her every other day (about 7-10 superworms at a time on one day, 5 large discoid roaches on the other feeding, and back and forth) all the while dusting with my multivitamin AND calcium powder (the multi vitamin does NOT already have calcium, I checked)
I am starting to think that since she ate food on her first day here under such duress, she REALLY wants to survive, and who am I to deny her that chance!!! I will fight for her to recover and hopefully if I succeed I will go from 1 toad to 3 toads!
Hey, in the mean time you can prevent it from getting infected with NON numbing neospoin.
I wish you the best with your new friend, but if I may ask, where did you get her?
I got her from a local seller in my state via morph market, I will update with the exact name and their storefront link when they rectify the situation, in case they can either redeem themselves somewhat or make it worse \*shrugs\* but I will def not let them be unknown!
I will try the neosporin when I grab some after work today!
Best advice. Bring her to a vet.
You could also try a honey bath, a few drops of honey in the water. It's antibacterial and has healing properties, a 30 minute soak will be fine. Make sure to Google it and do some research before trying as I'll admit, I'm a dumb ass and I'm not sure if it would help much in this situation, just throwing it here as an option.
I'm so sorry this is happening, this is why people avoid cane toads from anywhere online. She is almost 90% likely to have been wild caught. She will need to see a vet either way. The foot looks the worst in comparison to the rest. She will also likely be needing a treatment for parasites, as nearly all wild caughts have parasites, which can explain her being so skinny.
I recently lost one of my rescue Cane toads to parasites and MBD, it was a bad situation all around and it just happened so quickly. In these situations don't sit back and wait, find an exotic vet near you and make an appointment as soon as possible. yes it may be expensive, but her life matters as much as any other.
I did the honey soak (and yes, its a thing and is good for weak toads lol) and she perked right up!!!
I am bringing her and the new toad when she comes (the correct one they sent me photos of, that is) and will take both to the vet to get parasite meds, and whatever meds they thing she needs to heal from her wounds. both new toads are going in their own bins,
and guess what, this injured toad ATE FOOD!! she has a strong will to make it!! i wont give up on her!!
Very glad to hear it, don't be afraid to offer her a variety of food over the next couple Weeks. Not too much, just enough to get her some vitamin supplements. The best brand I know of is Repashy calcium plus. I've used it for years dusting all my feeders with it. Don't overdo it, but it definitely can help the healing process. Good food options, Isopods, Roaches, Nightcrawlers, and hornworms, As well as the usual crickets. A variety of food is usually best, instead of all one thing. Better nutrition that way.
Post some updates of this gorgeous girl whenever she's seen by the vet, I'm wishing you and her the best of luck
I will see if I can get some night crawlers, crickets her at the local pet store always SUCK but I can at least rotate between those 3 things for now,
I also have some repashy 'grub pie' insectivore gel that I will be making as well, and offer it to both her and my toad I already have, though I'm not confident either will eat it since it's not moving but it never hurts to try!!!
To up the appeal, I bought a silicone tray that has bug shapes to mold the repashy in LOL maybe the shape will be enough and they will try it!!
Repashy molds don't really work with toads in my experience. You can try. But toads generally won't eat anything that isn't moving. You can try to cut them into small pellet sized pieces, and get a pair of plastic feeding tweezers and move it around but they are very unlikely to eat it.
But you can feed it or at least try to feed it to their feeders, like if you have a colony of isopods, give them that and gut load them. It would certainly be a possibility.
I bought two clear thing acrylic rods for just this reason, so I can push them around and make them look alive!
I also doubt they'll eat it, too, but its worth a shot.
I do already have repashy 'bug burger' which is made for feeder insects and will be making some to feed them, too. I just got the superworms in, and then I'm getting a few hundred more discoid roaches in the next day or so, so I'll be making a big batch for feed the feeders and therefore stuff some more good nutrition into this poor toadie!!!
I also plan to offer the toad repashy food not only as a bug shape itself, but also amongst the feeder bugs too, so maybe the toad will accidentally eat one and therefore rub enough brain cells together to understand that its food lol
I already finally got my first toad to see the food bowl and connect it with food, so she sits at her bowl now when shes hungry XD at least shes capable of learning, even though it took months for her to piece it together!
either way I'll be fattening this poor injured girl up as quickly as I can, without it being unhealthy weight gain. She's literally a skeleton right not, so I'll feed her half portions of food every other day just so she has something for her body to use for healing on a continuous level!!!
Her and the new toad coming to me (the actual one I was promised and paid for) will both be going to the vet and get parasite meds and any other meds to help her heal. she's already eaten food so far, I was NOT expecting that!!!
Cane toads are insanely resilient. They can survive with missing limbs, missing eyes and other serious injuries and deformities IN THE WILD, even here in Australia where they are most unwelcome.
I bought a cane toad a couple years ago who arrived in a very similar condition only the sores were all over her lips as well. She made a full recovery within a couple weeks ! highly recommend those honey baths they truly work some miracles!! I’m glad they already have a good appetite :)
Goodness, yeah she parked right up with a honey bath!
Besides honey baths, what else did you do to close up the sores, like the ones on this toads feet?
I did try out josh’s frogs amphibiaide solution and it seemed to work well if not just the same as the honey baths! I bought it to see if it would help her regain an appetite as she did not eat for a while and being so skinny it made me worried. Definitely helps a frog with very little appetite as i’ve ended up having to use it on more than one species so i recommend it either way!! For her feet i just made sure they stayed clean (which if you’re bathing them a couple times a day it won’t be hard to do so) and didn’t have her on loose substrate until they were healed. I put down a towel/blanket along the bottom of her tank she could still burrow and hide in it if she wanted to and it seemed to work really well! definitely would recommend it vs paper towel, i feel it alleviated the pressure having more buffer between her and the glass bottom of the tank.
Ok that sounds like a good plan, ill give her a towel and keep up with the honey baths! I wonder if I could get ahold of some manuka honey and see if that's even better for her than regular honey! Ill probably only put a drop or two in, though as I assume it would be 'stronger' than regular honey *shrugs*
i bought my manuka honey off of amazon! and yes it is pretty strong so definitely only a little bit! it can also act as a natural laxative for frogs too 😅
oh i did not know that, I'll store that laxative info away for if I need it!! i will be getting most of my supplies from amazon, a local stores are outrageous with process here!
This is antibiotic and antibacterial / antifungal soak. It can help heal wounds that won't heal. It's supposed to say API EM Erythromycin and API Fin & Body Cure. Instructions: [https://imgur.com/BVuT9Vu](https://imgur.com/BVuT9Vu)
Kordan's Methylene Blue is another antibacterial / antifungal soak. It can even kill some parasites from what I've read. It's 2 drops in 4 oz of water. Add several more if there's no affect. Soak daily for 1 hour. Your toad will be stained blue for a little while.
All of these products can be found in stores that sell pet supplies / fish products. You might be able to find them locally. Amazon sells all except for the Erythromycin. They used to, like a lot of places, but stopped during the pandemic. (It made me wonder if the news article about drug addicts buying had anything to do with it.) Anyway, Pet Smart sells it.
I will keep this in mind! I happen to have a box of API fin and body cure from my betta tank days, I'll go dig it out and look to see if it hasn't expired.
Methylene blue has saved many a fish when I was into the aquarium world, I'll have to go get some!
I'll double check with the vet to see if they are against trying these suggestions, but they sound good in theory to me!
so far I gave her a honey soak and she perked right up, then ATE FOOD! I was NOT expecting her to eat on the same day she got here and was harassed by me! she has a will to thrive, and I will try as hard as she is to make it happen!!!
The wounds dont look terrible at a glance, but if there is infection, and the infection has reached the bone, I really doubt it tbh.
Non pain relieving Neosporin without lidocaine is safe to use. You can try this instead of or in addition to the honey bath.
If you choose euthanasia, there is a lot of debate over humane ways to do it - but Neosporin with lidocaine will kill them and supposedly is the least painful of methods. Dont freeze it, as this kills it while its still conscious. Some people instead will transfer it in a small cup of substrate firstnto the fridge where it will burrow and go to sleep, and then the freezer, but many people say this is still not an acceptable method as it may still inflict pain.
She perked right up with a honey bath and ate FOOD!!! I was NOT expecting that on her first day here, with all the stress and me harassing her right out of the box, but I threw a handful of superworms in there and they are GONE!
So I will be putting as much effort into her survival as she is, she wants to be here!!!
I have euthanized a toad before and used the lidocaine method, that toad had a fatal intestinal blockage that could not be operated on, and she fell asleep peacefully in the grass outside in the sunshine. then once she stayed asleep for 30 minutes, I put her in the fridge and then in the freezer. I still cry when I think about her, but it was the least I could do for her.
Gettng a healthy wild caught toad is apparently too much to ask, it seems. :/
I'm new to owning toads and have thankfully never had to take care of one this sick so take this suggestion with a grain of salt. Would some type of hide help her? Since she's on paper towels and can't burrow maybe she'd be less stressed if she had a dark cozy place to go. Even if it's just a flipped opaque plastic container with a door cut out. (I'd wrap the door with duct tape to make sure there's no sharp edges so no more boo boos.) Because without any substrate to burrow down, I'd worry she'd still try to dig and damage her feet more. Like I said just a suggestion. Hope she feels better soon.
Looking through all these comments, I want you to know you are so appreciated for giving her a chance at life. You are doing everything in your power to save this lil thing and THAYS not something a lot of people do. Please keep us updated and I wish the best for you both ❤️
I was so confident that she had no chance of recovery at first, but after seeing all the comments and advice, I think she could possibly make it! I'm a little nervous about her bone showing on one of her feet, but regardless she will be going to the vet tomorrow for parasite meds and also to look at her feet.
I think honesty now that she will be in clean conditions with lil bandages on her feet and ointment, she SHOULD start closing up her wounds slowly.
I will be taking photos to post in a big 'here's what happened in case someone else needs this info' type of post, but also so I can see her progress.
also, she ate for a second time!! 10 more mealworms and possibly also ate a few of the freeze-dried bugs I put in there also, and dusted with calcium and vitamins!! so she DEFINITELY wants to be here!!!
Once I get her parasites gone, she should start gaining weight which will give her more energy to heal!
Her sister came in the mail yesterday as well (it was the original toad I ordered) and she is much better off, only slightly thin with a rubbed nose but no sores. They are in separate tubs, but she ate as well, on her first day with me!!
UPDATE #2: 'foot-toad' has some shrinking on the sores for her front feet, the tiniest one is almost gone, the one by her crotch is closing up fast, and her feet sores aren't getting any bigger, but also not noticeably shrinking yet, either. I assume its from lack of energy stores (shes skinny af from whatever torture she lived through before me, and parasites don't help) so it might start closing up here soon after she has a few meals and stays clean and dry.
she went to the vet with the other toad that I had originally paid for, and we all have started calling this one with the crazy wounds the 'foot toad' and the other one 'nose toad' (nobody in my house gets a legit name until they've healed and are out of quarantine- I don't want to get too attached yet!)
the vet and all the vet techs and office workers came in to look at them (it is NOT common for them to see 2 toads the size of a small puppy LOL) and the vet agreed that the sores don't look infected, have good blood flow, she still has feeling and can bend her toes and kick, and if she stays in a clean environment and gets rid of her parasites she undoubtedly has she SHOULD be ok!
so she prescribed silver sulfadiazine cream to put on it, and panacur for their probable parasites in both toads.
I came home that day and put the silver cream on and bandaged her up, and that's when I learned an important lesson: don't wrap the bandages too tight! I woke up the next morning and was HORRIFIED to see her feet had swelled up and one of her toes got a fluid filled blister from rubbing on the bandage! OMG I FELT SO BAD! I immediately took them off and wiped the sores clean, and gave her a manuka honey bath for 30 mins to try and get blood flow back and swelling down. it worked, thank god, and her feet are back to normal now, besides the sores. no more bandages from me for the rest of treatment, because I cant juggle her one-handed and try to put a bandage on the other. Not worth it.
I am on day 5 of panacur dosage and yesterday foot toad pooped! I was so happy, I was nervous that they might also be constipated, but the vet and I couldn't find anything when feeling her stomach. she and I both think they literally have nothing in them TO poop!
foot toad has had 3 meals so far, 10 superworms two times and 5 discoid roaches last time (didn't want to over feed in case she had internal problems, shes already dealing with enough and didn't want to cause her harm)
her poop was everywhere (fun, smelled glorious) and it was made of 50% little dead worm parasites (read: EW!) saved it in the freezer in a ziplock in case the vet wants to look at it if I need to come back. i bet she feels better already! dosage says 5 doses, wait 2 weeks, then 5 doses again.
gave her a bath to get the poop off of her feet sores, and last night I sat down with her and put some more triple antibiotic ointment on her wounds. shes getting good at sitting still and letting me do things, I think she realizes that her squirming wont do anything.
if you were wondering how likely it is for a cane toad to ooze their white poison from their glands,
only foot toad did a few tiny beads of poison on her big glands, after I had accidentally touched her bone on her sore with a clean q-tip (I felt SO BAD, it must hurt for her something fierce)
I've handled (and had to gently man-handle) all 3 of these toads and have never seen them ooze their poison until foot toad did that one time. she hasn't done it since. also, wash your hands immediately when that happens, or use gloves and take them off the proper way (laboratory style) so you don't ingest the toxins. No side effects for me, so I'm assuming I did good on that aspect.
(to be continued, look for the other update #2)
UPDATE#2 CONT'D:
and for the other toad:
'nose toad' hasn't pooped yet but if I'm going off the assumption that she didn't have a damn thing in her system TO poop, then she should be pooping soon on her 3rd meal. she DID soak overnight on her second day here, but hasn't done that since, that I could see. she's peeing just fine, and seems to understand now that it doesn't scare me off lol.
she is alert af and very squirmy, so shes in WAY better shape than foot toad. She has more meat on her bones, too, but is still underweight. the vet tech was surprised that she weighs around 700 grams, but foot toad also weighs that much, and shes a step up in size. my toad at home, Trevor, weighs 630 grams and shes noticeably smaller than these two!
The only injuries she has is her rubbed nose, which is slowly starting to heal. I put triple antibiotic cream on her nose every other day, and so far so good. she eats just like my original toad, Trevor, straight to the point, never misses a bug! she even let me watch her eat!
by the way,
showing panacur down a toads throat is, interesting. lol much easier than for a snake or lizard, as their jaw is bony and so simply structured, and since they basically have no neck, its been easier to keep the squirming to a minimum.
for those tho will need it, here's how I've been doing it, and no one has spit up their dose yet!
I take the tapered end of a PLASTIC comb (those metal ones are obviously going to hurt them) and very gently wiggle it in the space where the center of their mouth is, until I get them to open their mouth in protest. once they do, I quickly put a finger in the hinge of their jaw and carefully shove the panacur syringe into their throat (the big closed hole in the back, be careful not to touch their smaller windpipe behind their tongue!)
I make sure the tip of the syringe is past their throat closing muscle (cant think of the proper name right now) and then push the dose in and get out of their mouth as soon as I'm done.
the toads look astonished, but no gagging or spitting, no pawing at their faces in disgust, because I didn't touch their tongues with it, or just dump it in their mouth and hope they swallowed it (the wouldn't, this isn't my first rodeo with panacur, I had my original toad to dose, too, which is where I figured out this method that works way better!)
works great so far, and no injuries to their mouth or throats! be careful not to just jam the syringe in, I am deliberate but also careful and as gentle as I can be!
She certainly has a chance! Vitamin supplements and food. Also honey / antibiotic bath. If she survives the next few days and weeks she will likely fully recover.
Really? With her bones and muscles showing, too? I would've thought she's a dead man walking for that
Toads can really come back from some dire injuries. I've kept toads who have lost entire legs successfully! As others suggested consider a vet if possible (may not be any exotic vets near you). Otherwise look into anti parasitics at home. Probably wild caught as has been suggested.
hi, I did the honey bath a bit ago and she perked up! THEN SHE ATE FOOD! and yes, she is going to the vet as soon as I have my other toad they are shipping to me (the correct one I paid for) and both of them will get their parasite meds and she will likely get some better ointment or antibiotics from the vet. I was fully planning on having to force feed her in a day or so, but I plopped a handful of superworms and when I checked just now, they were GONE! this makes me feel much better about her outcome!!!
If she's eating that's great! Keep it up, and post an update later!
Nice❤️❤️❤️
To add to this. Cane toads/Suriname marine toads are extremely hardy. Part of what makes them so hard to get rid of in areas where they are invasive. You put them in a tank with freshly changed paper towels, and apply neopsorin without pain relief 2 times a day, and change the paper towels frequently then your toad will be right as rain in now time. Keep a water dish big enough for them to soak and change that every 8 hours or so. Get repti safe and treat all water with that before putting it in the tank. As for the skinny, feed every day and try to get some de wormer or something for the(probable) parasites she has
i am doing all these things in addition to going to the vet! SHE ATE FOOD! shes got a big will to make it!!
You are on the right track she will do well!
With good care and a good diet she has a good chance, the wounds will heal up as long as they don´t get infected.
Here is some info on how to treat abrasions, [https://imgur.com/a/WJ03x9r](https://imgur.com/a/WJ03x9r)
this was a good read, it looks like ill have to ask for the silver cream at the vet next week, and I'll try to bubble wrap!!
The bubble wrap sounds like a good idea if the toad can get some relief and not have to put so much weight on the sores
exactly! I will ask the vet but I doubt they will say no to the idea!
I also confirm a bit warm honey bath would do wonder. They absorb thru their skin so its also much faster to heal from that. Also make sure to supplement calcium and vitamins. Toads are hardy. If he is this big he is already a strong genetic one.
dont give up on her <3
Please don’t give up on her
Poor poor baby! Can you report who sold it to you?!
I am giving them a chance to rectify the situation by sending me the toad I actually asked for (that they sent me photos of) and see what condition the new one is in. This toad ate 10+ meal worms! So she wants to fight for her healing! Its not uncommon in the came toad world for them to come with rub marks on their noses and such, but I just wasn't expecting it to be THIS bad. She might be an odd duck, I will find out when the new one arrives within the week
I'd still leave a review with your experience. Some rubs are plenty expected, but this animal should Not have been shipped with such severe wounds (or shipped in a manner that would allow for it to harm itself This badly) The seller shouldn't be allowed to just sweep this under the rug
Yeah I definitely will be leaving a review for sure!!!
HEY GUYS UPDATE: (see my other separate update comments as well, this is the first one so far) SHE ATE FOOD ALREADY! I put about 12 superworms in a bowl for her and dusted them with multivitamin, and when I checked on her they were GONE! I was NOT expecting her to eat anything after having been through the mail with such injuries and then harrassed for over an hour by me as I inspected her and soaked her, I was expecting her to be too stressed and mistrusting of me to eat for a few days. she apparently has a firey will to make it! So far I have given her a bath in honey water, she perked up a bit and started jumping around, I dried her off and I got her on dry paper towels in her tub, and put holes in the lid for air flow. She just has 2 layers of paper towels and a water bowl big enough for her to sit in fully, and a food bowl for her food. I will have to find out how to add new photos (I cant edit my post above???) when I bother her tomorrow, BUT She must be feeling okay enough to eat, and your comments have given me a better opinion on whether or not she will make it! I'm still unsure of her one foot where the bone is showing, I hope her bones itself do not get infected, SO I plan to do the following over the next few days/week(s): tomorrow I will get good pics of her wounds when they will be dry. I'll post them here, somehow. I'll keep taking pics of her wounds every few days I can document progress, and then when it's all over, one way or the other, I'll make a post for future toad owners so if they have the same issue they can see what might be possible!! then I will put some triple anti-biotic ointment on her wounds and use a tiny strip of that self-sticking ace wrap that you see used for other pets after surgery (and some human wounds, too, its not truly sticky to the touch, but it sticks to itself.) and wrap it around some cotton with the ointment on her feet, that way she can put some weight on it and not be in pain AND it will keep anything off of it while it heals. I will alternate her having the bandages on and off so it can get some air and heal a bit in between ointment slathering, then I plan to observe everything she does for the next few days while the seller of this toad gets me my refund AND ships me the original toad I purchased (I asked for pics of the specific toad, and received an entirely different and way skinnier toad, so they are going to send the original toad to me ASAP, I'm assuming so far that it will be healthier and this time will match the photos they sent, and that one will go into a separate quarantine tub as well.) once I have both new toads, they will go to the vet ASAP and get any higher-end meds for wounds, and also parasite meds for both of them (and I might as well dose my other toad too, since someday they will all live together after this mess is figured out) and then stay in their separate quarantine tubs for the next month (probably longer for this injured toad, until she is all healed and has a good weight.) I will change bandages and bathe this injured toad every other day, and will be feeding her every other day (about 7-10 superworms at a time on one day, 5 large discoid roaches on the other feeding, and back and forth) all the while dusting with my multivitamin AND calcium powder (the multi vitamin does NOT already have calcium, I checked) I am starting to think that since she ate food on her first day here under such duress, she REALLY wants to survive, and who am I to deny her that chance!!! I will fight for her to recover and hopefully if I succeed I will go from 1 toad to 3 toads!
You’re the real toad angel
LOL thanks i guess!! She is showing me she wants to be here and can do it, so I will match her energy!!!
It sounds like this poor toad found the right person! 😍. Please keep us updated!
I will! She has a will to be here, so I'll give it my best for her to heal and thrive!
Hey, in the mean time you can prevent it from getting infected with NON numbing neospoin. I wish you the best with your new friend, but if I may ask, where did you get her?
I got her from a local seller in my state via morph market, I will update with the exact name and their storefront link when they rectify the situation, in case they can either redeem themselves somewhat or make it worse \*shrugs\* but I will def not let them be unknown! I will try the neosporin when I grab some after work today!
That really sucks, but you have definitely chosen the right path for her recovery! ❤️🩹
Best advice. Bring her to a vet. You could also try a honey bath, a few drops of honey in the water. It's antibacterial and has healing properties, a 30 minute soak will be fine. Make sure to Google it and do some research before trying as I'll admit, I'm a dumb ass and I'm not sure if it would help much in this situation, just throwing it here as an option. I'm so sorry this is happening, this is why people avoid cane toads from anywhere online. She is almost 90% likely to have been wild caught. She will need to see a vet either way. The foot looks the worst in comparison to the rest. She will also likely be needing a treatment for parasites, as nearly all wild caughts have parasites, which can explain her being so skinny. I recently lost one of my rescue Cane toads to parasites and MBD, it was a bad situation all around and it just happened so quickly. In these situations don't sit back and wait, find an exotic vet near you and make an appointment as soon as possible. yes it may be expensive, but her life matters as much as any other.
I did the honey soak (and yes, its a thing and is good for weak toads lol) and she perked right up!!! I am bringing her and the new toad when she comes (the correct one they sent me photos of, that is) and will take both to the vet to get parasite meds, and whatever meds they thing she needs to heal from her wounds. both new toads are going in their own bins, and guess what, this injured toad ATE FOOD!! she has a strong will to make it!! i wont give up on her!!
Very glad to hear it, don't be afraid to offer her a variety of food over the next couple Weeks. Not too much, just enough to get her some vitamin supplements. The best brand I know of is Repashy calcium plus. I've used it for years dusting all my feeders with it. Don't overdo it, but it definitely can help the healing process. Good food options, Isopods, Roaches, Nightcrawlers, and hornworms, As well as the usual crickets. A variety of food is usually best, instead of all one thing. Better nutrition that way. Post some updates of this gorgeous girl whenever she's seen by the vet, I'm wishing you and her the best of luck
I will see if I can get some night crawlers, crickets her at the local pet store always SUCK but I can at least rotate between those 3 things for now, I also have some repashy 'grub pie' insectivore gel that I will be making as well, and offer it to both her and my toad I already have, though I'm not confident either will eat it since it's not moving but it never hurts to try!!! To up the appeal, I bought a silicone tray that has bug shapes to mold the repashy in LOL maybe the shape will be enough and they will try it!!
Repashy molds don't really work with toads in my experience. You can try. But toads generally won't eat anything that isn't moving. You can try to cut them into small pellet sized pieces, and get a pair of plastic feeding tweezers and move it around but they are very unlikely to eat it. But you can feed it or at least try to feed it to their feeders, like if you have a colony of isopods, give them that and gut load them. It would certainly be a possibility.
I bought two clear thing acrylic rods for just this reason, so I can push them around and make them look alive! I also doubt they'll eat it, too, but its worth a shot. I do already have repashy 'bug burger' which is made for feeder insects and will be making some to feed them, too. I just got the superworms in, and then I'm getting a few hundred more discoid roaches in the next day or so, so I'll be making a big batch for feed the feeders and therefore stuff some more good nutrition into this poor toadie!!! I also plan to offer the toad repashy food not only as a bug shape itself, but also amongst the feeder bugs too, so maybe the toad will accidentally eat one and therefore rub enough brain cells together to understand that its food lol I already finally got my first toad to see the food bowl and connect it with food, so she sits at her bowl now when shes hungry XD at least shes capable of learning, even though it took months for her to piece it together! either way I'll be fattening this poor injured girl up as quickly as I can, without it being unhealthy weight gain. She's literally a skeleton right not, so I'll feed her half portions of food every other day just so she has something for her body to use for healing on a continuous level!!!
Poor sweet baby, please help her fight for her life ❤️
I will!!! she ate food already, she has a strong will to make it!!! I will try as hard as she does!!
Judging from my limited experience with human wounds it looks like your toad has a chance.
Take it to the vet though!
Her and the new toad coming to me (the actual one I was promised and paid for) will both be going to the vet and get parasite meds and any other meds to help her heal. she's already eaten food so far, I was NOT expecting that!!!
These things find a way. I’ve seen them missing toes, eyes, arms, and still living good lives. Give her a chance and let her body do the rest
she already ate food!!! she perked right up with the honey soak so i will be giving her as much effort as she is to get her healed up!!!
Cane toads are insanely resilient. They can survive with missing limbs, missing eyes and other serious injuries and deformities IN THE WILD, even here in Australia where they are most unwelcome.
Australia is on my bucket list due to its over-abundance of Cane Toads 😍
Please bring her to a vet immediately Please REPORT where you got her from. This is negligence on their part
Was it backwater reptiles?
nope! But I've heard plenty about them, too. ugh.
I bought a cane toad a couple years ago who arrived in a very similar condition only the sores were all over her lips as well. She made a full recovery within a couple weeks ! highly recommend those honey baths they truly work some miracles!! I’m glad they already have a good appetite :)
Goodness, yeah she parked right up with a honey bath! Besides honey baths, what else did you do to close up the sores, like the ones on this toads feet?
I did try out josh’s frogs amphibiaide solution and it seemed to work well if not just the same as the honey baths! I bought it to see if it would help her regain an appetite as she did not eat for a while and being so skinny it made me worried. Definitely helps a frog with very little appetite as i’ve ended up having to use it on more than one species so i recommend it either way!! For her feet i just made sure they stayed clean (which if you’re bathing them a couple times a day it won’t be hard to do so) and didn’t have her on loose substrate until they were healed. I put down a towel/blanket along the bottom of her tank she could still burrow and hide in it if she wanted to and it seemed to work really well! definitely would recommend it vs paper towel, i feel it alleviated the pressure having more buffer between her and the glass bottom of the tank.
Ok that sounds like a good plan, ill give her a towel and keep up with the honey baths! I wonder if I could get ahold of some manuka honey and see if that's even better for her than regular honey! Ill probably only put a drop or two in, though as I assume it would be 'stronger' than regular honey *shrugs*
i bought my manuka honey off of amazon! and yes it is pretty strong so definitely only a little bit! it can also act as a natural laxative for frogs too 😅
oh i did not know that, I'll store that laxative info away for if I need it!! i will be getting most of my supplies from amazon, a local stores are outrageous with process here!
Toads are suprisingly resiliant.
This is antibiotic and antibacterial / antifungal soak. It can help heal wounds that won't heal. It's supposed to say API EM Erythromycin and API Fin & Body Cure. Instructions: [https://imgur.com/BVuT9Vu](https://imgur.com/BVuT9Vu) Kordan's Methylene Blue is another antibacterial / antifungal soak. It can even kill some parasites from what I've read. It's 2 drops in 4 oz of water. Add several more if there's no affect. Soak daily for 1 hour. Your toad will be stained blue for a little while. All of these products can be found in stores that sell pet supplies / fish products. You might be able to find them locally. Amazon sells all except for the Erythromycin. They used to, like a lot of places, but stopped during the pandemic. (It made me wonder if the news article about drug addicts buying had anything to do with it.) Anyway, Pet Smart sells it.
I will keep this in mind! I happen to have a box of API fin and body cure from my betta tank days, I'll go dig it out and look to see if it hasn't expired. Methylene blue has saved many a fish when I was into the aquarium world, I'll have to go get some! I'll double check with the vet to see if they are against trying these suggestions, but they sound good in theory to me! so far I gave her a honey soak and she perked right up, then ATE FOOD! I was NOT expecting her to eat on the same day she got here and was harassed by me! she has a will to thrive, and I will try as hard as she is to make it happen!!!
I hope she makes a full recovery!
The wounds dont look terrible at a glance, but if there is infection, and the infection has reached the bone, I really doubt it tbh. Non pain relieving Neosporin without lidocaine is safe to use. You can try this instead of or in addition to the honey bath. If you choose euthanasia, there is a lot of debate over humane ways to do it - but Neosporin with lidocaine will kill them and supposedly is the least painful of methods. Dont freeze it, as this kills it while its still conscious. Some people instead will transfer it in a small cup of substrate firstnto the fridge where it will burrow and go to sleep, and then the freezer, but many people say this is still not an acceptable method as it may still inflict pain.
She perked right up with a honey bath and ate FOOD!!! I was NOT expecting that on her first day here, with all the stress and me harassing her right out of the box, but I threw a handful of superworms in there and they are GONE! So I will be putting as much effort into her survival as she is, she wants to be here!!! I have euthanized a toad before and used the lidocaine method, that toad had a fatal intestinal blockage that could not be operated on, and she fell asleep peacefully in the grass outside in the sunshine. then once she stayed asleep for 30 minutes, I put her in the fridge and then in the freezer. I still cry when I think about her, but it was the least I could do for her. Gettng a healthy wild caught toad is apparently too much to ask, it seems. :/
That's great to hear, hopeful for a full recover!
Some medicine should help her
I'm new to owning toads and have thankfully never had to take care of one this sick so take this suggestion with a grain of salt. Would some type of hide help her? Since she's on paper towels and can't burrow maybe she'd be less stressed if she had a dark cozy place to go. Even if it's just a flipped opaque plastic container with a door cut out. (I'd wrap the door with duct tape to make sure there's no sharp edges so no more boo boos.) Because without any substrate to burrow down, I'd worry she'd still try to dig and damage her feet more. Like I said just a suggestion. Hope she feels better soon.
i will be doing the tupperware hide idea as soon as the vet has seen her and when I can get some bandages on her feet, too!
Looking through all these comments, I want you to know you are so appreciated for giving her a chance at life. You are doing everything in your power to save this lil thing and THAYS not something a lot of people do. Please keep us updated and I wish the best for you both ❤️
I was so confident that she had no chance of recovery at first, but after seeing all the comments and advice, I think she could possibly make it! I'm a little nervous about her bone showing on one of her feet, but regardless she will be going to the vet tomorrow for parasite meds and also to look at her feet. I think honesty now that she will be in clean conditions with lil bandages on her feet and ointment, she SHOULD start closing up her wounds slowly. I will be taking photos to post in a big 'here's what happened in case someone else needs this info' type of post, but also so I can see her progress. also, she ate for a second time!! 10 more mealworms and possibly also ate a few of the freeze-dried bugs I put in there also, and dusted with calcium and vitamins!! so she DEFINITELY wants to be here!!! Once I get her parasites gone, she should start gaining weight which will give her more energy to heal! Her sister came in the mail yesterday as well (it was the original toad I ordered) and she is much better off, only slightly thin with a rubbed nose but no sores. They are in separate tubs, but she ate as well, on her first day with me!!
UPDATE #2: 'foot-toad' has some shrinking on the sores for her front feet, the tiniest one is almost gone, the one by her crotch is closing up fast, and her feet sores aren't getting any bigger, but also not noticeably shrinking yet, either. I assume its from lack of energy stores (shes skinny af from whatever torture she lived through before me, and parasites don't help) so it might start closing up here soon after she has a few meals and stays clean and dry. she went to the vet with the other toad that I had originally paid for, and we all have started calling this one with the crazy wounds the 'foot toad' and the other one 'nose toad' (nobody in my house gets a legit name until they've healed and are out of quarantine- I don't want to get too attached yet!) the vet and all the vet techs and office workers came in to look at them (it is NOT common for them to see 2 toads the size of a small puppy LOL) and the vet agreed that the sores don't look infected, have good blood flow, she still has feeling and can bend her toes and kick, and if she stays in a clean environment and gets rid of her parasites she undoubtedly has she SHOULD be ok! so she prescribed silver sulfadiazine cream to put on it, and panacur for their probable parasites in both toads. I came home that day and put the silver cream on and bandaged her up, and that's when I learned an important lesson: don't wrap the bandages too tight! I woke up the next morning and was HORRIFIED to see her feet had swelled up and one of her toes got a fluid filled blister from rubbing on the bandage! OMG I FELT SO BAD! I immediately took them off and wiped the sores clean, and gave her a manuka honey bath for 30 mins to try and get blood flow back and swelling down. it worked, thank god, and her feet are back to normal now, besides the sores. no more bandages from me for the rest of treatment, because I cant juggle her one-handed and try to put a bandage on the other. Not worth it. I am on day 5 of panacur dosage and yesterday foot toad pooped! I was so happy, I was nervous that they might also be constipated, but the vet and I couldn't find anything when feeling her stomach. she and I both think they literally have nothing in them TO poop! foot toad has had 3 meals so far, 10 superworms two times and 5 discoid roaches last time (didn't want to over feed in case she had internal problems, shes already dealing with enough and didn't want to cause her harm) her poop was everywhere (fun, smelled glorious) and it was made of 50% little dead worm parasites (read: EW!) saved it in the freezer in a ziplock in case the vet wants to look at it if I need to come back. i bet she feels better already! dosage says 5 doses, wait 2 weeks, then 5 doses again. gave her a bath to get the poop off of her feet sores, and last night I sat down with her and put some more triple antibiotic ointment on her wounds. shes getting good at sitting still and letting me do things, I think she realizes that her squirming wont do anything. if you were wondering how likely it is for a cane toad to ooze their white poison from their glands, only foot toad did a few tiny beads of poison on her big glands, after I had accidentally touched her bone on her sore with a clean q-tip (I felt SO BAD, it must hurt for her something fierce) I've handled (and had to gently man-handle) all 3 of these toads and have never seen them ooze their poison until foot toad did that one time. she hasn't done it since. also, wash your hands immediately when that happens, or use gloves and take them off the proper way (laboratory style) so you don't ingest the toxins. No side effects for me, so I'm assuming I did good on that aspect. (to be continued, look for the other update #2)
UPDATE#2 CONT'D: and for the other toad: 'nose toad' hasn't pooped yet but if I'm going off the assumption that she didn't have a damn thing in her system TO poop, then she should be pooping soon on her 3rd meal. she DID soak overnight on her second day here, but hasn't done that since, that I could see. she's peeing just fine, and seems to understand now that it doesn't scare me off lol. she is alert af and very squirmy, so shes in WAY better shape than foot toad. She has more meat on her bones, too, but is still underweight. the vet tech was surprised that she weighs around 700 grams, but foot toad also weighs that much, and shes a step up in size. my toad at home, Trevor, weighs 630 grams and shes noticeably smaller than these two! The only injuries she has is her rubbed nose, which is slowly starting to heal. I put triple antibiotic cream on her nose every other day, and so far so good. she eats just like my original toad, Trevor, straight to the point, never misses a bug! she even let me watch her eat! by the way, showing panacur down a toads throat is, interesting. lol much easier than for a snake or lizard, as their jaw is bony and so simply structured, and since they basically have no neck, its been easier to keep the squirming to a minimum. for those tho will need it, here's how I've been doing it, and no one has spit up their dose yet! I take the tapered end of a PLASTIC comb (those metal ones are obviously going to hurt them) and very gently wiggle it in the space where the center of their mouth is, until I get them to open their mouth in protest. once they do, I quickly put a finger in the hinge of their jaw and carefully shove the panacur syringe into their throat (the big closed hole in the back, be careful not to touch their smaller windpipe behind their tongue!) I make sure the tip of the syringe is past their throat closing muscle (cant think of the proper name right now) and then push the dose in and get out of their mouth as soon as I'm done. the toads look astonished, but no gagging or spitting, no pawing at their faces in disgust, because I didn't touch their tongues with it, or just dump it in their mouth and hope they swallowed it (the wouldn't, this isn't my first rodeo with panacur, I had my original toad to dose, too, which is where I figured out this method that works way better!) works great so far, and no injuries to their mouth or throats! be careful not to just jam the syringe in, I am deliberate but also careful and as gentle as I can be!