Help! My African Dwarf Frog & Oto are in a Deathlock!

Aoibhell

My husband tried doing that by cutting up a straw like a spatula and slipping it in there but he said nothing happened. He may not have had it in the right place, though.

Aoibhell

Outcome:

My husband tried breaking the suction with a spatula fashioned from a straw again. He finally broke them free. Otto is dead :( The frog is alive but his mouth is gaping open. Not sure if it was because it's just been open for so long or if he broke something.

He appears to be conserving energy after all of that (it's been at least 13 hours). I put blood worms in there but I doubt he'll be able to eat right now. There is a red dot in his mouth.. not sure how serious the injury is. He better make it, though, after everything he's been through.

Thank you to everyone for their advice and suggestions.. better one than none. I'll update in the morning.

Chesherca

OH THANK GOD!!! I'm really sorry you lost the Otto, but I'm so happy you've finally gotten the frog free!

My advice from here is to keep the tank lights off and the tank calm tomorrow. Your other fish and plants will be FINE with a day or two of lights off, and it can make the difference in the frog's life. Keep a close eye out for any infections and such to develop - you may want to go ahead and treat him in a QT tank with a small amount of salt as a preventative measure. Poor little thing - I hope he pulls through. What an insane day!

Olympia

The frog is cold blooded, his jaw being that way for so long it may be temporarily stuck, but it should fix itself eventually. They are slower animals than we.
Glad I could help.
Sorry about the fish.. what a horrible way to go. At least one made it out of this though.

JennybugJennifer

Wow!!! Crazy story!!!
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Snappyarcher

That's a very very unusual story and one I'm sorry you had to go through.... I'm sorry it worked out the way it did and agree with Cheshi entirely!
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Aoibhell

Yes, it was sad to lose the oto and the will that he had, but I'm really glad the frog made it through. He seems to be doing ok this morning. His mouth is still open but not as much as it was last night.

I'm not sure if he was able to eat yet, this morning. I gave him bloodworms and left him alone.

I willl definitely be sticking around on here, though... of the 6 forums I joined for advice on this fiasco, you all were the most concerned and most helpful. Made it easy to pick the community I would stay with. Thanks again.

Chesherca

Thank goodness he made it through the night! I'm sure he'll be okay now. . . these little tiny frogs are really AMAZING in terms of healing, recovery, and survival! Please keep us posted on his condition - you're doing great, just leave him alone and in the dark and let nature do the rest. . . Does he have a name? I think he needs one! Something brave and tenacious!

djembekah

oh wow this is super strange, and extra intriguing. Sorry to hear about the oto, but glad the froggy pulled through!

Aoibhell

His name is Fred... lol. Oto's name (RIP) was Roland Worthington the First (don't ask me how we came up with these names... haha). He's actually a new addition to our tank, though.. I think we will have to rethink his name. He's definitely earned something distinguishing.