9.16.2010

Butter and Jelly go to the hospital

Two weekends ago, I got home from Reunion and went to change the water in the frogs' tank. Obscure fact about me: I have two African not-so-dwarf water frogs, Butter and Jelly. I used to have three but Peanut died in a tragic exploring accident.

While prepping for the water change, I peered into the top of the tank and realized Butter and Jelly were sick.

butter + jelly in the hospital tank

Panicked that this was a result of my half-tank water changing experiment, I rushed to the only resource I could think of: Google. After spending an hour pouring over the handful of web sites devoted to the care of ADFs with supplemental aquarium care information, I diagnosed the frogs with a fungal infection (note white patches) and popeye (not to be confused with Popeye) and called around to local pet stores in search of medicine.

Ian, who had been at Reunion leading music for the second gathering while I was dealing with the medical emergency, offered to ride his bike to the pet store and pick up the medicine. He's a good frog owner.

Their aquarium turned into a hospital tank and I faithfully administered the proper dose of medicine every day for five days. I know where all pets eventually go, but I couldn't bear the thought of them belly up because of something I did/didn't do.

It was rough at first, but two weeks later I am happy to report they have made a full recovery back to their normal, hoppy selves. Five years and still kicking!