# Amphibian Thread: Need help with common/American toad illness



## eaturbyfill (May 22, 2012)

Hey, peeps. I seriously need some help. I noticed really weird stuff wrong with one of our two common American toads, so I separated them immediately.. Our new addition which we have only had for about a month is acting weirdly. When I walked by, I noticed her mouth was hanging open. She kept scratching at her face. Now, she's yawning a lot. Her legs seem to have gotten paler, and when I first went to her she had this weird gooey stuff on her arms. I don't know if she scratched it from her face and it came from her mouth or not. I found one sight that briefly mentions "Spring disease" and it sounds like that. She has also been laying in the water almost constantly the past few days, and I did not know that was also a sign of illness until just now, or I would have separated them sooner. I'm asking if any of you know anything about this, or could help me find a site with better info on toad diseases or Spring disease specifically. Thank you


----------



## Varkolak (Jun 9, 2012)

Never heard of it myself but if you caught it wild a month ago you may have interrupted the mating cycle and bear with me because I have no experience keeping toads more then a couple weeks so this is just theory; But if this was a female who had eggs and was unable to get them fertilized then the stress of her new environment may have forced her body to reabsorb the eggs and stressing her body additionally. This would cause the body to then try to reject parts of the eggs that cannot be reabsorbed leading to circulation issues, inability to eat, and eventually death. This is the info on spring disease I could find


_Spring Disease 
Spring Disease is caused by bacterium ranicida and occurs in some temperate species of amphibians during the breeding season. It is usually fatal. 
Symptoms: excessive yawning, lethargy, skin discoloration or color loss. 
Treatment: There is no known cure for this disease, though your vet may try an experimental treatment using wide spectrum antibiotics 

The supposed pathogen listed there doesn't exist. I think the name was supposed to be Bacillus ranicida which if I remember correctly is an outdated variation of Aeromonas hydrophilia. The additional information is also very outdated as infections with A. hydrophilia can be cured as long as they are treated before the disease has progressed too far. 

Spring Disease - Caudata.org Newt and Salamander Forum

_My advice is to let it go and catch yourself a new one, If you bought these then my advice is useless, talk to the pet store you got them from because if your having an issue then the odds are they have had it as well at one point


----------



## eaturbyfill (May 22, 2012)

My husband believes it was shedding it's skin. And it's store-bought


----------



## Scootergirl (Jan 24, 2021)

eaturbyfill said:


> Hey, peeps. I seriously need some help. I noticed really weird stuff wrong with one of our two common American toads, so I separated them immediately.. Our new addition which we have only had for about a month is acting weirdly. When I walked by, I noticed her mouth was hanging open. She kept scratching at her face. Now, she's yawning a lot. Her legs seem to have gotten paler, and when I first went to her she had this weird gooey stuff on her arms. I don't know if she scratched it from her face and it came from her mouth or not. I found one sight that briefly mentions "Spring disease" and it sounds like that. She has also been laying in the water almost constantly the past few days, and I did not know that was also a sign of illness until just now, or I would have separated them sooner. I'm asking if any of you know anything about this, or could help me find a site with better info on toad diseases or Spring disease specifically. Thank you


Similar to what you are discribing, I heard my poor toad make a weird noise and saw him puke up all over his arms. I’m really worried too! My toad lives alone and I’ve had him for almost 6 months now and never had a problem. What’s going on!


----------

