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Do Toads Go Dark Green When Dying?

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    Posted: 12 Apr 2010 at 12:22pm

Whilst out frogging I picked up a couple of injured toads, both had their tongues sticking out of their mouths and I shoved them in the bucket along with the healthy ones, well them two injured ones were noticeably a dark colour cos when I was releasing them I checked through them all to make sure I wasnÆt releasing the injured ones. Is it a sign of death coming or was in just co-incidence that they looked much darker?

& also IÆm debating hard about what to do with injured toads again. ItÆs distressing me. One of those two looked depressed so I took it to the bridge over the canal for euthanising. (I used to stamp on them but I hated it so bad and wasnÆt sure it was instant enough cos I ainÆt so fat so I prefer them to get squidged by car again. IÆve found if you lay them on the road and want them to die, no b*gger will hit them, but death is certain fairly quick on the single laned canal bridge, IÆve sussed exactly where to place them for impact. I much prefer that than stamping on them. ) Anyway I took the other toad home cos every time I had it in my hands it wriggled trying to get away and could move all legs, I worried about it all night in bed though and in the morning I was expecting to find it dead, it wasnÆt but it had only moved a foot and was out in daylight still trying to crawl and so I figured it had a bleak future and so I then took it the the bridge for euthanisia. It ruined my day, I felt horrible. IÆve released injured toads on a number of occasions and now IÆm really starting to wonder if I did right in any of the cases. If a carÆs gone over them then the bones have to be broken right? A chest bone was broken or dislocated in the latest one I had and I had one with similar injuries last year which in hindsight I should have euthanised straight away but I gave it the chance. It was dead on the lawn the next morning and you could see itÆs chest/shoulder bones were in the wrong place. Do you old people reckon itÆs best for me to just euthanise all toads that have been hit by cars? I mean what future do they have? There was one a few nights ago which had itÆs head run over and itÆs eyes were a bit bloody. It moved fine though and was aware I was there and messing with it. I euthanised it even though it may have survived itÆs injuries because what use it a toad that canÆt see? It might not have been able to eat aswell, I didnÆt think it was fair to release it. What do you thinkà.. kill all injured ones to save suffering? I know if I was a toad and had been hit IÆd want to be put out of my misery, I donÆt like life that much.



Edited by Baby Sue
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote herpvet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Apr 2010 at 12:59pm
Originally posted by Baby Sue Baby Sue wrote:


& also IÆm debating hard about what to do with injured toads again. ItÆs distressing me.



Hello,

I would suggest trying a local vet - if you can find a sympathetic one you should be able to get them assessed, treated if feasible or painlessly euthanased if that is the best option for the animal. Vets will not normally charge for injured wildlife (during normal hours), and that will generally be a better option for the animal.

I for one am always happy to help with injured herps when possible, and while I would stop short of saying there are any others like me , you should be able to find a sympathetic vet within reasonable distance.

Hope this helps,

Bruce.
Bruce Maclean, HerpVet (veterinary) Services, Oxford.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Apr 2010 at 10:02am

Hi Bruce.

I hate vets. Vets suck. They didnÆt help Bunny and they didnÆt help Henry and they ainÆt helped my rodents and theyÆve charged me hundreds. I donÆt trust anything vets say cos they all contradict one another and suggest medicines that ainÆt gonna cure whatÆs wrong, I ainÆt met a vet that IÆve thought is any good and IÆve met lots. So youÆre a vet then right Bruce? If you are, what percentage of squidjed toads live on and what percentage donÆt? How many have you treated? & how do vets euthanise toads? Is it like in movies when they stick smelly cotton wool in a jar and close the lid? IÆve thought about taking toads to the vet but IÆd have to wait to the next day and by then they could be dead and have suffered needlessly in pain. ItÆs surely gotta be more humane to just get them killed quick rather than fanny around with them? If one had a minor injury then I might think different, like there was one that I found with itÆs back legs above itÆs head just lying there doing the splits. I scratched my head thinking why it was in that stupid position cos it was at the side of a driveway and was unlikely to have been run over and it didnÆt have no puncture wounds from a cat and everything worked ok when I was inspecting it, I shoved it in my bucket and it picked up and began sh*gging, then I realised later it had tried committing suicide by jumping from a wall and must have landed on itÆs head and itÆs back legs flew over itÆs head on impact with the ground. I figured the prognosis to be good. IÆve seen toads get hit by cars and some just play dead. I walked past one for 15 minutes which got squidged whilst on top of a female and it was on itÆs back looking dead with itÆs legs out, then later it was on itÆs feet crawling away. Sometimes they look worse than they are, sometimes theyÆre worse than they look though. But with that suicidal toad there werenÆt no point in taking it to the vet, whatÆs a vet gonna do with it? Give it a brain scan? I want stats about how many live when actually run over by cars. Or going into detailà. if the back legs are injured and the body is fine can they survive OK? If the bodyÆs taken the full impact do all cases result in death? I mean do any with their tongues sticking out survive long term? & do head injured toads live? Do they live if one eye looks to have sight? If two eyes are b*ggered are they defo screwed like I thought? Do squidged heads stop them from eating? Which people here have rehabilitated frogs and toads? Which injuries were a success and made a recovery? What sort of injuries have people found always result in death? In hindsight when me and Uncle Derek chopped off that toads legs a couple of years back I donÆt think we should have. I know it had survived the night and wasnÆt dead and it could crawl and get about but it surely must have got gangrene within itÆs broken off bones in itÆs back legs? How would stumps like that heal nicely when theyÆre being dragged around in the dirt? It must have been in serious pain. What was I thinking in keeping with keeping it alive? I should have just stamped it to death and put it out of itÆs misery. How long did it take to die? It might have been days or weeks. It was so wrong. I should have been braver and killed it instead of being girlie and delusional and hoping it would live happily ever after. So what injuries can they survive from? How do people contain them to find out they survive? Have people here kept them in a bucket for weeks on end? What do they eat? If I find one that I think is in with a chance and experiment and keep it in a bucket is adding vegetation and leaf matter enough or should I add worms and snails? How often do they eat? Are they like snakes which can last for weeks without food? It would be dumb to keep a toad contained and then starve it to death accidentally. I mean I could take it to the vets for someone there to tell me what I already know or give me naff advice but presumably theyÆd want me to take it away with me if they think it might survive, so is a bucket ok? I mean there ainÆt no point in letting it free cos they disappear and then IÆd never know if it lived or not. How long have people here kept injured toads in captivity for? How many have you kept? Am I wrong in thinking most donÆt make it longterm after theyÆve been hit by cars?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vicar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Apr 2010 at 8:52am
Sounds like a classic case of toadfly to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucilia_bufonivora

It's a horrible thing to see
Steve Langham - Chairman    
Surrey Amphibian & Reptile Group
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Apr 2010 at 9:01am
 
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