Injured Toad - advice please

I found a sick toad in my garden about 5 days ago.  He was very lethargic, he appears to have a broken forearm and there is something weird with his head.  I don't know how to describe it.  When I first found him/her, there was a trace of blood near it's eye and mouth.  Not a lot, but I know there shouldn't be any at all.  His eyes seem stuck shut and I'm not sure if there is eye damage beneath.  I don't know what's happened to him, though I do have cats and hedgehogs foraging through my garden at night.

His head is also darker than his body and almost looks as if it's drying out - as if you found dead toad, but his body is normal.  I softly wiped his head with cotton wool and water to see if it was dried blood, but it's not.  He did not like it all all and tried to tuck his head down, so I stopped.  It didn't enable him to open his eyes.

He regularly lifts his head and opens his mouth - like a little gasp.

If you hold him, he tries to walk free of your hands, though obviously he can't see where he's going.  I left him in the garden for a couple days and he crawled under a rock by the pond, so somehow he can manage to get in the usual toad hidey places.  But we became worried about the cats, etc, and I set up a big bucket for him with soil and bark and a very shallow ashtray, pushed in level to the soil, with about 1/4 inch of pond water in it.  He was sitting in the water the next morning and looked much better hydrated than before, but his head is still the same. 

He's lived in his bucket for a couple days now and this morning I was surprised to see he'd dug himself into the compost, right the way under.  How... I don't know.

Anyway... This is the scene with this toad.  I don't know what to do with him.  But didn't want to leave him so vulnerable.  Can anyone maybe guess what is wrong with him?  A broken limb is obvious, but why the dark, dried out head??

Also... any ideas what I should do with him?  I don't know why a toad would bury himself - I know they do, but I don't know the triggers.

Any advice would be appreciated (and sorry for the epic length post!)

When we see a picture then we could see what is happening to poor toadie - but I am afraid that it may be best to put the little fella to sleep - now theres a question - how do you do that humanely?

There are many ways that people would put down an amphibian - I am sure that people would have advice on this - though nothing is quick - Maybe the RSPCA or a local vet should be called to see what they could do - they would have the equipment to put toadie to sleep humanely -

though it would be good to see if his eyes could be reopened and then he may have a fighting chance of recovering before

JC

I got some pictures for you, but whether or not they'll help, I don't know.  He has some soil stuck to his face, which I tried to swab off with some wet cotton wool, but it really bothers him, so I didn't try too hard to get it all off.  Anyway, that's why he looks damp!

This first one show the differing colouration of his head to his body.

This one shows his lame arm - see his hand curled under?  His one eye looks open in this picture but I believe that's just shadow.

And shame this one isn't in focus, but he was moving so I had to be quick.  But look at the redness of his eye, and his mouth is slightly open here too.  He can crawl with some strength still, but he's blind.  I really don't know what to do for the poor thing!

I have heard that putting amphibians in the fridge to cool them down and then transferring them to the freezer - or alternatively the local vet may have something to put it to sleep -

The old fashioned way is hitting the poor animal over the head with a heavy blunt object - not a very nice decision to make but the animal does look like it is burnt or has an infection or something so it needs to be dispatched to end its suffering.

Regards

Jon

I think 'pithing' is the recommended way these days where an instrument is used to destroy the brain, it has been shown that freezing isn't at all satisfactory as the animal may still be aware of pain as ice crystals form in the cells

From the description you have given Mindy I think this one is just going to suffer a slow lingering death, so it is probably best taken down the vets I'm afraid