So today, well technically yesterday, since it is past 12, i took the liberty of cleaning out the White's tree frog enclosure at work, my first day there I didnt even notice there were frogs in the enclosure, it was so filthy I assumed it had to be empty, i found there actualy was quite a few, somewhere between 10-12 frogs in it, its a rack style petstore cage, but even for its size thats too many, though I know its a petstore, there not about animals being happy, more about animals. From what ive been told, and could see from the tank, it has not been cleaned out in anywhere from 4-6 months, not even spot cleaned, the frogs were miserable, you could tell just by looking at them. I vacumed all the old dirt out, wiped it all down with a amphibian safe disenfectant, (then went back with hot water just to be sure) disenfected and rinsed all the items in the tank off, and replaced everything, along with adding a few more decorations for the frogs to climb on and hide in. as far as a petstore tank goes I think it looks great, however, it gets worse, i beleive all of the frogs have red leg, thats 10-12 whites tree frogs with red leg, ideally I would quarentine them all individualy, soak in antibiotics, the works, but even though my manager said she thinks that would be great, The company won't allow them to all be quarentined. This annoys me, but im going to do what I can to help them, i have quarentend two frogs, one which is signifigantly smaller then the rest, hes small enough I beleive theres a chance he could be eaten, and the worst of the other frogs, this guy looks on his last legs, and this is the one my manager is going to try to have sent to the vets for an exam, hopefully the vet will support my idea enough to talk "brass" into letting me do it, but chances are they won't.
What do you all think would be the best thing to do in this situation, knowing they cant be individualy quarentened. and ill have to talk my superiors into going along with it, so expense wise it probaly cant be much, (though I am tempted to buy the stuff out of pocket.)

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This is wholly my opinion, with no vet experience talking, so please keep that in mind.

If the frogs absolutely cannot be separately quarantined, and they all have the disease, start treatment on all of them and make sure to keep the cage super clean. Way more than you would normally clean it. Regularly disinfect everything. If/When they start to recover, replace any of their decorations that can possibly carry traces of the disease.

Is there any way you can volunteer to take half of them home with you and rehabilitate them? If so, once they are healthy again, you can bring them back and take the other sick ones home. Eventually, hopefully, they all would recover. If not at your house perhaps a half and half solution would be easier for your higher ups to swallow at work. It wouldn't be quite as much expense, and it may work to rehabilitate them.

Hopefully someone with a little more knowledge than I have will step in, too.

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Punctuation. It saves lives.

I agree with the thought that if they all have the same disease then treat them together. Empty the cage on display and put them all in a tank in the back room for quarantine. treat them all together and as they get better move them back to the front. That way you don't have animals that are now healthy with the still sick ones and it only takes up 2 tanks...

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I agree with shell. Take them in back in a tank. bump up the temps a few degrees. have one looked at by a vet. If it IS red leg, get treatment for all. Paper towel substrate with a few fake plants and a water bowl thats it.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

quarantining all of them is not going to fly either, that was my suggestion after I was told I could'nt put them each in there own cage in the back. Hopefully they will send the one I did quarantine to the vet, i already filled out a sheet on it, I stopped by today to see how they were all doing. Color, and behavior wise they look a little better already, just from the tank and all the items in it cleaned out. I also got the okay to feed them individualy if I want to, though I doubt most of the employees there are going to do the same. There are some that im pretty sure are not getting enough food. I may ask about letting me watch half at my house, but because it is a chain im not sure how that would go either. I also don't know what antibiotics or so on to use, i beleive it depends on what bacteria are present right?, if the one quarantined gets into the vet maybe I will know, but as for now is there anything thats safe to use no matter what kind of infection it is?

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

If the frogs are sick they shouldn't be for sale... especially since doesn't Petco have a "providing quality animal care" mission?
In fact as a part of what they have on their web site they do...

PETCO Cares
In the normal course of their work, our Associates are also required to adhere to stringent animal care policies, procedures and veterinary-approved guidelines. Among those requirements are:

* Fresh food and water must be available to all animals at all times.
* All animals must be attended to on a regular basis. Associates walk the sales floor hourly to inspect our animals to ensure that they have what they need.
* Any animal suffering from any type of illness must be separated from other animals for treatment by the store's veterinarian as soon as possible.
* Veterinarians have reviewed and approved all enclosures that outline the number of animals that can be in each animal habitat.
* Each store General Manager or manager on duty has the ability and responsibility to ensure any animal requiring care gets it. To ensure that vet care is sought, as needed, our General Manager store bonus plan excludes all vet expenses.
* Each of our stores is affiliated with a local veterinarian who provides care as needed.
* Furthermore, we constantly review our staffing of Regional Companion Animal Coordinators (RCACs), and add to our animal care support staff, where needed, to assist General Managers.
* Above all, animals must be treated humanely at all times. Failure to comply with PETCO's humane animal care policies will result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.
* To help us ensure that all stores are following our strict requirements for proper animal care, employees are encouraged to use PETCO's anonymous Animal Care Hotline to report any non-compliance with our animal care policies.

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Thats what they say. But somewhere between Whoever wrote that, and my store manager, somebodies not really feeling the same way, upper management does'nt really care, we actualy can't even use moss in the cages anymore, its too expensive... BS... maybe with moss the cage wouldnt have to be misted 3+X a day. just to keep the humidity decent. The fact is someone from higher up on the chain comes through often enough that they saw how bad the cage had gotten, it has been like this for 5 months, they just don't honestly care, its about money for these people. So one frog is going to be sent in and what the vet suggests should be used for all of them. As for the frogs being for sale, the frogs have not been marked as not for sale, but at the same time, nobody in the store is actualy selling them, would you buy a frog if the associate told you it may be very sick?

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

could you post a photo of their legs perhaps?

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

I Couldnt get one at work, plus no digital camera, just a phone, ill try again next time im in, but the underside of the frogs looks like its turning red under the skin. kinda splotchy maybe.
I would compare it to this picture, without the lacerations, maybe a bit less along.
http://ocw.tufts.edu/data/5/215710/42887_medium.jpg

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."