Whites Tree Frog - Antibiotic Burn?

Question
My new WTF was apparently ill, and I took him to a herp vet. He wasn't eating, lethargic, looking thin and sickly.

Anyway, the vet didn't know exactly what the problem was, gave him some fluids (with a needle), gave him antibiotics (with a needle), and gave me topical antibiotics to put on his back once every day. Only about 1-2 drops. The antibiotic was Baytril. He said to do this and "hope for the best."

I did as instructed. The frog improved. He's now hanging out at night, mostly in his pool, and eating fairly well. He seems much better......except....

Now, on his back where the drops have been put, he has this discolored skin. It is obviously where the antibiotic has dripped on him. I think he shed some of the skin off his back too.

This morning when I tried to put it on, he got very upset and started trying to wipe it off of him with his back feet! It was like it burned him. I think it did. I rinsed him off.

It also seems like his belly is a bit swollen, maybe with fluid. I'm not sure.

Anyway, I called the vet and they gave me an appt. for Thursday a.m. That was the soonest they could. He's supposed to call me and let me know if I should continue the drops. I don't even need to be told - I'm NOT giving him any more of them.

Have you ever experienced or heard of anything like this happening?

Thanks so much in advance.


Answer
Hi Lisa, That is one of the major drawbacks of using enrofloxacin (Baytril). It is a tissue irritant and will lead to the formation of sterile abcessess at the injection site ( in your case, the application site). The injections are also quite painful. It is important to alternate injection sites for this reason when treating with Baytril. I'm assuming that your vet had you applying it topically so that it could be absorbed through the skin and it was not being used to treat an actual wound area. In that case you should really have been instructed to try to alternate the areas it was being applied to, (as much as you could on a frog anyway), to avoid this problem.