Tumor, bacteria, or parasites?
Hi there,
I want to start by saying I am pretty sure my Frogo has cancer. But as I am only a hobbyist who has only owned 3 ADFs 1 of which escaped and passed. The other 2 have been with me for about 2 years. The other lady is fine, lean and active. Eats, explores and hangs out all over the tank. I haven't seen any hostility and they will chill together.
So I can't say anything in confidence, but:
This little lady has had a small white growth on her hind leg for about 4-5 months now. It has grown slightly but honestly not very much. There are no other signs of growths, fuzziness, color changes, or anything I can see related to infection/parasites.
In the last few months (1-2)she started getting edema/soft bloat/dropsy. (As you can see by her roundness) But is still able to sink and hangout at the bottom. Though fairly recently like the last few weeks I feel like 70% of the time she is hanging out at the surface.
She has all her legs out, belly down, and just watches outside of the tank. She seems to be eating well and is just kinda existing up there.
My question: Is there something I'm missing or is it cancer?
I'm not worried about water parameters as I've checked and this is not a recent development. The fact that my Frogo has lived this long with only minor changes tells me it's probably cancer as most illnesses I'm aware of tend to be quicker, more obvious in presentation, transmittable, or more aggressive on their timeline.
I'm not expecting any cures or medical interventions as it's probably something systemic that can't be cured without doing serious harm and stress to my little plump girl. I would just appreciate some confirmation or alternative causes for this growth. As I couldn't really find anything similar while searching for the last couple months. I'm mostly making this in hopes someone else struggling with this can also find answers.