HELP! I think my juvenile American Bullfrog ate a rock!

[Gnag the nameless]

Here is a description of Gnag and a photo of her tank.

Gnag the Nameless:

Juvenile Bullfrog
Female
3.2 inches whilst squatting.
Eye-eye diameter: 1 1/2 Cm
Average rock size: 1 Inch by 1 inch or larger




Now, I was watching her eat crickets silently, as I sometimes do, and she was going for one on the lily pad closest to the wall and log. I turned away for a sec, and she splashed into the water. When I turned back, it looked like she had something big and black in her mouth. She then swam over nearby the log, if I recall correctly.

I'm not sure how she would've gotten the rock, as the lily pad is close to the surface, but still, I'm not even sure what I saw. Anyways, PLEASE help in any way you can. She seems to be active right now, but how do I determine if she actually ate a rock? She's still fast, and when I picked her up to examine her throat, she struggled [as is normal. I try not to pick them up at all, though] And would she be able to vomit it up?

ALL recommendations or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Gnag the nameless]

She seems to be trying to avoid me, and she's as far from sluggish as you can get, but still. The area around her neck feels hard, but I can't feel anything tough on the sides of her belly. I'll feel her underside now.

Update: Nothing really alarming on her underbelly either, but I'm still worried. I'm really scared that she's going to die

Please, tell me what I should look for so I can know if she's got a rock in her belly or not.

[kroberts009]

She seems to be trying to avoid me, and she's as far from sluggish as you can get, but still. The area around her neck feels hard, but I can't feel anything tough on the sides of her belly. I'll feel her underside now.

Update: Nothing really alarming on her underbelly either, but I'm still worried. I'm really scared that she's going to die

Please, tell me what I should look for so I can know if she's got a rock in her belly or not.

how big are the rocks in the enclosure? now i am sure that someone can give you some better advice then i can. however, when one of my firebellies swallowed a piece of gravel, we waited a couple of days, and i got the piece of gravel back. if it is a reasonable sized piece it is possible that it will come out through the opposite side, if your frog doesnt vomit it up first. if the rocks are too large for the frog to pass, you risk impaction. make sure to keep an eye on on the frogs behaviour... (please keep in mind im not a frog expert, and have never had a bull frog, i am speaking off my personal experience with firebellies and the advice i got, when my frog swallowed a piece of gravel)

[Gnag the nameless]

Thank you so much, Kristie. If Gnag isn't out and swimming during nighttime, I'll know. She was swimming fast when she was avoiding me earlier, but I'm not making an assumptions.

The rocks range from 0.8 inches long and wide to up to 3 inches wide and 3 inches long. They're usually less then 1 Cm thick.

I'm not even sure if she did swallow a rock, I only saw what looked like her with something in her mouth. Still, I'm going to be keeping a strict eye on her, giving examinations a lot. As for the rock, it looked to be of a reasonable size, and it'd have to be to fit in her mouth. She's not as big as she sounds.

[kroberts009]

when mine swallowed a piece of gravel... i knew for a fact he swallowed it.. because i tried pulling it out.. but my trying to be gentle... screwed me.. and he decided i wasnt getting it back. LOL so he swallowed it... i left him alone and within about 2-3 days, i got the pebble back. sometimes it happens, and sometimes you just get lucky

i have never done the following, therefore i dont atually know if it works or not.. so i hope someone else can chime in. but if she can feel the pebble, after a few days... isnt there some option of attempting to "force feed" a few drops of mineral oil to see if that can assist in the passing of the pebble (if its a reasonable size?) SOMEONE please confirm or deny that for me

[Gnag the nameless]

Hopefully, Gnag didn't actually swallow it and just spat it out. I really doubt she actually swallowed it, because the rocks in my tank are relatively big, and she was going for a cricket on the surface of the water. It might've been one of the darker-colored crickets I was feeding her, actually. Still, I'm keeping an eye on her. Once again, thanks for the advice. I care about these frogs so much, the only things that are more important to me are my family and friends.

[kroberts009]

good luck! and trust me, i understand exactly how you feel!

[Gnag the nameless]

Once again, any help or advice would be appreciated. But more so how to tell if she actually ate a rock.

[demon amphibians]

I have american bullfrogs and when i had them in the gravel set up they swallowed rocks quite often nothing really big. i have actually seen them throw up all the contents in there stomach to get it out. American bullfrogs are very sturdy frogs and i would worry less seeing my american bullfrogs ingesting rocks then my other species. It may cause impacation that is always a danger but from my personal experience these frogs deal with ingesting such items much better then other species i have seen. I have never had impacation problems with my american bullfrogs but i have had problems with every other species i have, aside from my cane toads.

If your frog did eat a rock, the things you need to watch closely for is if your frog is eating, is it active, is it pooping. If it doesnt poop or it stops eating then you may need to start worring. A warm water soak is helpful. But if your frog is eating and pooping regularly then there really isnt a problem but I would advise against having a gravel setup.

[Gnag the nameless]

Thanks for the advice.

Yeah, American bullfrogs are some tough frogs. And I was thinking that she would just throw it up, if she even did eat it, which is unlikely due to her size.

Impaction has always been a threat I have been wary of. I'll look out for it.

As for how active she is, she's out and swimming right now. I'll check for eating and pooping.

A warm water soak is often suggested, and if I spot her not eating or pooping, she's gonna be getting one.

These are small pond rocks, not gravel. Like these:

In proportion, Gnag is about the size of the rock in the corner [3 inches whilst squatting]
to the rocks in her tank.

[Gnag the nameless]

Well, I saw her eat 2 crickets just now, and she was out and swimming about last night, as is normal, so I think all I saw was her eating one of the big , darker colored crickets as for the feces, I can't really see my frogs when they are hiding, but I'll keep an eye out for a poop

Even so, I still might give her a warm water bath just in case. I don't have any honey on hand, and also, how do I warm up the water? It's a stupid question, yes, but if I boil it it may become similar to distilled water. I'm going to use a small portion from my tank.

[SCF]

I wouldn't give her a bath unless you need to. She sounds fine.

Don't boil the water. Use dechlorinated luke warm tap water, additives (ie. honey or pedilyte), and get out the rubber ducky.

[Gnag the nameless]

Well, it's been nearly 2 full days since she supposedly ate a rock, and nothing out of the norm. As for the bath, I'm afraid I did give her a bath, and I did heat the de-chlorinated spinr water with a drop of honey in a pot on the stove. Not boil, though, just barely warm. However, [I feel like an absolute moron and idiot for what happened next, and I feel terrible for Gnag ] When I was putting her up back into the tank, she leapt from my gloved hands, hit the top of the tank, and fell in. I freaked out, thinking she'd but stunned or hurt, but she was as quick as a bullet. She leapt into her cave faster than you can blink. I've been watching her carefully, for fear of broken bones, but all seems fine. No limping, no abnormal behaviour. She even went out to swim a few hours later when I turned the light off as I usually do!

Anyways, after 2 days of concern, I did what I probably should've: Looked under the filter.

This may sound disgusting, and don't ask how I know this, but I know for a fact that big bullfrog poop is slowly sucked up by the filter, see. Not all in one chunk, it's too big.

I went home early from school, looked under the filter, and I found what I was hoping for:

Bullfrog poop

I know this is a disgusting topic, but I found at least 6 bullfrog droppings, most too small to be Bumpy's. And Gnag has been eating and swimming a lot, so I suppose she either:

-Didn't actually eat a rock and all I saw was her eating a cricket. I mean, most of the rocks in there are the size of her head if not bigger.

-Regurgitated the rock. According to other bullfrog owners, they will do that.

-Or I just saw the shadow of something or other, and am an absolute moron.

Either way, I'm more than glad she's fine. I'll admit it, I did shed a tear on the possibility of her dying

[Heatheranne]

Hi! Sorry I was away for the weekend. My work days are long.

You've gotten some good advice. Continue to feed away from the rocks. A luke warm dechlorinated water soak with about 3 good drops of honey in it helps them to pass their feces. No need to heat the water beyond slightly warm. It is likely he spit out the rock or you saw a cricket. Hard to say. American bullfrogs often spit out any prey that they attack and decide they don't want. Mine has actually taken in a dubia roach, spit it part way out, turned it with his tongue in a different direction and then takes it back in. Pretty slick. They can, however, be aggressive eaters and taken food in fast, before they realize what they've grabbed. There is always risk of impaction anytime any rock is accidentally eaten. Monitor carefully. He would have a hard lump on the left side of his belly after eaten and on the right as it moves down the intestines. Mineral oil can be used, but with caution. It is safer to use honey soaks. It sounds as though he is fine. If he continues to act normal, eat, and poop without difficulty, he should be okay.

Oh, a good tip for soaking is to place him in a small cricket keeper for the soak and put the cricket keeper right into his tank, if there's enough room. Then just pick him up and over the edge of the keeper. That way, if he's being crazy he won't jump or fall far. Then just remove the keeper. It's also a smidge less stressful that way.

Keep us posted! I hope he is okay.

[African bullfrogs]

she probably didnt eat a rock. i know this because my friend's bullfrog once ate one about the size u said the rocks were and the frog didnt move at all or eat for days. and he eventually died. So if your frog is moving like that, there is nothing to be worried about.

[Gnag the nameless]

It's fine, Heather. I have very busy weekdays. But not even close to busy enough as to keep my mind off the frogs.

Problem is, the tank is literally made up of the rocks. I may not have elaborated on this earlier, but most, if not all, of the rocks range from the size of Gnag's head and larger.

Honestly, I don't know what I saw. I know I saw something, but Gnag seems ok. She's swimming, pooping, eating, and as alert as normal. I immediately did a physical examination after she ate the rock, and I couldn't find any irregularities then.

Yeah, she would be acting different if she swallowed a rock. It's been roughly 48 hours since she supposedly swallowed the rock, so she must be fine. Still, I'm glad I took precaution. Better to be safe than sorry.

[Heatheranne]

She should be safe so long as she can't get the rocks in her mouth.

[Heatheranne]

I know...I always monitor mine closely too, mostly because he's just so neat. I feed mine on top of his large rock cave.

[Gnag the nameless]

Yeah, I love American bullfrogs. Such strong legs, beautiful eyes, and interesting colorations, yet still incredible hunters.

As for Gnag, she's fine. She's been eating, pooping, and swimming around as is normal. I've been spotting them hunting more often. It is interesting; they each have their own style of hunting. Gnag will leap far and wide after creeping towards the cricket like a tiger on the prowl. Unlike Bumpy, she eats a lot.

Bumpy, on the other hand, will swim towards the cricket, get close, and hop a small distance, but with tremendous speed. Even if she misses, she will chase that cricket to the ends of the earth! She is like a heat seeking missile, once she's jumped, she'll never let her focus stray until that cricket is in her belly!