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

[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.