Frogs In Toilet – (What To Do)

Frogs In Toilet

Regardless of the myths, there are no alligators in the sewers, but there could be frogs. Along with snakes and some rats, frogs are one of just three species that are known to show up unexpectedly in your toilet by moving from sewer pipes below.

Of the three, the frog is the only one that can’t bite you. What can you do about frogs in the toilet?

Most frogs get into toilets by accessing the plumbing vent pipe on the roof. To prevent frogs from getting in, put a mesh wire screen over your toilet vent. Don’t try to flush the frog down the toilet because they can stretch out their legs and cause the drain to be blocked or will try to hide under the rim of the toilet.

How To Get A Frog Out Of Your Toilet

I have seen plenty of online posts that say you can reach into the toilet and grab the frog to remove it. While this is technically true, it’s incredibly irresponsible.

Please do not touch strange amphibians with your hands. Most frogs are toxic, and they can carry salmonella. Use gloves or other tools to remove your toilet frog gently.

It is normal to be freaked out by finding a living creature in your toilet. However, that fear can be more profound for an unlucky few.

According to Healthline, “Ranidaphobia is the fear of frogs and toads. It gets its name from Ranidae, which is the scientific name for one of the largest families of frogs.”

If you have Ranidaphobia, your best bet is to call local animal control and have them come to get rid of it for you.

The steps below will help you get the frog out of your toilet on your own:

1 – Get Your Gloves

If the frog is larger, catching it by hand is fine if you have gloves on. Opt for waterproof gloves as they will help block the frog’s skin from touching yours and help prevent the spread of salmonella.

You’ll need to be quick, but you can gently pin the frog to the bowl with the pressure from your fingers.

Don’t push down too hard, or you could break the frog’s bones. Scoop them up with your other hand once the frog is trapped in place.

Extend their legs behind them and carefully hold the frog right below the knee to keep it from escaping while you take it outside.

2 – Use A Fish Net or Butterfly Net

You can scoop a frog out of the toilet using a breathable cloth sack or net. Ensure that you twist the top portion shut promptly to prevent your frog from escaping and hold it closed as you head outside.

It’s normal for the frog to feel a little jumpy (no pun intended), and it may struggle slightly.

3 – Scoop The Frog Into A Cup

A large plastic drinking cup or even a small Tupperware container can be ideal for frog capture. Place your container below the frog and use a gloved hand, lid, or another tool to scoop the frog into the cup.

Once you get the frog into the cup, cover it and get the frog outdoors. If you absolutely must hold on to a wild frog for a while, ensure that it has clean, dechlorinated water to sit in.

Also, your frog will need breathing holes in the lid of its container.

How Did A Frog Get In My Toilet

When you see a frog in your toilet, your first thought is probably how did it get there. If you have pet frogs, kids, or friends who are pranksters, the answer might be straightforward.

However, most frogs in toilets come from plumbing vents. Alternately, they might be swimming up from the sewer.

A frog that gets trapped in your house will sniff out any water source it can find. A toilet might not seem like an ideal hangout to you and me, but any water is better than none for the frog.

So, sometimes the frog didn’t get in through the plumbing at all. Instead, it let itself inside through an open door.

What Happens If You Flush A Frog Down The Toilet

There are several probable outcomes if you flush a frog down your toilet. First, let me say please do not flush frogs down your toilet. Doing this is not only cruel to animals, and potentially illegal, but it’s just an all-around bad idea.

Below is a list of 3 things that can happen if you flush the frog:

  • You flush, and a frog jumps out of your toilet. Now you have a toilet-frog in your house somewhere and you have to chase it down.
  • The frog may get stuck in the toilet. Frogs can stretch their legs out after all. Moreover, not all frogs in toilets came from the sewer. If a larger frog got into your house and hopped in the toilet to stay damp it might not fit down the tube. In this case, you need a plumber and animal control.
  • Perhaps the frog gets sucked down the pipes. Now you have to wonder if it emptied out into the sewer, got caught, and will die somewhere in your plumbing causing a nasty clog, or if it will swim back up into your toilet. If it doesn’t flush completely, then you have to do this all over again. If it dies you get to pay for costly repairs. Meanwhile, if the frog reaches the sewer after going on a wild waterpark ride, then you have frogs in the sewer, and this is more likely to happen again.

There is no winning scenario where you flush a frog down your toilet. In the moment you’re justifiably grossed out or scared, and it can seem like a sensible solution, but I assure you pressing that handle or button is the wrong idea.

It is worth putting in a little extra effort to capture the frog and release it into the wild instead.

How To Prevent Frogs From Getting Into The Toilet

Preventing frogs from getting into your toilet depends on how they are accessing it in the first place. For example, if frogs are legitimately swimming through your plumbing, there is nothing you can do.

Well, okay you could replace all your pipes with more complicated pipes, but that’s incredibly costly and not at all guaranteed to work.

If frogs are getting into your toilets because they come in open doors or windows from outside. You need to close the doors and put screens on the windows.

Additionally, closing the bathroom will help with all but the smallest frogs.

However, a lot of frogs get into toilets by accessing the plumbing from the plumbing vent pipe on the roof. When this is the case, there is a simple fix.

You need a few square inches of chicken wire, or a finer mesh depending on your local frogs. All you need to do is cover the vent with the mesh, bending it and securing it in place. Viola! No more frogs get inside that way.

Why Do Frogs Come Up The Toilet

Frogs need water, or at last very moist environments to survive. Their skin is part of their breathing system and can change gasses with the air or water around them, but only if it stays damp.

A dry frog is a dead frog, so they seek out any water they can find. Frogs may come up the toilet because they’ve gotten into your pipes through the sewer.

Frogs aren’t averse to heading away from home to find new ponds, but that is risky. A frog too far from a pond will seek out any source of water there is. This sometimes, though thankfully not often, includes sewers.

Once inside the dark sewer, frogs can easily get lost and turned around. They will look for a way to escape and only find more pipes.

If a small frog happens upon your lines, it may swim up to your toilet where there’s light and reasonably fresher water. They aren’t trying to scare you in your private moments, it’s just the first place the pipe let out.

Additionally, given how modern plumbing is designed to prevent backflow, anything that makes that surprising journey must have been desperate to escape.

Give the frog credit for its resilience and do it the favor of setting it down outdoors near a body of freshwater.

Helpful Tips To Know About Frogs In Toilet

Finding a frog in your toilet is always unexpected, but it does happen. Especially if you live in an area like Florida or Louisiana, where frogs are abundant, these clever amphibians eventually find their way into any available water source.

Here are a few more helpful tips to know about frogs in the toilet.

  • If you don’t know the number for your local animal control office, you can always call pest control and have them come out to remove a frog from your toilet humanely.
  • Like quicksand, finding a frog in your toilet is a lot more uncommon than you expect. The chances of you finding a frog in your bathroom are astronomically small unless you live somewhere like Miami.
  • The toilet frog may have come from your roof. While the amphibians end up in the toilet bowl, they actually get into the house through the plumbing vent pipe on the roof.

Final Thoughts

If there’s a weirder experience than finding a frog in your toilet, I don’t know what it could be. Feeling alarmed when confronted by a toilet-frog is normal, but please do not attempt to flush the frog away.

The best thing to do about frogs in the toilet is to catch them, and if possible, block their point of ingress. Grab a net and some gloves and stage a froggy rescue.

You’ll get a great story, and the frog will live to see another day. As long as you’re careful, neither you nor the frog will get harmed as you remove it from the toilet.

Ted Smith

My name is Ted Smith and I’m the creator of AnimalThrill.com. I have a passion for educating people about animals and wildlife. I have been working with the National Wildlife Federation for the past 10 years and I became a wildlife blogger to help people become excited about animals and encouraged to care for these wonderful creatures.

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