# Southern Toad



## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

Are they poisonous to dogs? My dog ate the whole frog and threw it up on my bed, so I saved it if anyone is on the forum and knows if they are poisonous let me know please I am waiting to hear from my vet:frown:


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/dog-health-issues-question/8823-bufo-frogs-r-i-p-scruffy.html

Try this - a thread on here a while ago. Further down on the first page is some more links telling you the difference between Bufo toads (cane toads) and toads that are harmless.
Good Luck, hopefully it was one of the harmless ones...


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

Yes, despite me incorrectly writing "Bufo Frogs", it is in fact Bufo TOADS that are poisonous (no such thing as a bufo frog). If your dog threw up a green frog, then I wouldn't worry too much. If your dog threw up a brown, bumpy TOAD, then I would be worried.

The poison works pretty quickly... so if your dog is acting fine, it probably wasn't a toad.


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

I'm so happy, he's fine, I guess it wasn't a buffo, Thank God

I got so scared, but there wasn't any slim or anything just the frog....

I am going to hunt frogs on my day off in my backyard

I'm telling you I could just ring his neck :biggrin1: he eats everything, ok he's a lab...He scared the heck out of me


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Glad he's ok! I wonder how a toad feels going down the hatch


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Thanks for the update, so glad he's ok. Those cane toads are bad buggers. Some years ago, my brothers GSD died after catching one in the back yard. I wasn't there thank goodness, but it was very traumatic for the whole family. (That was in Brisbane, not FL).


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

No need to worry about frogs (please don't hunt them if they are frogs, they aren't doing well as it is!), it's the toads you have to watch for. And even then, just the cane toads (the other native toads do have their own toxins but will mostly taste bad and possibly make the dog spit up).


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

Thank you I can't tell you how much better I feel now I'm scared to let him out in the yard when its dark and I can't see what he's doing


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I was actually scared to open this thread because I was worried you'd posted a picture of an upchucked frog for us to identify! I have this 'frogophobia' thing. I really hate frogs and toads and our yard is just covered in toads at night. Luckily, my dogs just like to poke them and make them hop. I've never had a dog actually eat one. I'm pretty sure we just get the harmless brown toads here, too. 

Do Cane toads actually exist in the US?


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## frogdog (Aug 10, 2011)

Thank you for this thread because I have blindly let Yogi play with frogs/toads...he's practically obsessed...good thing he just paws at them and never has tried to eat or carry one in his mouth.


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

chowder said:


> Do Cane toads actually exist in the US?


YES unfortunately they do and they are ALL over Miami (and FL in general). I see them all the time, luckily none in my yard. I can't even count how many people I know who's dogs have gotten a hold of one of those nasty things and died (one of my dogs did years ago, and luckily survived).


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

I couldn't take a pic of the upchuck, it was gross enough to have to put my cheaters on to examine....I'd rather pick up a brown log


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

You know I am from Miami and now that I'm thinking about what you are telling me, as a child I remember huge toads in the streets that were suppose to eat mosquitoes right? Another exotic in Florida they were so much bigger that what I've seen. I also have these little frogs on my patio? I catch them and feed them to my fish, they love them.
I'm off on Monday and will be hunting in my yard for frogs, told my hubby that I was trimming in the yard...


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

Don't kill the frogs!! (unless you are catching them to feed to your fish). Frogs are great, they eat bugs! And they're harmless. I'm not completely opposed to killing cane/bufo toads though because they are an invasive species and EXTREMELY dangerous to our pets. When I have found them in my yard (haven't in over a year) I put them in a sack and throw em in the freezer (the dog freezer that is) because I've heard from numerous sources it is the most "humane" way to kill them. I feel horrible about killing any living thing, but not when it comes to my dog's safety.


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

Well, the good news is no buffos found!! Cut all the grasses down looked everywhere so I feel better. And now I am more aware so when I see one I won't just hurry it along I'll remove it. I was pretty freaked out when I realized I could loose one of my dogs from eating one or just playing with it.:wacko: 
I wouldn't kill them, we have a preserve near us I would turn it loose in there, I know your not suppose to encourage exotics but they have been here for about 50 years I think so there is no eradication going on. Maybe one of the coyotes will eat em. :tape2:


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

Hey Julie, going to the Bird Road Baby Boomers thing? All of the girls in our club are gonna go, couple of us attended high school in Miami way back when .lol


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

Update this am cleaning up land mines in yard and found buffo frog, ok he was about half the size of my fist, and no I didn't kill him took him to a nice place accross street. If he comes back Ill put him in the garbage can and see if he can get out of that....


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

Julie said:


> Don't kill the frogs!! (unless you are catching them to feed to your fish). Frogs are great, they eat bugs! And they're harmless. I'm not completely opposed to killing cane/bufo toads though because they are an invasive species and EXTREMELY dangerous to our pets. When I have found them in my yard (haven't in over a year) I put them in a sack and throw em in the freezer (the dog freezer that is) because I've heard from numerous sources it is the most "humane" way to kill them. I feel horrible about killing any living thing, but not when it comes to my dog's safety.


I just wanted to say that while I have no issues killing cane toads (they don't live around here, luckily, but they're invasive and dangerous), freezing is not a humane way to kill an amphibian without knocking it out first. I know you just weren't aware but figured I should let people know.

You can actually use benzocaine ointment (there's another chemical that works, too, but I forgot it) to knock them out. I found a website that describes how to do it:

"Purchase a small tube of benzocaine ointment, which is used as a pain-killer for toothaches. There are several well-advertised brands as well as much less expensive store brands (generic brands). Simply take a strip of ointment about 1 inch long (more for very large frogs/toads) and spread it down the spine of the frog/toad from the neck to the tailbone. In 5-10 minutes the animal will be groggy; in 15-20 minutes it should be unconscious, and in about 30-40 minutes the frog/toad will die or be near death. Now put the frog/toad in a plastic container and place it in your freezer for 3 days. This is a humane way to kill amphibians because their bodies go into a state of torpor (metabolism slows way down) -- just as they do in cold weather outside. If the cold weather is short in duration, the frogs/toads will come out of their torpor state when temperatures warm up. However, after an extended time in freezing temperatures, the frogs/toads die. Why put the frog/toad in the freezer if it appears to be dead already? We ask you to put it in the freezer because we want to make absolutely sure that heavily drugged frogs/toads that APPEAR dead don't get buried alive. After 3 days, dispose of the carcass properly by burying it deep enough so that a pet or wild animal will not dig it up, or by placing it in a plastic bag and putting it in the trash."

Florida Wildlife Extension at UF/IFAS

For the record, freezing any animal alive isn't humane. I used to have to kill crabs (as a research intern a while back) that way and they didn't "go to sleep peacefully" like some sources claim. Believe me . It took days and they seemed miserable. After that I only killed them using cervical dislocation.


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

swolek - thank you for letting me know! I actually have a LOT of that stuff left as my boyfriend just had to get a tooth pulled, so I will definitely be using that method in the future (luckily I haven't found any in my yard in about a year). I have no problem picking them up and handling them (I like amphibians), I don't want to cause them any pain. 

chocx2 - sorry I just saw that post! No, I won't be going, I'm only 20... not quite a baby boomer!  lol but I hope you had a good time and enjoyed yourself!


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

Now I am feeling very guilty for all of the toads I have made suffer in the past. :'(


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Don't feel bad about killing them, they are an environmental disaster. Ask any Australian. 
They are invasive, eat anything they can fit in their mouths and their poison kills anything that it touches (they can squirt), alligators included. Fish that eat their tadpole die. If a toad gets in your pet water bowl, their poison can make your dog/cat sick without even having touched them. There are literally 200 million plus of the things in Australia, swarms and swarms of them, they've had to take several native species off land onto islands to try and preserve them, thats how deadly these things are. They can survive cold, without water, heat, virtually indestructible, other than by humans.
Females lay between 10,000 - 35,000 eggs twice a year, and have a lifespan around 5 years.
As much as I love all types of animals, this is one I'd be prepared to swallow my compassion and dispatch of, the consequences are just too great not to.


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

Julie said:


> Now I am feeling very guilty for all of the toads I have made suffer in the past. :'(


People kill them in worse ways, like poison . So just the fact that you cared enough to try doing it humanely is great IMO.


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

Ok you were so right about the frogs coming back and being territorial cause Mr Toad showed up yesterday evening, my husband found it. He asked me what to do with it he killed it. I feel so much better


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