Are frogs a threat?

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katelyn0974

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I was cleaning my turts enclosure today and found three little frogs underneath the water bowl. Is it harmful if my little ones eat them? I think they are baby Bufo frogs. Yuck!
 

alysciaingram

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I'm not a huge fan of frogs, especially since I am afraid of them and never get close enough to actually identify them properly. Here in FL we have invasive species that are pretty opportunistic creatures and will eat whatever if they wish. The frogs I found never did anything, but I didn't want to risk parasites or any injury to my tortoises. I would just move them to another area, away from your tortoise enclosure, just to be safe. I had about 4 in my enclosure before I redid the mesh wiring around to a smaller gauge so they couldn't get in.
 

GeoTerraTestudo

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katelyn0974 said:
I was cleaning my turts enclosure today and found three little frogs underneath the water bowl. Is it harmful if my little ones eat them? I think they are baby Bufo frogs. Yuck!

Bufo species are toads, not frogs, and yes, they are poisonous if eaten. Secretions from glands on the sides of their head and from their "warts" can also irritate the skin.
 

Saloli

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Terrapene are some of the few species that can consume Bufo (though technically speaking if you are in N.A. north of Mexico they are not Bufo but Anaxyrus). They are often consumed by them in the wild.
 

GeoTerraTestudo

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Saloli said:
Terrapene are some of the few species that can consume Bufo (though technically speaking if you are in N.A. north of Mexico they are not Bufo but Anaxyrus). They are often consumed by them in the wild.

That's amazing. Add that to the box turtle's ability to eat poisonous mushrooms, and I think that makes them one of the world's super omnivores. Of course, eating all that stuff makes their flesh poisonous to people and other predators. It's no wonder they are so brightly colored. Like a lot of colorful animals, it's probably a warning to would-be predators to stay away. :cool:
 

Saloli

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You know that never even dawned on me bioacumulation or sequestering of toxins from foods. It would make sence for Terrapene now that I think about it. Dart frogs, and Horned frogs use sequestering to obtain their toxins and Horned frogs have similar patterns/colors to Terrapene members.
 

katelyn0974

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I was told they were tree frogs, however I live in Florida (south) and we have a large amount of bofu toads (invasive).
 

Itort

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One observation I'd make is both Bufo and Terrapene are found in same habitat in the same region. If either is a threat to the other they avoid contact . As to Terrapene eating and storing toxic mushrooms, I the Iroquois had a taboo against eating them for this reason (I suppose this holds true for other Native American groups too).
 

Jacqui

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I asked a Toad/Frog expert once, if I should worry about the big toads I keep in my box turtle enclosures (I love throwing the toads nightcrawlers, when I would feed the worms to the turtles). Specifically if the toads could eat newly hatched turtles. He said he had not heard of it, but so no reason why a toad would or could not eat a box turtle hatchling.
 
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