Seeing a frog in your toilet can be a little surprising and even terrifying, but since most frogs are harmless, all you have to do is figure out how to get rid of it in a humane way. Frogs can get into toilets through the sewer or via the vent pipe.
This article will explore 4 ways frogs get into toilets and 3 ways to safely remove them.
4 Ways Frogs Get into Toilets
There are numerous ways that frogs can get into your toilets, including:
1. One of Your Kids Put It There
Believe it or not, a child in your home might have found a frog somewhere in the house and decided to place it in its own swimming pool. If you have a young child in your home, you have to consider this a possibility when you see a frog in your toilet.
2. It Got There Through the Sewer
Frogs are amphibians, and as such, their skin needs constant moisture. When they can’t find it easily, they may sneak in through breaks or cracks in your pipes and get into your sewer, where there is enough water to keep their skin nice and moist, which is why they love your toilet.
3. They Can Fall into the Vent Pipe to Your Sewer System—Then Enter the Drain Pipe
There is always a vent pipe in your sewer system that leads into the drain pipe. The vent pipe is usually found either on the roof or along the side of your house.
Many frogs, especially tree frogs, find it super-easy to get into the vent pipe via this method. Many tree frogs will climb the trees then drop to the roof to sunbathe for a bit.
Once it gets too hot, they usually seek moisture for relief, and if they climb into the vent pipe, they can drop down into the drain, where they eventually end up in your toilet.
4. They Got in Through a Window or Door
Oftentimes, a frog can get into your home through an open door or window. This is especially common in the summer months when people tend to leave their homes more open a lot of the time
They’ll also get in through cracks in the walls or floors of your home. Many frogs are quite small, and it’s no problem for them to get into your home (and subsequently your toilet) through open doors or cracks and crevices in various places.
3 Ways to Safely Remove a Frog from Your Toilet
It is fairly easy to remove a frog from your toilet, especially if you follow these basic rules:
1. Pick It Up and Relocate It
If you feel comfortable doing so, don a pair of non-powdered vinyl gloves, gently pick the frog up out of the toilet bowl, and take it to a location where it feels more at home. That could be a pond, a tree, or even nearby woods.
2. Look for Frogs Under the Rim
Sometimes, frogs will hide under the rim of the toilet and hold on tightly, making it difficult to see them and difficult to remove them once you do. When this happens, place a mesh net underneath the frog and flush the toilet.
This will jolt the frog into letting go of the toilet, and it should simply drop right into the net. Afterward, you can take the frog outdoors and place it somewhere safe.
3. Never Flush the Frog Down the Toilet
While it might be tempting to do so, never flush a frog down the toilet. It’s cruel, and it may not get rid of the frog completely.
Sometimes, the frog will simply go back into the pipe that it came from, which means that once the toilet is flushed, it can come back up into the toilet and surprise you once again.
How Can You Keep Frogs Out of the Toilet?
There is no guarantee you’ll never find a frog in your toilet, but there are things you can do to reduce the odds of this happening. First of all, fix any broken sewer pipes so they have one less way to get inside your home.
If you walk around the outside of your home and notice squishy ground, standing water, or funny smells, it is likely a broken sewer pipe, so call a plumber immediately. Both your family and your neighbors will thank you for it.
If you have a lot of trees and shrubs outside of your house close to the home, try to remove them or cut them back. If not, it’s easy for frogs to use branches to get onto your roof, where it is even easier to make their way to the vent pipe that leads to your toilet.
You can also keep your lights off at night. Lights attract mosquitoes and other pests, which naturally attracts frogs because they look at the pests as their next meal.
Can Frogs Come Up through the Toilet?
Frogs can come up through your toilet. Not only are they great swimmers, but their feet and toes can stick to just about anything—including the wall of your toilet bowl!
Conclusion
Frogs can get into your toilet in several ways. They can get in through cracks in walls and floors, open doors or windows, or through sewer or vent pipes. It is not humane to flush frogs down the toilet, but fortunately, it is easy to remove them and relocate them.
I am an accredited practicing dietitian, experienced gardener and a dedicated cook. I love writing and sharing my experience so you can learn from my successes and mistakes.