r/herpetology 5h ago

Is my neighbor pregnant or just fat?

Post image
24 Upvotes

5 comments sorted by

30

u/PiedPipecleaner 5h ago

Amphibians don't get pregnant in the same way that other animals do. They release tiny unfertilized eggs and the male fertilizes them externally, like fish. Unfortunately, if a frog looks bloated it is more likely caused by parasites or disease (though some species do just naturally look fat and others may puff themselves up as a defense).

10

u/scootunit 5h ago

I did accidentally make a loud noise and accidentally made him move from one place to the other so puffing up could be the case. Is there anything I can do for him if he does have an infection?

4

u/PiedPipecleaner 3h ago

If it's an infection/parasites it would require vet attention, so unless you're willing to drop a couple hundred on a wild animal there's really not much you can do about it unfortunately. I'd probably just leave it tbh, if you're particularly concerned you could see about sending the image/reporting it to your local fish and wildlife.

1

u/scootunit 2h ago

I'm just going to leave him be. I'm not sure if it's always him but there's always a frog in that area. I hope he does okay seemed fine. Crawled around well