Vet in Thailand removes 21 pebbles from ‘Jelly’ the pet frog’s belly

A Thai woman took her pet Budgett’s frog “Jelly” to see a vet in Bangkok, Thailand, after she found it looking fatter than usual. An x-ray revealed that the frog ate 21 pebbles and was in some serious trouble.

Yesterday, Chulalongkorn University’s Veterinary Medical Aquatic Animals Research Centre (VMARC) posted a series of photos of Jelly’s ordeal on Facebook.

VMARC said…

“Little Jelly the Budgett’s Frog, a TikTok frog, was in some trouble after eating 21 pebbles. The vet had to sedate her and pull out all of the pebbles.

“Frogs are one kind of animal that we often find eating strange things, such as pebbles, fake plants, or other things in their enclosures that are smaller than their mouths. Be careful if you raise frogs as pets otherwise, you might get a headache. Information: Dr Naraphat Towanabut.”

Luckily, Jelly’s ordeal had a “hoppy ending” as the vet managed to safely remove all 21 pebbles from the frog. Netizens commented…

“So heavy that it couldn’t jump.”

“I’m sorry I laughed at you frog.”

“The pebbles have been removed. Why is it still inflated?”

Budgett’s frogs – also called hippo frogs for their hippo-like appearance – are native to South America, especially in Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia.

The species are notoriously opportunistic feeders and will eat almost anything that will fit in their mouth including insects, small mammals, reptiles, and other frogs.

The species have been called Freddy Krueger frogs because of their long fingers and aggressive nature. Budgett’s frogs have a unique defence mechanism in which they emit a loud booming sound to scare off predators.

Despite its big appetite, loud squawk and anger problems, the Budgett’s frog has become has become a popular pet – solely due to its comical appearance.

In October, a six-legged golden frog hopped into a Thai man’s house in Phayao province in northern Thailand. It was so calm and docile that he decided to capture it and raise it as a pet. The man attributed his successful gambling streak to using the number six – the total number of legs on the malformed frog.

However, most frogs in Thailand are not pets. Frogs are widely eaten all around the kingdom. A frog farmer in Trang province in southern Thailand claims that his frogs love listening to Luk Thung (Thai country music). He claims playing music for his frogs 24/7 is the key to making them big and strong. He said the frogs become aggressive when he turns off the music.