I’m in AZ and the Sonoran toad is a poisonous species of toad (extremely poisonous to dogs and cats). My dog was chasing one around our backyard last night (she’s fine) but the toad was all in my pool. Does anyone no if I need to add anything to the pool to neutralize the toxin? Am I just overthinking this whole situation? The pools around 9000 gallons and I already added some extra chlorine and ran an extra cleaning cycle. Anyone experience this before?
Sonoran toad was swimming in pool. How to treat pool
- Thread starter choseneagle297
- Start date
dBsooner
Gold Supporter
That won't be the last. They LOVE the water. I don't think you have anything to worry about.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,461
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Your pool is fine and you don’t need to add anything. The toxin resides mainly in their skin and outer epidermal layer. It’s not something that will dissolve into pool water and make the water toxic. If any of the toxin did get into the water it will quickly degrade under chlorine and UV exposure.
My dog chased one of those toads too and before I realized what was going on. Thankfully I stopped her from picking it up but she did manage to lick it. She was frothing at the mouth within seconds and clearly distressed. I rushed her into shower where I held her mouth open and flushed it with water. She then spent the night by my bed with plenty of water and soft blankets to sleep on. She was better by the next day but lucky she only got a small dose. Friends of our had a dog that ingested one and they had to have a vet do a stomach pump and then a charcoal treatment to absorb the toxin. Even with all that, their dog nearly suffered liver failure. She was an older dog so her recovery was long and complicated.
Those toads are nasty and if you find them on your property, scoop them up and toss them away hundreds of yards from your home. I have collected them in a bucket in the past and I will drive them down the road a half mile away and toss them out.
My dog chased one of those toads too and before I realized what was going on. Thankfully I stopped her from picking it up but she did manage to lick it. She was frothing at the mouth within seconds and clearly distressed. I rushed her into shower where I held her mouth open and flushed it with water. She then spent the night by my bed with plenty of water and soft blankets to sleep on. She was better by the next day but lucky she only got a small dose. Friends of our had a dog that ingested one and they had to have a vet do a stomach pump and then a charcoal treatment to absorb the toxin. Even with all that, their dog nearly suffered liver failure. She was an older dog so her recovery was long and complicated.
Those toads are nasty and if you find them on your property, scoop them up and toss them away hundreds of yards from your home. I have collected them in a bucket in the past and I will drive them down the road a half mile away and toss them out.
dBsooner
Gold Supporter
oh man. I got lucky then. No initial symptoms and all night she seemed totally normal. Thank you for your informative reply
- May 23, 2015
- 24,461
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
The toads usually come out at dusk and in the evenings. They look for water so pools are perfect spots especially if there is a lot ground cover. When mating the female emit a very distinct high pitch squeal like a baby’s cry. It’s definitely not “ribbit” …
People shouldn’t touch them either. Their toxins can stay of your bare skin and if you put that in your mouth you’ll develop very distinct symptoms - sweating, dry mouth, thirst, disorientation, nausea, and at high concentrations, hallucinations. Idiot kids around here dare others to “lick a toad” not realizing that their toxins can kill people too or do damage to vital organs like the liver. They are no joke.