One of the most common misconceptions is that frogs and toads hibernate.
The truth is, they do not! Frogs and toads are cold-blooded animals, so their body temperature changes with the environment.
When it’s cold outside, these amphibians will either seek out a place where it’s warmer or burrow themselves into a hole in the ground or under rocks, logs, leaves, etc., to avoid freezing temperatures.
Have you ever seen one of these creatures sitting on top of your car hood during winter?
That’s because they’re looking for warmth from your engine!
They know instinctively when it’s time for them to find cover as soon as the weather starts to cool down.
In most regions, frogs and toads do not choose to hibernate during winter but rather wait it out until warmer weather returns.
What keeps frogs and toads away
It’s the cold.
I’ve never seen a toad or frog on any of our family farms in southeastern Louisiana after it starts to get cold.
That means a temperature of 50 degrees or cooler at night.
If you do see one in those temperatures, it’s already freezing and close to death.
They do not deal with cold well at all.
A lot of people ask if they hibernate as bears do.
The answer is no.
They do not go into a deep sleep when it’s cold.
One of the ways you can tell is that their skin doesn’t get all flaky like it does when hibernating.
If you’re seeing them in colder temperatures, the chances are that they’re not doing well and about to die.
Some do go into a kind of deep sleep for a few months when there’s a lot of rain, and it’s warm out.
They do this when they have just emerged from their eggs and again after they mate.
This is called estivation, which I talked about here before.
It is not hibernation.
Hibernation means that the animal goes completely dormant, which they do not do.
Frogs and Toads do not hibernate in water as turtles do.
Have you ever seen a crawdad with its claws stuck to the bottom of the tank, and you wonder what happened?
It’s probably just sleeping.
Crawdads do not deal with cold well at all either.
Frogs and toads are amphibians that belong to the order Anura.
Amphibians have permeable skin that can retain water, making them sensitive to exterior sources of moisture, including rain and snow.
In wet locations, frogs prefer moist areas near water or pools, while in dry areas, they may be found under rocks or leaves.
Frogs are often active during the day and eat invertebrates, such as insects and spiders.
Toads are similar but have dry and warty skin that gives them better protection from predators and desiccation.
Toads may also be active during the day or at night.
When do frogs and toads hibernate
Frogs do not hibernate per se.
Frogs do, however, do become inactive during the winter season.
Their skin prevents them from breathing in the air when it gets cold, and they do not have much oxygen in the water.
To prevent their skin from getting so cold, frogs do take refuge in mud and under rocks.
This works as a natural insulator for them.
The best way to keep your pet frog or toad healthy during the winter is to provide its habitat with proper lighting.
This is especially important if you do not live in an area that receives a lot of sunlight throughout the year.
The daylight hours will help regulate the frog’s metabolism to stay healthy for most of the winter season, much like any other animal would do if kept within its home environment instead of out in the wild where many predators are waiting for their next meal.
Scientists have also noted that frogs develop a waxy substance on their skin to keep it from drying out.
It is because of this waxy substance that frogs do not have to hibernate during the winter season.
However, they do still go into a semi-inactive phase for about six months, which means their heart rate slows down, their metabolism does as well, and their food digestive process slows down.
What happens to frogs and toads in the winter
Many people wonder what happens to their favourite animals, like frogs and toads, in the winter.
Do they sleep as humans do? Or do they hibernate?
Like most animals do, frogs do hibernate during the winter.
They do this by slowing down their heart rates and metabolic processes.
Toads do not hibernate or slow their heart rates. Instead, they do something called aestivation.
Aestivation is like hibernation in that it involves not moving from one place for a long time.
However, aestivation only happens during the summer and autumn months when there is not much food around.
The two types of frogs do have some differences in their resting periods.
During hibernation, toads do not eat anything at all, while frogs do shed their skins multiple times during this period.
Frogs can do this because they store more fat than toads do which helps keep them alive throughout the winter.
It is estimated that about 90% of North America’s amphibians undergo some form of dormancy.
However, researchers think many species do so underground or underwater where scientists cannot find or study them.
The two main methods of hibernation are torpor and true hibernation.
Torpid frogs do not do much to their body temperature during the winter, while true hibernators lower their temperatures significantly to survive the winter months.
Frogs do hibernate because they cannot get enough food.
After all, there is less for them to eat at this time of year, predators consume more of them in the colder weather, or a change in water level causes too many dying off.
What do frogs and toads do in the winter?
Winter is the time when most frogs and toads hibernate, but some do not.
The frogs do not eat during hibernation.
Therefore, they do not need much air.
They do not want to be disturbed because they do not need much air. They do not need to breathe in winter.
Frogs do not have lungs.
They do breathe through their skin.
The skin needs air when awake or only resting, but it does not get enough air when the frog hibernates (sleeps all winter).
When a frog is hibernating, it cannot eat anything either.
Frogs do not poop while hibernating and do not need any water to urinate during this period.
If you look at some of your frogs, you will probably notice that their bellies are swollen with air taken into their lungs while they were alive.
A dead frog’s belly is flat because the air goes out as it rots away.
Frog and toad go swimming.
Yes, frogs and toads usually go swimming. Frogs are amphibians, and they usually live in wet areas.
So when it rains, or the water level rises, they will swim from one place to another. Toads don’t like water, so they will jump out right away if a toad finds itself in the water!
Frogs and toads will hop around from place to place when it’s dry.
Hopping can be used to get from one place to another for the frogs, but it is also how they catch their food.
Frogs usually eat insects or small animals like snails, worms and other edible creatures living in their habitats (the places where they live).
Toads sometimes do the same thing, too, but they’ll also eat slugs and warm-blooded animals! They’re quite different!
Conclusion
Frogs and toads don’t hibernate- they go into a dormant state.
They will get out of the water, find shelter in moist places like under logs or rocks, and stay there for about four months during the winter.
If it’s too cold outside (below freezing), frogs can freeze solid if they are not near enough to an object that retains heat, such as another frog or animal carcass!
It is important you know when your local frogs enter their dormancy cycle, so you do not disturb them by removing them from their natural environment before this time.
We hope we’ve answered all your questions about what happens to these amphibians around this time of year!
