# One of my frogs died and I tried to dissect him **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 6, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189 "2024-05-06T15:40:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/1 "2024-05-06T15:40:30Z")
It didn’t end well. I have a fish tank with a few little creatures in it. One Betta fish, one lone Ember Tetra (the last remaining from a school of 15) four Amano shrimp that have lived far beyond what they normally do and two African Dwarf frogs. One of the frogs has had a lump growing it his abdomen for a couple of years now and lately it started getting a bit larger and he was eating less so I figured the end was near. Yesterday he had a large, long seizure and then died. I was curious what the lump looked like so I decided that I would cut him open to take a look and then put his body outside to decompose so I could add his skull to my collection. I got him ready on his back and got an exacto knife and tried to slice him open. His skin was tough! No matter what I did I couldn’t get it to cut. So I went and got some toenail clippers and pinched some skin in it which cut it open. But then stinky juice came squirting out! The feeling of clipping his skin and the visual and smell of the stinky juice made me start gagging. Once I started gagging I couldn’t stop so I just grabbed his gooey body and ran to the toilet, gagging the whole way, and chucked him in and quickly flushed. Good lord. Lesson learned. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/2 "2024-05-06T15:51:57Z")
Ah, a thread which serves as apetite suppresant.🐸 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/3 "2024-05-06T15:52:33Z")
You deserve a shouting at. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HBxn56l9WcU/maxresdefault.jpg "A tiny angry squeaking Frog 🐸 | Super Cute Animals - BBC") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBxn56l9WcU&t=7) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/4 "2024-05-06T15:54:28Z")
Yeah, there’s a reason those classroom frogs and other critters are well-soaked in various chemicals, and not fresh cadavers. Well, many reasons, I suppose. But you discovered a couple of the big ones. (I never dissected a frog. We dissected a starfish, a giant grasshopper, and a palm-sized fish. The starfish was super interesting.) ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/5 "2024-05-06T15:55:24Z")
Patrick! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/6 "2024-05-06T15:57:10Z")
Love the username/post combo. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/7 "2024-05-06T15:57:41Z")
I’ve dissected a worm, a frog, a sheep’s eyeball and a pig fetus, but none of them exploded with stinky juice or turned gooey, thank goodness. Sorry for your luck and loss. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/8 "2024-05-06T16:05:02Z")
Adorable. No, I mean “ohhh so scary!”. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/9 "2024-05-06T16:14:15Z")
Wow. I think that in our long history here at the Dope, we’ve never had a thread about this. Well done! Points for originality. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/10 "2024-05-06T16:19:26Z")
Trust me [image|202x249](https://boards.straightdope.com/uploads/short-url/erRFbydKpjSi0TIEsuZCtXAzNvP.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/11 "2024-05-06T17:18:20Z")
Is that the one you put down your sister’s back at the Carroll County picture show? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/12 "2024-05-07T01:47:09Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Yeah, there’s a reason those classroom frogs and other critters are well-soaked in various chemicals, and not fresh cadavers. Come to think of it, you’re right - I’ve never encountered a frog soaked in a fresh cadaver. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/13 "2024-05-07T02:12:29Z")
Personally I took the “F” in highschool biology. Wasn’t fixin’ to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/14 "2024-05-07T02:28:06Z")
The preservative are only relevant for things that have been dead for a while (like, say, so they could ship them from the supplier to the schools or whatever). Your problem was probably just that the disease that killed the frog involved a lot of pus (that’s probably what the lump was). Ironically, lancing the lump earlier just might have saved the frog. Though it would still have been stinky. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/15 "2024-05-07T02:36:36Z")
I used to hunt bullfrogs for food. Sometimes I would just hack off the rear legs at the pelvis but I preferred to cook the whole frog skinned and cleaned. I never adjusted to the smell of cleaning them. I am fairly hardcore when it comes to that kind of thing, but I just don’t like cleaning frogs. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/16 "2024-05-07T04:36:08Z")
Wow! I butchered, cleaned, and cooked a bunch of critters Mr. Wrek has drug in here. Frog legs included. I never heard of any one eating a whole frog. I’d have to be pretty dang hungry to go there. You don’t hunt frogs. You _“gig”_ them. From a boat. In a bayou. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/17 "2024-05-07T06:16:31Z")
Edit from above: I just looked. The legs are considered the only edible part of a frog. Do NOT eat a whole frog. A dog will only eat a whole frog once. Just once. They might kill 100s, play with it, tear it to bits, roll in its guts. They will only swallow one. And it will reappear pretty quickly. (Yes, I’ve seen it) ---
**Author:** ![TXRebel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6de8d8/32.png) [@TXRebel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TXRebel)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-frogs-died-and-i-tried-to-dissect-him/1001189/18 "2024-05-07T15:02:55Z")
Me too. I just couldn’t do it.