🦟 How Frogs and Toads Eat

🐸 1. They’re Carnivores

Frogs and toads are meat eaters — they mostly eat insects and other small creatures.
Their menu includes:

• Flies

• Crickets

• Beetles

• Moths

• Worms

• Spiders

• And sometimes even smaller frogs or mice (for big species like bullfrogs!)

👅 2. They Use Their Sticky Tongues

Their tongue is their secret weapon!

• A frog or toad’s tongue is attached at the front of the mouth (not the back like ours).

• This lets it flip out lightning fast — faster than a blink!

• Their tongues are super sticky, so when they shoot it at a bug, it grabs it like glue!

• Then they pull it back in and swallow whole.

(Fun fact: Frogs can catch prey in less than 0.07 seconds!)

😋 3. They Swallow Without Chewing

Frogs and toads don’t have teeth for chewing (some frogs have tiny teeth, but not for biting).
They swallow their food whole!
Here’s the really cool part:
👉 They actually use their eyes to help swallow — they pull their eyes down into their heads to push food down their throats!

💧 4. They Hunt by Sensing Movement

Frogs and toads rely on movement.
If something wiggles — it’s food!
They have great eyesight for spotting motion, especially at night when many species hunt.

🌙 5. They Eat at Night

Most frogs and toads are nocturnal eaters.
They come out after dark when it’s cooler and bugs are buzzing around.
That’s when you’ll see them hopping around under porch lights, catching dinner!

🌿 6. Tadpoles Eat Differently

Baby frogs (tadpoles) don’t eat bugs yet.
They start as herbivores, eating algae, plants, and tiny bits of debris in the water.
As they grow legs and turn into froglets, their diet changes — they start eating insects just like adults!