How To Keep Frogs Out Of Your Pool (Ultimate Guide)

Today I’m going to teach you how to finally keep those nasty frogs OUT of your pool, once and for all.

Let’s be real: frogs can be a nuisance in the summer.

Not only do they tend to hang around your deck areas and pool edges, but you might wake up to find several dead ones floating around every morning.

Yuck!

So what’s a pool owner to do?

In this guide, I’m going to give you nine tips & tricks for finally keeping your pool frog-free.  

Why You Don’t Want Frogs in Your Pool

Aside from the fact that it’s really gross to have to scoop dead bodies out of your pool, frogs also contribute a couple of not so great things to your swimming area.

For example, did you know that frogs are prone to carry harmful diseases like salmonella?

If you keep your chemicals properly balanced, the sanitizer should kill off any unwanted bacteria, but it’s still preferable to keep it out in the first place.

They are also “known for encouraging the production of algae.”

They can lay eggs in your pool that turn into tadpoles, who then kick up a residue that blocks sunlight and encourages algae growth.

While this is touted as a benefit to the ecosystem, it’s a nightmare for pool owners.

Certain frogs and toads are also very poisonous to your pets, so it’s beneficial to keep them not only out of the pool, but out of your yard altogether if you have them.

So, how do you keep these poor little fellas out of the water so you aren’t constantly having froggy funerals?

Here is the ultimate list of helpful tips:

1. Use a FrogLog

A FrogLog is like a little ramp for frogs to hop on, bringing them closer to the pool ledge so they can jump out more easily.

Installing one of these won’t keep them out, but it will help them 

2. Turn the Lights Off

Lights attract bugs, and bugs attract frogs.

Try turning the pool lights off, along with any outside lights every night to get rid of frogs’ food source.

3. Use a Pool Cover

We always recommend pool covers for easier pool maintenance anyway, and one of the things they keep out is frogs.

Safety covers are always best so that children and pets aren’t able to slip in and get trapped underneath.

But any type of cover you use will help keep frogs out.

4. Build a Fence

If you build it…they won’t come.

Putting a solid fence around your pool, or even your whole yard, will keep most critters out at all times.

Just make sure the fence goes all the way to the ground without gaps.

Chain link fences don’t usually keep them out.

5. Keep Your Lawn Cut

Frogs like to hide out in tall weeds and grass, so make sure you are keeping all your vegetation well-trimmed and remove any tall plants that may be surrounding the pool area.

6. Try a Home Remedy

There are several home remedies you can try that won’t harm children, pets, or even the frogs.

They will just repel them.

• Vinegar: Frogs hate vinegar—it’s an irritant to their skin. Fill a spray bottle with vinegar and spray it in spots where they usually gather and all around the pool. You may have to do this nightly to keep them away.
• Coffee: Coffee also irritates frogs’ skin. Sprinkle used coffee grounds in the grass or plants all around the pool. Not only will this keep the frogs away, the nitrates in it are also good for your plants.
• Citric Acid: Spraying citric acid directly on frogs will actually kill them, but spraying it around your pool regularly will just keep them from approaching it. A lemon juice and water mixture works well also.
• Bleach: Bleach will also kill frogs if they get it on their skin. But if you keep it sprayed on the cement around the pool, it will help deter them. Just make a mixture of bleach and water to put in your spray bottle. Be careful not to get too much on your grass and plants as it can damage them. You can mix lemon juice in your solution for extra power.
• Salt: Salt is highly toxic to frogs and they will avoid it at all costs. However, high doses of it are also harmful to plants, so be careful with it. You can either sprinkle salt around the edges of your pool deck or cement area, or you can shake up a bottle of saltwater solution and spray it in the same places.

7. Declutter

Just like tall weeds and grass, clutter in your yard like stacked rocks and wood piles make excellent hiding places for frogs.

The cleaner your yard is, the less likely you are to have pests lurking around unseen.

8. Use Frog Traps

I personally think these are almost as unsightly as the frogs themselves, but if you can’t seem to get rid of them any other way, a frog trap might be your answer. 

These are basically contraptions where the frogs jump in, but they can’t jump out.

They are the same traps used by fishermen to catch crawfish and lobster, but apparently they work just as well for frogs. 

9. Keep the Water Moving

Since insects tend to linger more around stagnant or standing water, keeping your pool water flowing will help deter them.

And since you will be taking away frogs’ food source, you will in turn deter them too.

You can do this by setting your pump on a timer to get the water moving several times throughout the night, but that may not be quite enough movement to keep pests away.

A water fountain, on the other hand, can be a great solution.

You can also set it on a timer or just let it run all night to keep insects from hanging out.

Bottom Line

Keeping frogs out of the pool can be an issue of both cleanliness and safety for your family and your pets.

But finding the right ways to do this isn’t always easy.

If you live in a humid area, for example, frogs are often a lot denser than they are in dry areas—swampy southern states seem to breed amphibians faster than you can catch them.

In these cases, you might need to use more than one method to keep them away, and you might have to police both the perimeter of the yard and the pool to keep them as far away as possible.

Also, if you do happen to remove a dead frog from your pool, look around for any eggs they may have left, and remove them quickly before they have time to hatch.

Just to be safe, I recommend shocking your pool and running your pool vac if you have had an unusual infestation of frogs lately. 

It may take a little work, but getting rid of frogs is probably a priority for you if you have a pool.

Try one or more of these methods and let us know which work best for you!