Common American Toads

[dixaisy930]

My friend caught two little tadpoles is a ditch puddle, and just kept them in a bowl (about 1/4 gallon) fpr about a month. She wanted to get rid of them, so I said I would take them and set up an old 10 gallon for them (I thought they were still tadpoles...didn't know they changed so fast!). She told me they were frogs....turns out they are toads. They have lost most of their tails, and are in full toad form. I had set up the tank for frog tadpoles, so I had to make some changes when we got home.

Anyway, my questions are (since I've never had toads/frogs before) should I have a filter or atleast airstone in the water section for them, or will changing the water every other day or so be sufficient? What should I feed them? Will frozen foods like bloodworms and brine shrimp work (she was feeding them fish flakes)? I would like to let them go when they get a little bigger (right now they are only the size of my thumbnail SO CUTE!)...will they be able to figure out how to get food etc. if they've been in "captivity"?

Should it be a completely dry tank, or should I have water in the bottom for them?

Just one more animal for me to become fond of....

 

[Panther]

If you want to let them go, let them go now or as soon as their tails completely disappear, otherwise captivity can impair your toadlets' ability to survive/find food on their own. If you want to keep them, give them a dry setup with a fairly large, shallow waterdish. Dirt works as a substrate; you can also have peat moss and rocks too large for a full grown frog (2-4 inches long) to swallow. Put in plenty of plants and decorations for them to hide in. UV lighting is not necessary (though probably recommended). As they get older, they will require live foods--they hunt by sight and will only snap up things that move. Pretty much any bug will work for these guys--crickets, worms, cockroaches, grasshoppers, flies, you name it. Sprinkle calcium/vitamin supplement on your toads' food a couple times every week to keep them nice and healthy.

Good luck! (you'll be a strong person if you can actually get yourself to let those babies go--they're so cute! )

 

[dixaisy930]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll probably let them go, since that's what I was planning in the first place. It would be nice if they stuck around this general vecinity though....I haven't seen a toad around my house in a few years.