Surinam Toad

Originally Posted by Animalnstinct

Hey everyone,

I hope I put this in the right thread, but I just had a few questions on the Surinam Toad.

I have always wanted one of these guys and I hope to get one sometime soon, but before I do I want to make sure I'm properly prepared and do my research.

First thing, how hard are these guys to take care of? I just want to make sure I don't dive deep into something for a pro.

Also, I have read up on how their tank should be set up, feeding, etc. but I would love to hear some real live advice from people. I'm a bit nervous to get one as I was reading that they were super sensitive to a lot of things. How true is that?

Last thing I want to make sure and ask is where do you suggest I get one from? I looked online and couldn't really find any.

I'd really appreciate any advice or tips! Thank you so much guys! - Jenn

Assuming you mean pipa pipa, they are not hard to take care of IF, and this can be a big IF, you get a healthy specimen. This is one of those species where a lot of the ones in the pet trade are kept in extremely crowded and unsanitary conditions for varying lengths of time prior to export and sometimes after import as well. As such it is fairly common for them to be half starved, have severe bacterial infections, ulcers, and in general have one foot in the grave already. Such frogs often need immediate medical attention if they are going to pull through and a portion will be lost in spite of best efforts. However, once established and healthy they are pretty hardy if their few basic care requirements are met. As far as where to obtain one they are frequently offered on kingsnake.com but If you purchase one you should be prepared to deal with a sick animal as the chances are pretty good that it will be no matter what dealer you buy it from. About the only exception is if you get a healthy long term captive from a fellow hobbyist but you don't see those come up for sale very often.

Hi Jenn,

I have kept several over the years, but they seem to be getting more difficult to find. Sometimes they can be obtained through private breeders. Although, Pipa pipa is a really interesting species, Pipa parva (a smaller cousin) seems to be the big rage among Pipa keepers today.

Thanks for the responses! I really appreciate it!

I really like the kingsnake.com website you shared, there is lots of cool find on there.

In regards to being prepared for a sick frog, what should I make sure to have on hand for all the possible problems he might have so I can treat him right away?

Originally Posted by Animalnstinct

Thanks for the responses! I really appreciate it!

I really like the kingsnake.com website you shared, there is lots of cool find on there.

In regards to being prepared for a sick frog, what should I make sure to have on hand for all the possible problems he might have so I can treat him right away?

Paul has prepared a First Aid Guide for Frogs, you can click on the link in the Site Navigation on the left. I highly recommend Lymnozyme to prevent an outbreak of red leg disease. Paul's guide is outstanding and most complete.

Originally Posted by Animalnstinct

In regards to being prepared for a sick frog, what should I make sure to have on hand for all the possible problems he might have so I can treat him right away?

Well in your case a immediate trip to the vet would be recommended. In this particular species I would treat for a fungal and bacterial infections right off since so many of them have issues. In other species I would take a wait and see approach but not this one. The fungal treatment you can do yourself, you just need lamisil AT anti-fungal spray like you can get at walgreens and dilute it down. This treatment was developed with chytrid in mind but it is a pretty broad spectrum anti-fungal treatment. I usually just squirt the lamisil into the water till the mixture looks like it has reached the "right" degree of cloudiness and then soak the frog in the solution from 10 minutes to half an hour. That doesn't help much when you trying to describe it over the web but I am sure you can find some sort of formula for the proper mixture on the web somewhere. You would likely need a vet to get baytril for the anti-bacterial treatment as well.

Other than that I would just have a properly set up environment with plenty of live fish and other food items available and hope that the frog does well.