Constipated toad?

[jonpwn]

Hi guys. One of my fowler toads was acting abnormally today and it got me concerned. I am only home on the weekends from school so i was not able to see how my toad was doing during the week. However when i am home i usually take both my toads out and put them in the sink, fill it with warm water, and let them swim around for a couple of minutes to help them poop (sort of like walking a dog if you will) and get some exercise. Today i took him out and put him in the water and he looked like he was ready to drown..

I have attached a link to a video of the toad. It had it's legs almost fully extended even as it was trying to move. It crawled rather than hopped, it's feet were not properly planted on the ground, and it would spaz or tremble as it made a slow movement. at some points when it did try to jump, it would end up being flipped over and it would slowly twist itself upright (could not capture this on the video). I say slowly having seen it been flipped over and reverting itself faster than today. It kept squeezing in its belly as if it were trying to force out some excrement but nothing came out which made me believe it is constipated. In the video you will see some of its movements as well as my smaller fowler toad that acts normally for comparison. The larger one is the more aggressive one, I always hear it banging into the walls of its "tank" when it's not burrowed in the substrate. There is a short segment that shows my simple "tank" setup. I use "Zilla Jungle Mix" and on the bag it includes "ideal for toads" although google does not mention it. I do not know when the last time it defecated was, but 6 days ago there were maybe 6 or 7 crickets and now there are 4.

Please take a look and let me know what the possible condition(s) may be. As of posting this thread, he seems to be acting normally again, jumping when prodded and retracting hind legs. I don't see any defecation anywhere but i may have missed it hiding in/under the substrate.

thank you in advance for reading and helping!

2011-12-10_22-34-26_865.mp4 video by jonpwn - Photobucket

[Squirp]

I'll tell you my concerns.
the warmer the water you use, the more minerals are deposited. be aware of the condition of your water.
Sinks are often victim to a lot of biological and chemical deposits. You are always leaving traces of toothpaste, hairspray, and biological waste.
With that in mind you could achieve something more ideal if you used Cold water, and set up a heat lamp, some shade, and maybe deposit some perching and traversing stones. Only because the exercise your giving them is straining their muscles. slick and sticky surfaces wear and tear on a toads stumps, some plastics that are textured work better, but porcelain, ceramic, and glass would be something I would get my Netherlands kicked over.

I don't think you should push on their stomach. if anything lightly feel for something hard and solid, I'd worry about it's digestive tracks, they will gobble anything. seek medical assistance if this is the case. something to keep in mind when dealing with fake moss bark and rocks.

Honestly, it looks like your toad may have just gone into shock from handling and instantaneous changes in environment not understanding the surface he was walking on. It sounds more like he clammed up, because he wants to hide couldn't find cover, and felt hopeless. I can't say for sure, I hardly ever handle mine, I assume it's terrifying for them.

I'm also worried about the little guy. He's going to get eaten. You should build them two proper and separate containers or divide one. get some top coverage, and things to hide in, and under.

[Wormwood]

I'll second everything Squirp said, especially the little toad which is easily bit sized for another toad that large.

[jonpwn]

Thanks for the information and the concerns. I was not aware of warm water and proportional mineral content, but the sink i use for my toads is rarely used for washing, brushing teeth, etc as i have two sinks next to each other and nobody else in the family wants to use that sink now that i've had toads in it.. i brush the sink down (not with soap) before filling with water. The two are in separate containers and are only next to each other when i put them in the sink under my visual supervision.

I've handled both toads numerous occasions before and neither experienced shock, or at least no reaction like what i saw today. I know toads aren't meant to be handled and i try to coax them into my hand and lifting them up rather than picking them up. The little one usually hops right on but the big one tends to run. I've had both for almost 5 months now so it was weird seeing this for the first time. It seems fine now and I will look into getting a house structure of some kind for them to hide under.

thanks for all your help, glad to hear it wasn't life threatening.

[Squirp]

it's also okay if they don't go to the bathroom regularly. their metabolism slows down in the winter,
and sometimes I feel like they naturally like to hold that stuff in as a first line of defense.
feed them some appropriately sized earthworms. I found toad waste frequently when they had to eat those.

[Squirp]

jonpwn, please don't get the impression I'm going to lay into you on this, but I've seen some people on youtube get ripped apart because they don't build considerate enclosures for their toads.
What you have to the side of your tank appears to be a cold wet plastic enclosure. Could be just naturally dark soil, I don't want to know, because there is an equally long scientific mumbo jumbo about the different elements, and yellow cake uranium or something.. idk. Fowler's do seem to enjoy water a little bit more than others, but most of my toads like it dry and warm. With what your going for, you could make and interesting travel case, assuming your not ready to build them a nice display case. You could probably invest no more than 50 american federal notes and have something impressive. Luckily for you most of us are willing to help you learn how to step up your game. social platforms like this can be more dynamic then searching Google, I had to ask a lot of compatibility questions about everything. It's never ending. cute toads though, I foresee a lot of nerd girls gushing over them.

[jonpwn]

no not at all i'm always open to suggestion and i know my setup isn't the best or even optimal. i've done some research on building a terrarium and i have a general idea of what to include but money is always an issue. I think i will slowly piece together a good habitat once school is over in a week.