Does my toad look healthy?

[hokurai]

Hello, I just recently got a toad (bufo alvarius, to be exact) and I was wondering if my tank set up was good and if he looks healthy because he is wild caught and is around 2 and a half to 3 inches. This is a 20 gallon tank.




The right side is a hiding spot made of wood and in the back left is another hiding placeand I'm using spanish moss in the tank right now because it was all I could get on short notice and I've been feeding him about 4 crickets fed on ground cat food every other day. Any advice for a new toad owner? =D

[John]

The toad looks fine but I have bad news for you - that's definitely not a Bufo alvarius. Looks like a Bufo woodhousii to me.

[hokurai]

Hm, I guess it is. I thought that the colorado river toad was the only one that lives in this are but I checked on the woodhousii region and it overlaps where I am. I wanted a bufo alvarius so should I put this one back and look for an alvarius?

[Kurt]

Well, you can't keep them together. Also where are you? Could you pleas post your location and country please?

[hokurai]

Yeah, I'm in the US, california to be precise and a few miles from the colorado river. I'm going to have to check around at the river and the fields away town because all the ones that I've seen in town are apparently bufo woodhousii. And I let the toad I had go i the garden.

[Kurt]

The Colorado River toad is also known as the Sonoran Desert toad and there is a care article here on the Frog Forum. Now the big question, why do you want an Ollotis alvaria? I have two myself and I know why I want them.
Also I believe California law protects this species, so you may want to check with the state's department of Fish & Wildlife. You don't want to be caught with an illegal animal.

[John]

Alvarius has been pretty much extirpated in California, and in any case it's strictly protected in that state - you can't touch them.

[hokurai]

I'm aware that they are illegal but I want one anyways because they look awesome when they're big. I know that they are here as I've see toads that are 7 inches or so and that is the maximum size of these and the biggest north american toad so there are definately bufo alvarius around and I'm not worried about depleting them because I am literally less than 5 miles from the river/border near arizona and it arizona you can legally get 10.with a fishing license. And now that I know there are multiple kinds of toads here I looked up how to identify them. And if I'm caught with one, I'll say I must have mis-identified it.

[John]

*Shakes head*

We can't and don't condone this sort of thing.

[Kurt]

CA F&W is not going to buy you just miss IDed it. I cannot support this decision any more than John can. It shows a selfish attitude and a complete lack of respect toward the species itself. You're only concerned with your pleasing yourself and not with the welfare of this species. It is this kind of attitude that wipes out species from the face of the earth. Please reconsider your decision.

[hokurai]

The thing is it's kind of hard to take an environmental law seriously when you can jog in less than 20 minutes to where the law isn't there and it's the same exact environment especially when getting them here is completely legal and there you can gather up to 10 of them. Well, if I were to move to arizona like I have been thinking about then there would be no legal problem. Or am I missing the point entirely? I've heard that it's difficult but not impossible to breed them in captivity so there would be a niche to destroy the illegal transport of them by making a technique to breed them successfully as people would be willing to pay more for a legal and captive breed toad then for one that is illegally and immorally gathered. Wow, I'm getting way ahead of myself.

[Kurt]

In Arizona, the species is much more common and thus legal to keep there, but illegal to export out of the state. Captive breeding has been done on the species, but in very limited numbers. So if you were to get your hands on a legally captive bred Ollotis alvaria, it would still be illegal to possess in the state of California. The reason being is one cannot look at a CB animal and tell it apart from a WC one.
That is the case with the black rat snake here in Massachusetts. Pantherophis obsoleta obsoleta is native to the Pioneer Valley in the western part of the state, but since we are on the very northern part of its range, its numbers are very limited. So the state considers it to be endangered, even though it is very common in other parts of its range. Unlike Colorado River toads, black rat snakes are commonly captive bred, yet we cannot keep them here, unless they are some form of captive bred morph (albino, white-sided, and so on). Again because you cannot tell a CB "black" black rat snake from a WC one.
So unless you can get an albino alvaria, I wouldn't even bother trying to keep one. That is unless California law provides for the legal keeping of captive morphs.

[Malduroque]

"I'm aware that they are illegal but I want one anyways..."

Glad to see you put nature first. I'm with John and Kurt on this one. Hey, I live in So Cal and if I saw you do what you propose to do, I'd report you to F&W myself.

[Sophinx]

I'm aware that they are illegal but I want one anyways because they look awesome when they're big. I know that they are here as I've see toads that are 7 inches or so and that is the maximum size of these and the biggest north american toad so there are definately bufo alvarius around and I'm not worried about depleting them because I am literally less than 5 miles from the river/border near arizona and it arizona you can legally get 10.with a fishing license. And now that I know there are multiple kinds of toads here I looked up how to identify them. And if I'm caught with one, I'll say I must have mis-identified it.

I can't understand why you have come to this forum asking if your toad looks healthy? I'm actually quite angry that youve bothered to post this message. You've been informed that it is against the law, and you have decided to go ahead and have one anyway..Environmental laws are applied for reasons of conservation, if we all thought like you, then there would be no laws, or frogs. Just because a law hasn't been passed somewhere else does not mean that the law is wrong, especially envrionmental laws, they just reflect the status of a particular area.

I think you should definitely find a new hobby.

[jake96]

I'm aware that they are illegal but I want one anyways because they look awesome when they're big. I know that they are here as I've see toads that are 7 inches or so and that is the maximum size of these and the biggest north american toad so there are definately bufo alvarius around and I'm not worried about depleting them because I am literally less than 5 miles from the river/border near arizona and it arizona you can legally get 10.with a fishing license. And now that I know there are multiple kinds of toads here I looked up how to identify them. And if I'm caught with one, I'll say I must have mis-identified it.

These toads are believed to be extinct in California. If you do see some they are probably some of the few still here. The one you take might just be the last female here. Wouldn't that be horrible to be the one person that makes it impossible for future generations to see in the wild. And by taking it you will probably condribute to our already strickening laws on amphibians. But those are just my thoughts you make your own decisions.

[Paul Rust]

You cannot reason with people like this. Their selfish harvesting of threatened and protected species is the cause behind the decimation of countless populations. Given the species in question here and his stubborn attitude towards getting one I would guess he is just a stoner that wants to smoke it's venom. But then that's only my humble opinion.

[scribbles]

They are protected for a reason. It is because of people that think as you do that many species are threatened. Why post on a public forum about illegally keeping a species? You can't expect anyone to support you. This decision is incredibly selfish. Please reconsider the decision you are making, and show some respect for the species.

[GRATIOSA]

I know i'm new on here and i dont know anyone yet and i know i dont live in your country, although i would love to. I have to agree with you all. I would love to keep an Adder, a beautiful little viper, the only venomous creature in england. But in england theyre protected so your not allowed to keep them. So i have to respect that.