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Thread: American Toad is constantly eating substrate and becoming impacted, what to do?

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    Junior Member wodesorel's Avatar
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    Default American Toad is constantly eating substrate and becoming impacted, what to do?

    We've had her (not sure it is a her, but it works for now) since early winter when we found her in my mother in law's basement after she had some renovation done. Since we didn't know how long she'd gone without access to food and a good water source and with snow fast approaching, we made the decision to keep her. I've been regretting that choice ever since.

    I cannot get her to stop eating her substrate. We started her off on cocofiber, and then potting soil, and now she's on peat moss. She's showing some overall signs of improvement (she had papery skin for months, but now she feels like a wild toad again) and her color and activity level has increased, but she's still eating substrate and becoming impacted on a constant basis. She is my first toad, but we've had a grey tree frog (found under similar circumstances) for two and a half years who is doing fantastic so she's not my first amphibian.

    I have been feeding her out of her tank in a clean plastic container for months now. I dust everything, and a couple months back I started giving her a cricket with Rescue Cal Plus and Reptivite (have it mixed for a MBD gecko) once a week as well. She also has a UVB light. Meals are a mix of mealworms, superworms, waxworms, earthworms, crickets and calciworms. She has a large water dish with dechlorinated water that is changed daily that she can soak in.

    She's not getting the substrate in her system from eating. She's deliberately swallowing it. And I'm not talking a small amount either! At any given time I'd say 1/4 to 1/2 of her mass is retained stool. She bloats up scary big (it's not air, she's solid) I have to soak her in a critter keeper for around an hour in warmish water to get her to go at least once a week, and when she does it's frighteningly huge. I've also noticed that she doesn't pee when picked up like every other toad I've ever touched has.

    She goes from this:




    To this after a soak. Look at the size of that stool!! It's solid soil. She is not being fed that much!




    The photos above are a couple of months old and were taken a few days apart, but this is what I've been having to do with her for months now. In the image above, she was still retaining some stool. I soaked her again the next day and got almost the same amount out of her again.

    This was taken last week after a good soak and poop. Her skin at least has gotten back to normal, but nothing else has:



    And yes, she really is that red/orange!

    Any ideas on why she might be doing this? Nutritional deficiency? I mean, she's a toad, it's not like I can put her on paper towels for the rest of her life! I'm very very tempted to dump her tank and replace everything with a chunk of the backyard instead. Give her something completely natural and see if it makes a difference?

    I can't find anything about this anywhere - I've talked with several vets and several rehabbers and they've never heard of this happening before. The best anyone could suggest was swap it all out for moss, but I really worry about her becoming impacted from that instead as I know that's a real risk. I'd even be fine with putting her back outside (we're in Ohio if that makes a difference) if it's the best thing for her. I have always been told though when taking wildlife from this area that they can't go back outside if they've been kept temperate through winter.

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    100+ Post Member Cliygh and Mia 2's Avatar
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    Default Re: American Toad is constantly eating substrate and becoming impacted, what to do?

    Probably due to some other type of problem, have you been dusting her food lately? What I'd do for now is make a setup that is just dry or damp paper towel, so there's no risk of any more impactions. Also, try feeding Canadian night-crawlers if you aren't already, they're easy to digest, very nutritious, and can be hand fed, making sure that no substrate gets in the toad

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    Default Re: American Toad is constantly eating substrate and becoming impacted, what to do?

    I would try regular Dirt, Something that is hard and can be packed down. When I mean hard I mean like clay dirt or something, something she can't dig up and eat. (If you do that, make sure you have plenty of places to hide. So she doesn't get to stressed out.) It might seem hard or mean because she is a toad and should be able to dig, but if she is harming herself and making herself this bloated, it might be the best we can do for her.
    How humid is your tank? Do you have a bowl in her tank for her to soak in?

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    Member gut's Avatar
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    Default Re: American Toad is constantly eating substrate and becoming impacted, what to do?

    Maybe paper towels would work, like one would do for a quarantine setup? Its not pretty and you'd have to replace it often for mold but everything else sounds too edible.

    EDIT: okay clearly my critical reading skills need work. I skipped the last part accidentally. Though putting her outside would probably kill her because if her dirt eating isn't husbandry related, what will stop her from doing it in the wild with no one to soak her? This is really a tough one, sorry its happening to you.

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    100+ Post Member Cliygh and Mia 2's Avatar
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    Default Re: American Toad is constantly eating substrate and becoming impacted, what to do?

    I think like I said before, the best thing to do for her is to place her on paper towels, so you can be sure she doesn't eat any substrate

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