American Toad With Broken legs?

[Hcarney2]

Well, I have just started making a terrarium for Frogs, Toads, and Fish. I just moved in to an apt. with a LARGE pond in the center of it. So I figured I would get some of the native frogs/toads and put them in my tank with my Fire Bellys. Some of the local young girls were playing in the pond catching frogs, I decided I would pay them a dollar for every frog they caught for me and got some of the local tadpoles as well. Two days later, one of the smaller ones came up to me carrying a medium sized toad in her hands. Its and American of that I am sure, she told me that she though it was sick, and asked if I could help it. So I took the little guy from her. She told me that it was easy for her to get because it wasn't hopping.

So ive put it in my tank with the others on the grass I have growing. It just sat there. I went to bed and the next morning I found it with its back legs sprawled out behind it. Head slightly berried in the dirt. So I picked it up, and looked closer at it. It pushed weakly on my hands with its back legs, but both its fount legs laid there limp. One I had it cupped in my hands it stop pushing and just sat there. Quite a friendly little guy I thought. Then, if feel over, its front legs berried under its body, and its head kind of snuggled between my fingers. CUTE!!! But, I notice that its front legs did not move at all. So I lifted it up and moved its legs around thinking "Maybe its broken", now i assumed that if it was hurt it might try and get away when I did this but no, its just sat there. I set it back down in the tank, and went about my business.

However its been 5 days now, and poor little toad hasn't moved much from his perch in the grass. I have placed worms, crickets, and shrimp pellets in front of it hoping that it would eat it. but the poor guy hasnt eaten any that I have seen. Now I have around 10 frogs, and 2 fire bellys in my 150 gallen tank with the toad. So I put about 20 crickets in the tank every 3 days. It might have also eatten the pelets but it doesnt look like any of them are gone (Didn't count them). So here I am worried about my poor little guy.

It was ribbiting ( would say croaking but I dont want you to think it died) today when i picked it up. That's a new development.

Any advice would be grateful!

[nicodimus22]

You might want to put him in a smaller container to feed him, where the bugs couldn't get away very easily, and others couldn't take his food. If he seems to have trouble getting them, you could always try wiggling them in front of him with tweezers or a toothpick, although if he's wild he might be too scared to eat from you after such a short time.

If the bugs are crawling right in front of his face and he's just not responding or showing any interest, that may be a sign of a big underlying problem, since toads are generally gluttons. In that case you might want to seek out a local vet.

[Kurt]

Hi welcome aboard.

First let me say I wouldn't mix multple species in the same enclosure for several reasons. One is toxicity, many amphibians produce skin toxins to protect themselves while at the same time they have porus skin that will easliy absorb toxins. So, housing frogs like fire-bellies or pickerel frogs with other frogs is a recipe for disaster, as they are both seriously toxic. Another reason is animals coming from different locations will be carriers of different pathogens for which they may be imune to, but another frog from somewhere else may not have the same immunity to those pathogens.

Second, the toad you speak sounds very sick to me and by placing him/her into the same enclosure as your other frogs, you may have put them all at risk of catching whatever the toad has. Always quarantine new animals for a minimum of 30 days before introducing them to an established population. To do otherwise is to risk one's animals.

Third, and this has nothing to do with the situation at hand, but to do with forum policy, could you please post your country and location in your profile. It helps us to help you that much better. Thanks.

[Hcarney2]

Well thank you for your advice, This is really my first time attempting to have nay kind of amphibians what so ever. Now when it came down to getting my cretin frogs that I have in my tank right now I talked to the pet shop before I put them all together. They told me that the fire bellys were fine to put in the tank with my others. In fact, they had their Fire bellys, Bullfrogs, Dwarfs, and water neut (or i think that's what it was) all in the same tank. I have not had anything die in my tank and Ive had it set up for about a month and half now.

I didn't think that the toad could be sick sick, I was just thinking that maybe the kids hurt him when they were playing with him. I have separated him now, and am going to do a full Clean out of my tank (Been needing to do that any ways). This post was really just to attend to my concern regarding his front legs.

The frogs that I have in the tank I caught in the pond when they were polliwogs, so I just assumed that if they were going to react negatively to the Fire Bellys it would have happened by now.

Hi welcome aboard.

First let me say I wouldn't mix multple species in the same enclosure for several reasons. One is toxicity, many amphibians produce skin toxins to protect themselves while at the same time they have porus skin that will easliy absorb toxins. So, housing frogs like fire-bellies or pickerel frogs with other frogs is a recipe for disaster, as they are both seriously toxic. Another reason is animals coming from different locations will be carriers of different pathogens for which they may be imune to, but another frog from somewhere else may not have the same immunity to those pathogens.

Second, the toad you speak sounds very sick to me and by placing him/her into the same enclosure as your other frogs, you may have put them all at risk of catching whatever the toad has. Always quarantine new animals for a minimum of 30 days before introducing them to an established population. To do otherwise is to risk one's animals.

Third, and this has nothing to do with the situation at hand, but to do with forum policy, could you please post your country and location in your profile. It helps us to help you that much better. Thanks.

[LilyPad]

Actually...certain illnesses can take several weeks to show up. Hence the 30 day quarantine. The toxins in the skin can lead to a very very slow death for these frogs, they might seem fine for a while, but after being housed together for a time, things can happen. A month and a half is nothing.

The pet store you got them from was just downright stupid. Those species should not be housed together.

It's not just how they interact with each other, but that they all have different types of needs too. A firebelly toad and an american toad and a tree frog for instance, they all need different levels of humidity, different temps, etc. You are going to stress these frogs and toads out and they are all going to die over time. You will be devastated in 6 months when one by one your animals start dying off. Take the advice of the experts in this forum. They know what they are talking about, they know 100x's more of what they are talking about than most pet store workers!

I have only been keeping for a month now and I would trust their knowledge far more than other resources.

[LilyPad]

Also, welcome to the board. If you take what the experts here say to heart, this is going to be an amazing resource for you while raising your amphibians.

[pac]

i had put a leopard frog up in my firebelly frog tank in couple i lost my firebelly and the leopard frog died so i dont like to mix species

[Greg M]

Welcome!

Amen to Kurt's comments! Mixing species is rarely a good idea - while I won't say never, it's something best left to the very experienced. I also personally believe that 60 or 90 days quarantine is preferable - it can take a while for certain health issues to become apparent. I also believe (and not everyone may agree) that profilactic Chytrid treatment is a must before a new frog/toad (especially wild) is introduced - without treatment, it is simply too easy to contaminate frogs in other cages. Ask if you need help with this. Finally, I really really highly recommend finding a knowledgeable vet in your area and taking the toad to see him/her. If nothing else, the vet would be able to humanely euthanize the toad if it is needlessly suffering. Hopefully, it won't come to that!

Very best of luck, and please post any questions that come up!

[artes]

The reason firebelly toads have the bright orange bellies is so that they can flash them to warn predators that they're toxic. The toxins ooze out slowly and will eventually kill the other frogs in time. The only time the toxins come out promptly is if the toad is eaten. Please remove any frogs from the firebelly's enclosure that are not firebellies, especially if they're wild caught.

As for the toad, I would try to find a vet for him, and get him set up in a separate and small enclosure, to help him catch bugs.

[Greg M]

I find that small "critter keeper" or similar plastic tanks, with a small water dish and paper towel substrate (a thin layer of paper towels that has been rinsed and soaked in treated "frog" water), make good quarantine cages. The small size of the cage and the paper towel substrate make it easy for the toad to catch food, and make cleaning a snap. Get two of them and it makes it easy to move the toad when cleaning. If you end up treating for chytrid or parasites, having multiple identical small tanks makes life so much easier.

PS. Keep the tank in a quiet location with appropriate temp so to not stress the toad...

[John]

Kurt has it. Legs aren't broken, it's just a very sick little toad. There could be several reasons for this but from the sounds of things this one is pretty far gone and there's not much you could do for it without some vet intervention, and even then it's unlikely to recover.