Exchanging insight

[Squirp]

Whats going on here?

[Wormwood]

Some short answers since no one else is answering.

I would try a library or a book store and get yourself one of those great amphibian guides in the guide section. Most have the scientific names of most species; granted they won't have every little sub species in them but it's the closest you'll get I bet without talking to some zoologist that focuses on amphibian study.

Fruit flies, mites, springtails. If you don't want them let the substrate dry out, be it sand or coco fibers. You don't need wet, or even moist substrate to make most toad species happy. All of my toads live in dry tanks with a water source I change daily, or at least filter with some kind of pump system. IMO it gets the toads out and moving about, having to go to the water source for hydration. Even fire belly toads do fine with a dry side of the tank and a sectioned off water side.

I've got good and bad experiences ordering bugs online. I'd rather drop twenty bucks for 500 super worms online though then spend fifty at some pet store, even if some die in the process of shipping. Same goes with crickets and most other feeders.

From my experience most toads are wild caught since toads don't bring much profit in pet trade. The ones that do are the massive ones like Rocco and Suraname toads and these require MASSIVE ammounts of food to get to the size where they are worth the 80-100 bucks some venders charge them. Toad tadpoles are surprisingly fragile as well. That's why they are most or less wild caught. Your information on breeding toads will be limited because of this. I can't even give you any advice there because in all my years of keeping toads I've never had them sucessfully mate in captivitiy.

Good luck.

[John]

Just to add to what Wormwood has already told you, unless you are able to put the toads through a seasonal photoperiod and temperature reduction over a number of months, breeding these toads will be next to impossible. Few people breed them successfully, or any temperate frog/toad/salamander for that matter.

Bufo americanus habitat is quite varied. They're a hardy toad, but I would say you should think of deciduous woodland as being the main habitat for adult toads. As for breeding habitat, they will breed in almost any water body available in the spring, from very shallow drainage ditches (we're talking a cm or 2 of water max) to deep ponds.

[Squirp]

I'm curious if there are any more common type of insects that I should keep away from my toads,
I understand that soft bellied insects are good to keep in mind for the toads diet.
Then I read spiders are a good snack, So I ran around collecting any slower moving bulb spider I could catch, and they seemed to enjoy those.
I've avoided feeding them earwigs. or millipedes. up until this point, but it would be nice to know if it was okay to feed them these, because they are very plentiful outside.
The fall season is almost over, but I usually have a surge of box elder beetles around this time, is their stink gland something that could damage the toads? I fed one to my strongest toad, and everything seemed normal.
I have the same question for the Asian lady beetle.
I don't know, anything else I should consider?

It shouldn't go without saying, but I'd like to thank you two for the help, and to anyone else who wants to lend some advice.

[kueluck]

I'm new at keeping toads (raised toadlets since July 2011) but this is what I have going on: 2 Fowler's toads in a 40 gal breeder tank, the substrate is a mixture 50/50 of organic potting soil & eco earth and it's great for them to bury themselves in, plus it will hold moisture. I have live moss over the entire floor but removed small patches where the hides are. Live plants they will just dig up, so I have several hides and also things for them to climb on. I've mail ordered bugs and it works out great. Their diet consists of pillbugs, earthworms, waxworms, crickets, roaches & butterworms. Also the occational moth I can catch. So far they are doing great. You can check out their habitat in my albums. I don't know if any of this helps but so far it's working great for me.

[Squirp]

kueluck,

I like your set up, where did you find the moss? I found some out by my fence line outside but it's more of a clover mix. trying to dig it out amused me because it all fell apart like a cheaply made shag carpet. Your habitat is very natural looking, great place to raise happy toads.

[kueluck]

Thanks Squirp. I get moss from the neighborhood, all the homes are backed up to the woods so I have tons of moss to choose from. I really like this leafy feather moss, it holds up well and stays green even if it dries out. And my goal is to be able to tend to happy, healthy toads and frogs.