Toad calcium & vitamin supplements

[kueluck]

I drop in (one at a time) roaches, crickets, wax or butter worms and watch to see who is eating what. I try not to leave anything in the tank so I can monitor who is eating what but then I feel sorry for them and will leave a couple of crickets or roaches in the tank. Since the calcium or vitamins wear off it kinda defeats the purpose of dusting them. They use to eat non stop with the tweezers about a month ago then just stopped taking from them. For awhile I was afraid they were over eating and both were getting really fat, but I still offered food until they turned away. They are both really active at night, just not eager to eat like before.

[LazyEyedFroggie]

Do they eat the leftover insects in the tank? Another possible way to go is to take them out of their tank for about 15 minutes a day and put them into a slightly smaller container with a few bugs. Monitor their acceptance and interest in hunting the food. If they don't eat then they could be stressed from that method and human handling, it doesn't work for all toads, but for mine it works beautifully. That way you can also make sure they remain dusted, and keep in mind that not all have to have the calcium/vitamin dust on them

[kueluck]

They eat the bugs eventually, but my concern is by then the crickets or roaches have cleaned the supplements off. Kinda defeats the purpose of dusting them. I've also tried doing the container feeding using see through, large, small containers, colored containers & all they do is jump up to get out. That's why I'm thinking about feeding every other day. They do eat, that's not the issue, it's the fact they don't always eat when the feeders are dusted. There are calcium/vitamin enriched feeder foods, will this substitute for dusting? I guess I just worry to much about them. They seem happy and healthy, at least they look like healthy toads.

[LazyEyedFroggie]

Those two are gorgeous!

The calcium/vitamin enriched foods will not fully substitute for dusting, but it will ensure that things will be fine if some of the dust on the insect wears off. At first, when I tried feeding them in a separate container they just wanted to get out, but they'll get used to it. I find that a large tin bowl works very well, because when the crickets move there is also a reflection, and it draws the toads attention quicker. Also, if you use freshly dusted crickets, a black container works beautifully and brings out the whitened insect. I know that toad's eyes don't work the same as ours, but I swear it works better! Also if you put quite a few bugs in the container with them, they have higher odds of becoming interested. Hopefully this helps your calcium dust issue! It won't wear off too quickly

[Squirp]

kueluck,

I don't see any problems with your toads diet.
It's a really rounded course, and especially with the pill bugs, you shouldn't have to worry about calcium, those crustacean's shells are packed with enough to keep that aspect of nutrition in check. Recently I've enjoyed watching my toads wrestle down giant earthworms, and after they're finished they will almost instantly burrow, sleep, and digest their victorious accomplishment, and after that, the following night they will seem more active.
as for their behavior, it seems appropriate for this time of the year.
You can do a number of things to manipulate the toads environment, making changes, moving things around.
Reposition your light throughout the day, or randomly adjust their humidity, sometimes this can pull them out of hiding,
but more or less I've found that these colder months are just a good time for the toads to focus more on the lazy aspect of being a toad, versus the gluttonous fat morsels we've come to know and love.

[kueluck]

Squirp, thanks for the input. I did not know that pill bugs were a good source of calcium.......learned something new today! They have slowed down on their food intake for several weeks, but last night both took down a butterworm, or two and some crickets. Of course this put my mind at ease.................well at least for now. Here in NC spring is right around the corner and my hope is they will return to their eat everything that moves attitude once again. As for changing their surroundings, I'm always rearranging their tank, adding and taking away hides, rocks, leaves and such, and adjusting the light so that it is'nt as bright to give it that "cloudy" feel. As I've said before, I'm just trying to keep them happy & healthy.