All toads are twitchy and flighty... but some do calm down. Though yours may have been in bad care... Mine was when I found her in a petstore that had her amongst with 10 other toads in a 10gallon tank, a strong uvb bulb overhead, a small water dish(with no water in it... it was bone dry), the substrate was bark chips and to top it off it was with along three fire skinks. It was in serious horrible conditions. I took her in and she started puking up white gunk. Then I took her to the vet turns out she had parasites out of the wazoo. After being treated she still didn't settle down.

My friend wanted to take her in for a couple of months to study her. She's interested in reptiles and amphibians and knows their care very well. Plus she lived right next door to me. So I agreed. Now I have her back in my care and she's still fine. She's calmer than she used to be. So they do calm down after a while. I would say though adult toads are supposed to be more tame and less flighty than juvi. Cane toads in general are all flighty and paranoid. Ever seen the cane toads in aussie? How they treat em? In the south of usa there are people w ho treat em like th at too. So who knows what it could have been gone through...

Btw. Cane toads grow super fast so a 5-6inch one could possibly be within the first 1-3years. They're known to get up to 8inches I believe and there are some that get even bigger. The ones from florida ussually just go up to 5-8inch. 8inch for a really really old adult. Cane toads can live a very long time mind you so don't worry.


But I would just if you get the toad--- leave the lights off for a couple of months. It's what worked on mine. Then after a while re-introduce light by one or three hours a day. This will get it used to it(feed during light hours if possible-- something they love would be roaches).

After a couple of weeks change the light to 5hours a day. Then keep going to the full 12hour cycle. After you get back to that 12hour cycle keep near the terrarium and do whatever near it. Like I keep mine right next to the computer screen. So it'll get used to you. Don't handle it yet. Then after a couple of months start trying to pick it up for a few seconds to a few minutes inside the tank. After you pick it up make sure to feed it so it catches on.

This may work or may not. It worked on mine... So really just speaking from experience and would say there's no science facts behind it. Guess it's un-orthodox but yeah give it a try. May work. May not. Toads vary from specimen to specimen. some may stop being shy some will just be super defensive to the point there is nothing you can do.