My students collected and brought to school several gulf coast toads over the fall semester. I have taken them home in an attempt to hibernate/brumate them, as we would love to host a successful breeding this spring here in South Texas.

The 5 toads are being housed in a 40 gallon long tank with plenty of space to burrow and hide. I fed them very well until it began to get below 40F outside, when I stopped feeding and moved the tank to a room in our house that is usually pretty cool (probably low 60s) and turned the light off. The tank is next to a window, so I'm hoping the natural light cycles will help them decide to slow down.

The toads dug down and hid for a few weeks, but now they're back up, huddling together, and looking at me! They've been this way for a couple days now. We still have another month of "winter," if you can call it that in Texas. Should I continue to withhold food and warm temps?

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