Crickets, UTH, noise and more questions

[Kurt]

Fire-bellies are a primitive frog that lack a resonating chamber like most frogs possess. So their call is very quiet and kind of soothing actually. Half inch crickets and smaller do not make noise. Inevitably, some do escape, get used to it. It is a very good idea to gut load crickets, also you should be feeding them if they are not going directly into the frog's habitat.
Blood worms are no good as they come frozen and don't move, thus not gaining the frogs attention. Mealworms are ok once in a while, but at high in chitin, a material similar to keratin. Over use of them can lead to gastrointestinal impaction, which in turns leads to death, if left untreated.
Fire-bellies, Bombina orientalis are a temperate zone species, so 70 is fine.

[S13]

I use the "cricket keeper"

I dont give the crickets much hiding space within the container itself so they usually hide in the tubes. Remove a tube carefully, tap the tube against a counter top with the open end leading to my glass bowl. (crickets cannot escape from a glass bowl). Place the tube back into the cricket keeper's opening, then I place the bowl in the enclosure. When I have to dust I do the same exact thing however, once they are in the bowl, I put them in a sandwich bag with the calcium or vitamin and i dust them, then return them back to the bowl. Hope this helps.

[foghat]

Thanks for all the great information. Will have to give things some more thought.

[foghat]

Okay, been digesting this info and thinking some more. A few more questions:

In a 10 gallon tank, would 2 toads be sufficient to keep each other company? Or should I have more?

As I understand it, for 2 toads about 6 crickets every 3 days is sufficient. Correct? If so, 100 crickets would last me about 50 days. Will crickets live that long (assuming they are being gut fed)? Will 3 week old crickets be too large come day 50?

Regarding gut feeding - should I just have a constant supply of eligible food in the keeper? Or do crickets need to go on a feeding schedule as well?

I've read crickets smell? Will a max of 100 crickets at a time stink much?

Any further opinions on depth of water? My pet store has the toads in half to 2/3 filled tank with only turtle islands for the land. Sounds like it does not need to be that deep. Is a pump/filter necessary? I would imagine using one will allow for less frequent water changes? At what depth does some sort of pump become beneficial/necessary - would like to keep the tank as low maintenance as possible in terms of water changes.

Reading the care guide, it sounds like the regular fish tank gravel is not a good idea for the land portions due to possible ingestion? I would imagine it is fine for the water portions?

If I end up with a male and female, do I have to worry about breeding? I don't want any unplanned toads..

Thanks a lot.

[foghat]

Also, for the tank lid, does it need to be screen? Or will the regular 'aquarium' lid that came with the tank suffice?

[heyjude2200]

Yes, FBT's require ventilation, therefore need the screen top. Also, buy crickets for my 7 FBT's online, 500 at a time & keep them in cricket keepers. I buy 3 week crickets, they are fairly small, and so the frogs eat more of them initially, but otherwise they get too big before I use them all. I keep chunks of egg cartons in the critter keepers for them to hide under. They are relatively easy to maintain. I have 2 cricket keepers and I keep them in the bathtub (when it isn't in use of course) If one escapes it can't get out of the bathtub, so it's very rare that one escapes.