Little Brown Toads

[Cynere]

This morning my cardboard slope collapsed but all frogs and one tadpole were found sitting happily on top of it. I got a fantastic feeding response within seconds this morning after offering aphids. Luckily, we have a few grape vines that have heavy populations on them in some spots. We let the ladybugs control the aphids (they multiply rapidly when needed) and never spray them. I picked a tendril of grape vine covered in ants and aphids; most of the frogs went to town within seconds and the rest of them are watching their bold siblings with a learning eye. Finally, a food that is small and inviting enough.

[Charlotte Benedict]

Thats great about the aphids! Fruit flies are about that size, so you should have a good response from them too. I like Josh's Frogs, I order most of my supplies from there. Fruit Flies and Culturing Supplies - Feeder Insects & Supplies | Josh's Frogs It is natural that the land-going ones are more skittish, since the water was their protection for so long.

[Cynere]

Thanks for the suggestion. Make sense, outside many things would like to eat them. My family thinks I am crazy and that frogs/toads should eat whatever I throw in there. It's difficult explaining to them that they have instincts to eat hoppy/crawly things and will starve if there is no food item available that fits this criterion. I am very excited that they are eating the aphids. It looks like Josh's is out of the melanogaster cultures for now though. Those seem most appropriate as they toadlets are so tiny and don't climb well at all. How far do flightless flies glide? Do you think these toads can catch them?

As a separate question, what kind of humidity levels should I be keeping them in. They seemed lethargic a couple days ago so I covered the tank in plastic, that perked them back up but it got foggy in there. Now I have the plastic on the tank but with a vented section, this seems to be working well enough for now. I can't find a screen or lid that allows for ventilation but won't let food items through.



There were a lot more aphids on this branch. Of course all of the froglets have taken up residence together as far away from my face as possible. They seem to enjoy each others company or they are trying to make sure that their sibling possible gets eaten before them, I don't know.

[Charlotte Benedict]

Well, toads don't have to have high humidity levels, in fact they are comfortable far away from water hiding in leaves and forest floor debris. They may have perked up just because they are still going through the transition of wet to dry, so they may like it more humid while they are young. This is another website with feeder insects Buy Live Feeders, Insects, Crickets, Mealworms For Your Reptile there are a lot of good feeder insect websites out there. The fruit flies are so small, and they move only a little more than aphids, so the toadlets will have no problems catching them.

[Cynere]

I have paid for a fruit fly culture. There is only one late tadpole/frog left. Now may be a good time to change over to a more terrestrial substrate, with a little water bowl and some humid places. I am concerned about the somewhat stagnant water and paper towels as it has been a few days.

[Charlotte Benedict]

If the water is stagnant, or smelling at all, you need to change it. I just got some flightless fruit flies myself for my newly morphed frogs.

[Cynere]

It smelled kind of musty. I removed all the paper and changed the water out, rinsed the tank well while the froglets were in a bucket. They can apparently climb at least 4 inches up a smooth plastic bucket. Are they really toads? From what I have read, dark, Floridian tadpoles seem to be toads? I am not so sure. At the moment, all I have is white paper towels, I am aware they are not ideal but I guess it's better than slimy/musty water. How can I keep them from scaling 6 inches up the sides of the tank and then jumping back to the towels?

They are pretty active today hopping around occasionally, and sitting on each others heads. I wet the paper towels some and added a shallow lid of water with towel ramps. I put the tailed frog in the dish but he climbed out. Hopefully I am doing this okay.