Should I get a fbt

[Lexi101]

Im wondering if I should get a fire bellied toad. How much do crickets cost at petco or ani mart. Also is breeding crickets cheaper and easier than buying them? Please help! I don't have much money to spend on this, but I really want a toad so please help.

[arielgasca420]

crickets are cheap but you have to maintain them everyday. They make noise, they smell terrible if you dont clean their box, and they are escape artists. I breed crickets because I have two giant frogs and bearded dragon so they go through them quickly in a week. Your initial setup will be some window mesh $2, a rubbermaid box $4, water crystals $10-20, fruits and veggies, dog food, fish flakes, what bran etc per week $5-8, and you need another tupperware for egg laying $3, coco fiber substrate $3-4 and you need to start collecting toilet roll tubes and paper pulp egg containers for surface area. If crickets are cramped ina tiny spot than they will eat eachother alive.
your biggest initial cost would be in pumps, bulbs, and decor for your toad. you will have to change the filter in the pump every so often
the least expensive should be crickets. Crickets usually go for about 11 cents a piece at petco.
send me a personal message if you have anymore questions.

[FrogNoobie659]

Well I am getting a couple Fire Belly Toads soon, I have calculated all the prices of the tank setup+food+the toads. I will be spending around $215. The size of the tank I am getting is a 10 gallon tank. I would do a lot of research before you get it. The other guy who told you about the setup was wrong. Go on youtube and look up a fire belly toad setup to see what a real setup is like. Here is a link of the general stuff you need to know How to Care for Fire Belly Toads: 6 steps - wikiHow

[arielgasca420]

Well I am getting a couple Fire Belly Toads soon, I have calculated all the prices of the tank setup+food+the toads. I will be spending around $215. The size of the tank I am getting is a 10 gallon tank. I would do a lot of research before you get it. The other guy who told you about the setup was wrong. Go on youtube and look up a fire belly toad setup to see what a real setup is like. Here is a link of the general stuff you need to know How to Care for Fire Belly Toads: 6 steps - wikiHow

HAHA I hope you do not assume I am a guy because you are far from right.
I was estimating cost for a cricket breeding setup. This is how much I spent for my Blaptica Dubia colony as well as my Gryllus Assimilis.
The cost for a firebelly toad setup will be the most expensive, but If you are asking if breeding or buying crickets is cheaper than I would just buy them weekly since FBT do not get big anyways.
If you are tight on money than amphibians and reptiles are not the best critters to have (in my opinion)
If you are worried about the cost of crickets than maybe a tarantula would be a better option for you
#1) products and vet bills for exotic animals are outrageous
#2) the maintenance is labor intensive, especially for FBT because the pH has to be right and not getting algae to grow in your tank can be hard at first.
This is all possible as you get more familiar with keeping them, but if your parents are funding this or if you are paying with allowance than I would make a list of everything you need, ongoing supplies, and how often you will need to replace filters, bulbs, etc. before you buy one.
I have a full time job and I would say that about 1/4 of my paycheck goes towards all of my animals.

[Lexi101]

HAHA I hope you do not assume I am a guy because you are far from right.
I was estimating cost for a cricket breeding setup. This is how much I spent for my Blaptica Dubia colony as well as my Gryllus Assimilis.
The cost for a firebelly toad setup will be the most expensive, but If you are asking if breeding or buying crickets is cheaper than I would just buy them weekly since FBT do not get big anyways.
If you are tight on money than amphibians and reptiles are not the best critters to have (in my opinion)
If you are worried about the cost of crickets than maybe a tarantula would be a better option for you
#1) products and vet bills for exotic animals are outrageous
#2) the maintenance is labor intensive, especially for FBT because the pH has to be right and not getting algae to grow in your tank can be hard at first.
This is all possible as you get more familiar with keeping them, but if your parents are funding this or if you are paying with allowance than I would make a list of everything you need, ongoing supplies, and how often you will need to replace filters, bulbs, etc. before you buy one.
I have a full time job and I would say that about 1/4 of my paycheck goes towards all of my animals.

Oh wow, ummm well I have thought and a friend has a tank I can use use, and some hiding places and things. So the biggest cost was the tank and that's taken care of. I found crickets for cheap and the rest isn't that expensive. But in case I forgot anything can anyone provide a list of things I'll need? Thanks for your help guys. Also do they need like a heater or anything? Thanks!

[arielgasca420]

cannot help you there to the fullest extent. you will have to look up some care sheets and definitely browse through the forums about FBT
I know you will need some fish gravel, a dock for them to chill on, a lamp and bulb for a little bit of heat to bask, pH strips for the water, water dechlorinator, pump, maybe a heat pad (i dont know too much about their temperature requirements), vitamins, and thats all I can think of. I am sure there is more so keep up with the research and you will be fine
One thing i learned about these frogs, from reading these forums, is that they secret a toxin which can be fatal to them if you do not clean their tank on a regular basis. I think the normal cleaning routine is once a week at the least, but check these forums for some more tips on cleaning.
I know with fish you are supposed to leave about 25 % of the water in the tank for nitrogen fixation when you clean the tank. I do not know if this is necessary for frogs as well.

[Lexi101]

Do fbt need to have another frog of their sort in the tank, or can I just have one? And everyone that I can talk is totally against me having a water filter. "sad face"

[arielgasca420]

ive never seen a FBT tank without a pump and filter. I guess if you want to clean it more often without one than more power to you. maybe they are afraid of the frog getting sucked to the bottom and suffocating. If thats the case than I would put something around the filter so that the frog cannot get near the filter. maybe some mesh or decor?

[ToadTee]

I purchased two FBTs almost two months ago. They are some of the hardier species of toad/frog and do not necessarily require a heat lamp. My shopping list included a 20long tank (only because I wanted to spoil them), a mesh top, this aquarium filter (Tetra Whisper In-Tank Power Aquarium Filters - Filters - Fish - PetSmart) , 16lbs of large coral aquarium rocks (I ended up needing another bag later), and a couple of ‘hides’ one for in the water and one for the shore. I also bought water conditioner, a critter keeper for the crickets and Calcium supplemented feed for the crickets to ‘gut feed’ them with good stuff for the toads. I am still playing around with the tank set up even after this time.

I do a 50% water change once a week even with the filter, just to be safe. They swim all around near the filter, my lil male even climbed it once, but neither of them seem in danger from it. I did a full tank clean after the first month, but with the filter I could probably do that every couple months instead.

Something to stay aware of is that whatever gravel you get needs to be bigger than their mouths, i.e. too big for them to accidentally eat. They cannot spit out anything they manage to cram in their mouths so if they eat small gravel it can bind them up and kill them.

They are social lil toadies and do better if you can manage more than one. I’ve read that you can keep up to three in a 10 gallon and up to six of them in a 20 long like mine.

Hope this helps.