Ok, before you get too excited, let me start by saying that I failed in my attempt to breed these guys. However, I thought it might be useful to describe what I did so that others can hopefully learn from it. The only toads offered in the hobby are wild caught (even though it's illegal), and I want that to change someday. These are amazing toads, and they need to be bred in captivity.

So last summer I bought 5 adult Colorado River Toads (Bufo alvarius) with the intent of trying to breed them. I had 2 females and 3 males. I kept them for about 5 months under normal conditions (fed them lobster roaches, mice, and fish). Then for a week in December I fed them extensively. I then stopped feeding completely for a week, and then placed a male and a female in hibernation on Jan. 5th of this year.

For the hibernation period, I had a 10-gallon filled with a mixture of peat moss, coco-fibre, and sand. I kept the soil somewhat moist (as discussed later, it may have had it too moist). I then placed this tank in a room that had a temperature of about 50-60 degrees F. After a few days, the toads burried deep within the soil, and they remained undisturbed for about a month.

On Feb. 6th, I took the toads out of hibernation. Thankfully they were still alive
I fed them 2 roached each at 1:00, and then 2 more at 3:00. The next day I placed them in the rain chamber.

Making the rain chamber was kind of a pain in the @$$. What I did was I attached a powerhead to some flexible tubing that was "glued" to the inside of a rubbermaid container (about the size of a 30-40 gallon aquarium) using silicone sealant. The sealant did not really "stick" to the container, so I had to just use clamps. I then drilled some small holes in the tubing to create a pathetic excuse for rain...
I used some gravel that had a neutral ph, some java moss, and a piece of driftwood in order to try to make the enclosure a bit more naturalistic.
I then filled the container with about 2-3" of water (5 gallons). I tried to match the water chemistry with that of the toads natural range. The kh was about 200 ppm, gh 100 ppm, and ph 8.0. I used a heat emitter, aquarium heater, and electric space heater to heat the water to about 82 degrees during the day and 78 degrees during the night. For some reason it was really hard to get the temperature where I wanted it, and it took some experimenting...
I also used a UV bulb just in case UV light had something to do with their breeding...

I had the "rain" on a timer so that it was on for an hour and off for an hour throughout the day. I had it off during the night. During the night, I played a recording of Colorado River Toads calling along with a recording of a rain storm repeatedly.

During this period, I tried to feed the toads extensively with feeder mice and roaches...

On Feb. 17th I decided to give up and took them out of the rain chamber.


Some thoughts:
1. In nature, these toads are in hibernation for several months, not just one.
2. The soil may have been too moist, as very little if any precipitaion occurs during the winter months.
3. Perhaps I should have waited for a while longer before placing them in the rain chamber? (i.e. fed them for a while in their regular tank, and THEN put them in the rain chamber)
4. Other unknown factors (atmospheric pressure, light cycles, etc.) may play a part in their breeding. The only information I could find just said that breeding is induced by the summer rains. I'd be surprised if it's really that simple. Unfortunately, it's people like us that have to find information that no one else cares about. It's sad, but honetly, that's the truth.

Anyways, that's what I did. I'd appreciate any thoughts

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