Toad Love

[Psychotic]

My very big female, Big Mama and her boyfriend Jabba woke up from brumation in early Feb. Much too early. Even though I kept them cool. I guess it got warm enough inside that they figured it was time to come out. Well the wild toads around here usually breed in April and May. But most of April was pretty cold. Tonight is the first time I've heard any males calling. So I moved my toads outside. Plastic tote and all. My male Jabba started calling as well. Inside he would sometimes puff his throat out and vibrate, but make no sound. I sat outside whith them for a while just listening to him call. I went inside and got a much bigger water dish for them. It's like 12" x 9". I filled it with water and went to my pond and got some mud and leaves to go in as well. I put Jabba in the water and he tried to amplexus my hand! I pried him off and set him down. He had stopped calling. So I started making the call and he started calling along with me (I know I'm a dork).

As all this was going on Big Mama was sitting in her basket and didn't seem at all interested. I left them outside for about an hour. I just checked on them a little before posting this and Big Mama was laying in the water with Jabba on her back. She seemed relaxed just laying on the leaves. She wasn't sitting rigid or anything. Jabba had tried to get on her earlier and she wasn't having none of that (doing death rolls). So I'm hoping she has accepted his advances and I'll have toad eggs soon!

In the morning I plan on getting out another tote and filling the whole bottom with shallow water and leaves. I think they would like the bigger water area. They are making a total mess out of the half land half water set up that I have right now. But I wasn't expecting Jabba to suddenly get all frisky!

[Mentat]

Congrats and hope you get eggs soon !

[Psychotic]

No eggs last night. Big Mama just decided to climb out of the water and back into her basket to sleep. Mama is sleeping and Jabba is still hanging on. Big Mama may have started reabsorbing her eggs. I know last month she was very rusty in color and the tips of her spikes were red (plus she was huge). She is still huge and rusty colored but her spikes are no longer bright red. If so, that is fine. I might have to try and get Jabba off of her if he is annoying her too much. I'm curious as to how long he plans on doing that if she is no longer gravid?

Anyway, I did make them a bigger water area. Big Mama was only interested in trying to climb up the sides. She is normally a very relaxed toad and will come to me when she sees me expecting food. She'll even allow me to pet her. But since Jabba has been calling she seems agitated. I've put them back in their regular home and covered all the sides with towels. Any ideas? Is she acting like that because she is no longer gravid and wasn't rid of Jabba? Should I remove Jabba sooner rather than later? It's my first time with them in breeding mode.

Sheesh bullfrogs are so much easier. If the female doesn't like the male she will puff up and make a release call. But with the silent female toad it's all guessing on my part.

[Psychotic]

They went back into the water a while after I covered the tub with towels. I heard some strange sounds but resisted the urge to check until just now when I heard them hopping around. I took a peek inside and there are EGGS!!!! However Big Mama is no longer in the water but still has a string of Eggs coming out of her. I gently put her back in the water but she hopped right back out! I think I'm going to try gently moving them back into the 100% water set up.

[Psychotic]

Put Mama back in water and went to prepare the bigger tub with shallow water. Came back and she was still in water and a lot more eggs out. As of right now she is still in the water and still has the string of eggs coming out. I wonder how long it will take her to finish? It's all very exciting to me! Once she is done I'm removing the eggs to the bigger tub to develop and hatch in. I'll most likely put them in my pond.

Edit to say that as soon as I hit post, I checked on them and they appear to be finished. Jabba hopped off and started calling again and Mama got out of the water.

[Nenegoba]

Oh damm Congratulations on your toad eggs! That is so awesome that you managed to breed your toads! What kind are they? Ive been thinking of breeding my bufo alvarius with a female but I still need a female and a bigger tank. I cant wait to see you post pics of your baby toads! .

[Psychotic]

They are American Toads. I remember someone asking for CBB (captive born and bred) American Toads and people saying they would have a hard time finding them because they are hard to breed in captivity. But the toads just did all the work! This wasn't hard or difficult. I guess people would have trouble getting them to breed if they didn't cool them for winter.

I'll take pictures of the eggs tomorrow. I plan on separating them from the mud and leaves. You can hardly see them mixed in there. I want them to be well fertilized before moving them to a bigger water area. I've read they can hatch in as little as four days. We shall see how fast they hatch at room temperature.

[Psychotic]

I think I'll have to make another enclosure just for Jabba. He is still ready for action and has been pestering Mama. Poor girl seems tired.

[Psychotic]

I removed a bunch of leaves that didn't have anything attached to them and netted out some floating eco earth, bits of leaf littler and mud. It took a long time to get it this clean. Luckily it was more leaves than mud.

In the first picture all the brown stuff among the leaves are eggs. The eco earth that the parents got all over the water stuck to the eggs.

In the second close up picture if you look to the left side, you can better see some egg strands. There are some white speckles that you can see too. The eggs inside the tubes are half black and half white. So you can see some black and white depending on how the tubes are turned.

[kueluck]

Lucky you.............a beautiful string of black pearls.

[Mentat]

Okay, let's have tadpoles soon !

[Psychotic]

After a few days of Jabba pestering Mama and not wanting to get off of her. I pried him off her back and separated him yesterday. However he shows no interest in food and seems a little weak from all the amplexus! Mama is a little deflated looking but is eating like normal. I'm worried about my boy though.

As for the eggs they are looking good. The are centers are no longer perfect circles and have developed very slightly. I'm curious when they will hatch.