Toad Love

[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.