New Pet "Frog"

[Mentat]

Yes, vent is the pointy rear end . Looks cute but hard to tell species from your pics. Try and take a clear picture from above that shows the whole frog. There are around 9 toad species of toads in Texas ("The Great State of Texas" to Texans ) so yours should be one of them.

[BowtieZR5]

I'll try to get another picture from the top. He's burrowed right now. So, I'll have to wait.

[Mentat]

Since this is a father/son project, will leave a link to Wiki's Texas' amphibian article for you two to look at. Reads pretty good to me and does have links to individual species articles with pics that could help narrow it down. In the meantime we will wait for your picture posting and try to ID the toad. Also, be advised the Houston Toad (endangered so protected by Feds too) and the Mexican Borrowing Toad (threatened) are state protected: TPWD: Nongame and Rare Species Program - Federal and State Listed Species .

[Wormwood]

Looks like a common "texas toad" to me. I bought a few through a reptile show up here in Chicago and they are very hardy, much like Common American Toads which we have up here. I'm not sure of their proper name but the copper eyes are a dead give away for me. Toads are nocturnal so that 60 watt bulb you can put away as he won't need it so long as the tank has some access to natural sun light. It's good that your substrate allows him/her to bury fully under. If you want to see him out more I would suggest letting the coco fibers dry out and have a clean dish of water accessible for him/her all the time. You'll see a lot more back and forth to the water dish and I find this gives more opportunity to watch your toad feed and you can catch him/her in that transition mode.

[Wormwood]

And some nice fabric plants like ferns or other leafy plants which it can also hide under would make it feel even more at home. It also makes a toad work for it's meals if it has to jump and move around to catch crickets climbing up high.