New to frogs/toads! Hoping I'm ready to get a Fire Belly Toad??

[SarahSaur]

Hi everyone! My name is Sarah and I'll be 17 in 4 days. I'm from Canada Ontario and I have 6 pets (plus fish) soon to have 8 or 9 I'm hoping.

Ever since my beloved betta fish died I've had and empty 10 gallon, I did my research and decided that the FBT was for me! I'm thinking of getting 2 because I read only 5 gallons per toad.

I think I have almost everything I need, I would just like some reassurance that I'm ready
So I have the 10 gallon tank, a low wattage water heater, a screen top, some Prime water conditioner, normal everyday fluorescent lighting, latex gloves, thermometer, lights to see them, a sponge filter and driftwood plus a few hiding spots.

Today I plan on picking up a floating lily pad or turtle dock, I'll be getting play sand(I'll clean it out really well! I've had to clean out play sand before for my fish.) and a misting bottle. Do I need anything else?

I have a few questions, do I have to feed them crickets or can I feed them just mealworms/earth worms?(Id rather not feed them crickets just because I dont think I'd like to handle them and hear them at night, but I will if I have to) Can I put Java moss in with them? Will they need a heater? My bedroom can get pretty cold at nights? Also, do they make a lot of noise? What time of they day do they make the most amount of noise?
Other wise I think I know the basics, don't pick them up if not necessary, they're an 'only to look at animal,' I know what to look for if they get sick(runny eyes/nose, not moving much, ect.)

If I get the tank setup today whens the soonest I can purchase the toads?

And thats about it! Thank you for reading!

[Mentat]

Hello and welcome to FF Sarah ! First thing to do is to read this article: Frog Forum - Fire-Bellied Toad Care and Breeding - Bombina orientalis and relatives. Unless your room is colder than their temperature parameters, you do not need to heat the enclosure. Myself would be careful with an over rated aquarium water heater, since you will have only a fraction of the tanks volume with water.

If the sponge filter is running in tank and seeded with bacteria, you can introduce frogs right away and change 25% water volume weekly. If filter is new, then do 25% water change daily for the first month or until both ammonia and nitrites reach zero. If new tank, you can cycle in two weeks using Seachem Stability or similar product. Do not use products that reduce ammonia, they will make tank cycling take longer.

You can feed them earthworms (i.e. Canadian Night Crawlers); but need to cut them (from pointy end) to a size that will fit in their mouths. Crickets are good. Size should be same or smaller than distance between frogs eyes and at that size crickets might not be noisy yet. Gut load them with lettuce, carrots, and crushed cherios/oats. Do use food supplements, more info on that in here: http://www.frogforum.net/food-feeder...schedules.html. Good luck !

[SarahSaur]

Hello and welcome to FF Sarah ! First thing to do is to read this article: Frog Forum - Fire-Bellied Toad Care and Breeding - Bombina orientalis and relatives. Unless your room is colder than their temperature parameters, you do not need to heat the enclosure. Myself would be careful with an over rated aquarium water heater, since you will have only a fraction of the tanks volume with water.

If the sponge filter is running in tank and seeded with bacteria, you can introduce frogs right away and change 25% water volume weekly. If filter is new, then do 25% water change daily for the first month or until both ammonia and nitrites reach zero. If new tank, you can cycle in two weeks using Seachem Stability or similar product. Do not use products that reduce ammonia, they will make tank cycling take longer.

You can feed them earthworms (i.e. Canadian Night Crawlers); but need to cut them (from pointy end) to a size that will fit in their mouths. Crickets are good. Size should be same or smaller than distance between frogs eyes and at that size crickets might not be noisy yet. Gut load them with lettuce, carrots, and crushed cherios/oats. Do use food supplements, more info on that in here: http://www.frogforum.net/food-feeder...schedules.html. Good luck !

Thank you so much, I ended up purchasing a toad yesterday! Yes my sponge filter has been in my other fish tank for a number of days collecting bactira so it should have bactria growing on it I also used half of the fish water/half of dechlorinated tap water so it wouldn't be so hard on the little guy.

I will keep nightcrawlers in mind! I bought him some mealworms from the petstore, I hope thats okay?
I will purchase a good food supplement today
Once again, thank you so much for your help and information!

[Mentat]

Mealworms and similar beetle worms are not good for staple fare, due to their high fat content and hard exoskeleton. Insects or earthworms are better food sources .

[Tongue Flicker]

Hey sarah welcome aboard!

[SarahSaur]

Mealworms and similar beetle worms are not good for staple fare, due to their high fat content and hard exoskeleton. Insects or earthworms are better food sources .

I will pick up some earthworms on my way home today, thank you for that information!

Hey sarah welcome aboard!

Thank you!