Bufo (Incilius) Alvarius, Colorado toad ... at Pilzolli's place in germany

[Pilz Olli]

My Dear fellow brothers and sisters.
Want to share my viv setup and my Alvarius family. They are from Frankfurt (main) Zoo and from eggs of colorado toads held in captivity in germany.
All from the same hatch, from November/December 2012.

This is how they live. I rearranged it a bit, this is before the final position of everything. The big hollow log is now besides the heating stone on the right (not visible) And the little plants are taken away, a big plant is now beside the water bowl, which is now smaller. I will shoot more and actual and better pictures the next days.
The viv is 200x60x80. I will build them another one (1,20x80x80) and put them together (thanks OSB!) once they are mature. They really need the space, they love to cruise around and borrow!




This is Kermit, the smaller male:



This is Gonzo, the larger male:




This is the large female, Ellie:




And finally, Sue, the smaller female (still bigger than Kerm and Gonz ):



I will share the next weeks more about what they are doing and how they get along.
Gotta go sleeping now

Those are REALLY gorgeous animals, I really love them so much.
And they are very sacred, too!

Be all well, love,
Olli

[Mentat]

Hello and welcome to FF Olli! Thanks for sharing your toads .

[tgampper]

Hi Olli,
Welcome to Frog Forum
I used to live in Sohren (Hunsrueck) many years ago and visited the Frankfurt zoo several times. There are three Colorado river toads at the zoo I worked at and they are just awesome. You are really lucky to have some great looking toads

[Pilz Olli]

Thanks so much for your kind words, happy to be part of the family

I love them so much, was beautiful to feed them again this afternoon.
Ellie sits the whole day in the pool or beside, Sue was digged in sand below the large mangrove branch. Gonzo was digged somewhere half in the sand and Kerm is really a "fraidy-cat" being digged under another large branch. He's always digging himself down there.

The girls have huge appetite, the boys can't catch up and are not that fast with the Zophobas or crickets.

[Pilz Olli]

Dear Colorado "dads" (and mums),
is it normal that the girls hang out quite cool and the guys are shy and reserved, loving to stay hidden or borrowed???
What are your male toads doing compared to the females?
And could anybody tell me which size males grow up to, I know that girls can be as big as 20cms, right?

[Pilz Olli]

More pictures to share...




They are doing very well. And love their home. Except for Kermit, they are all outside under the sun/on the heating stone basking all day long.
Feeding is always a highlight, since they really get superambitious to get their pray. And best all of it

I wish everyone a happy xmas, much love and peace of mind.
Olli <3

[Pilz Olli]

Some more pictures for your pleasure. I should grab my big cam, always too lazy and take them with my cell' cam.

[Pilz Olli]

I've added a new vivarium to the old one, now where at 320X60X80(60). The new part now got a bigger pool and what can I say- THEY LOVE IT.

[Pilz Olli]

All of them are doing fine, toady greez <3

And their gender is now fully "visible". So we got Ellie being a boy and Kermit being a girl So they switched names, though they don't care anyway

[Mentat]

...And could anybody tell me which size males grow up to, I know that girls can be as big as 20cms, right?

Hello Pilz! Your enclosure expansion makes for a large home ! The last set of pics shows your toads in good health, congratulations. IRT your question above; the males average between 8–15.6 cm and the females from 8.7–17.8 cm. Those are average lengths and there are larger individuals with females reaching 19-20 cm .

[Pilz Olli]

Hello Pilz! Your enclosure expansion makes for a large home ! .

Thanx, Dear, atm. Ellie is the largest one, with something like 13cm but whoops, she is now a he and called Kermit (since Kermit turned out to be a she, haha)

And I can't stop advising everyone to increase their vivs for them, THEY SO LOVE SPACE to digg, to hide, to hop around. At night they are crazy diggers and move a LOT. So even with this big viv I'd love to go bigger, but can't now anymore.

[Pilz Olli]

Some more pictures from toad country...

[Mentat]

Toads look great Pilz; thanks for share! Like the guy on last set of pics... such a serious look ! You are lucky not local to me; otherwise would be pestering for toadlets when you breed them .

[Pilz Olli]

PIC Update.

[Pilz Olli]

New pix, just two. Ellie is soooooooo big already

[Pilz Olli]

I sadly lost Sue, the little girl, may she rest in peace.
She didn't show any signs of disease, was looking ok, till I found her dead. No idea what caused the death.
Only thing is she was always the little, while the others grew normal. She got enough food, no question.
But she was only 2 third of Ellies size.

Anyway, the others are doing good, here are pix from today:
2014.09.23

[Mentat]

Sorry for Sue's death . With out a postmortem it's impossible to know; maybe a genetic issue or some developmental problem involving baby/juvenile stages. Glad others are well; any sign of breeding intentions?

[Pilz Olli]

Afaik they have to be send to hibernation to get them into mating condition.
Which I don't do. Though it would be lovely to have this cute little tadpoles and toadlings.

[Pilz Olli]

Toadie Greez <3

[Adoptedtwins]

They are beautiful! I added two juvenile toadlets to my collection this year and they are thriving. I love the olive color and can hardly wait to see them as they mature into adults. Thanks for sharing!