Toad leg amputation (lawnmower)

[nicodimus22]

Looks like an American toad to me (Bufo americanus.) Toads are pretty easy to take care of. If you're not up for it long-term, see if there are any nature centers nearby. Sometimes places like that take in injured animals for educational purposes.

The most common mistakes I hear about are people who use heat lamps/heat pads, don't use dechlorinated water, or have things in the habitat that can cause impaction. I do recommend feeding in a bowl rather than the habitat so that you can monitor how much the toad is actually eating, and to make sure no crickets are chewing on it.

[Christy]

Thank you very much for the ID, the information, and the advice! What types of items cause impactions? The care sheet recommended top soil as a substrate, but the kind we get around here (that is chemical free) is comprised of a lot of mulch pieces (they call it "forest floor".) Would I do better with the coconut bark, or some other type of substrate?

[kueluck]

Eco earth would do best since if they do swallow some it's okay. But the bowl method is still the best. Just sink it to ground level.

[nicodimus22]

But the bowl method is still the best. Just sink it to ground level.

Huh. I actually take the toad out, set her in a bowl, and drop the dusted crickets in with her. She snaps them up, and then I put her back. I'm just paranoid about rogue crickets chewing on her in the habitat, I guess.

[Christy]

Thanks for the help, everyone!

Our little guy is healing really well, so we decided it was time to give him some real substrate. We used a mixture of eco earth and moss. We also got him a log hide to use in addition to the plastic one, so he'll have multiple hides. We made a slightly larger water dish (but still shallow). I didn't want to get anything too deep until we see how well he does with the missing arm. The food bowl we have is also quite shallow. It won't work for crickets, but small worms stay contained to the dish. I'm looking for a good, deeper bowl that I can bury like Gail suggested. For now, he seems uninterested in crickets, but he did finally eat a wax worm for us, so I'm happy he's at least eating something. Hopefully as he gets more acclimated to his new captive environment, his appetite will increase. Here are some pictures of his new digs. It's a 20-gallon long aquarium, and we're keeping it in a corner of our kitchen for now (where there's little foot traffic and less noise.)

[nicodimus22]

Nice roomy tank! Mine is in a 20-long too. A couple of quick suggestions:

-Watch to make sure your toad isn't pushing up against/walking/jumping against the glass all the time. Toads don't understand the concept of a clear material. If you see this happening, you may need to make 3 sides of the tank appear solid by taping up some paper on the outside of it.

-This may just be my opinion, but I would just use plain Eco-Earth, deep enough to burrow in if he wants to. Moss is an impaction risk. If he goes for a cricket and swallows some moss by accident, it could get twisted up and stuck in his digestive system. Don't be too worried about making the substrate moist...toads soak instinctively in the water bowl if they get too dry. I've had mine for nearly 3 years on plain Eco-Earth (with a hide, some flat rocks, and fake leaves for ground cover) and she's doing great. Just make sure there is always dechlorinated water to soak in, and he'll be fine. My two cents.

[Christy]

Thanks, Pete! About the glass, we've had the two open sides wrapped with brown paper since we got him so he wouldn't stress. You just can't tell it from the pics. One side, and the back side, are against a wall and cabinet.

I will remove the moss if that's an impaction risk. We definitely don't want to cause any more problems than the poor fella already has.

Thanks again!

[nicodimus22]

Thank you very much for the ID, the information, and the advice! What types of items cause impactions? The care sheet recommended top soil as a substrate, but the kind we get around here (that is chemical free) is comprised of a lot of mulch pieces (they call it "forest floor".) Would I do better with the coconut bark, or some other type of substrate?

Well, I find that toads tend to miss a lot with their tongues, and yours may miss even more because of only having the one front leg. This leads to them accidentally swallowing other things sometimes. What causes impaction is when a toad accidentally swallows something that gets stuck in the gut. Pebbles, sand, bits of wood, pieces of moss, and things like that get hung up in the narrow parts of the digestive tract. Eco Earth is your safest bet, although top soil should be fine as long as there aren't pebbles and whatnot in it.