Is my toad young or underfed?

[Jessifer]

My toad is rather small. I have tiny hands and he fits perfectly in one. What I'm wondering is if I need to feed him more or if he's still young. Is there a way to tell? I know I should be feeding him more but I don't know if it's a contributing factor to his size or if he's just small because he's still growing. He has gotten bigger since I took him home. He came from my dad's backyard so there wasn't anyone to tell me if he's still growing or not. I know a fat toad is a happy toad and a thin toad is a sad toad. I just need to know if there's a way to tell if a toad needs to be fed more or if he's just growing, explaining his petite figure.

[crazy]

My toad is rather small. I have tiny hands and he fits perfectly in one. What I'm wondering is if I need to feed him more or if he's still young. Is there a way to tell? I know I should be feeding him more but I don't know if it's a contributing factor to his size or if he's just small because he's still growing. He has gotten bigger since I took him home. He came from my dad's backyard so there wasn't anyone to tell me if he's still growing or not. I know a fat toad is a happy toad and a thin toad is a sad toad. I just need to know if there's a way to tell if a toad needs to be fed more or if he's just growing, explaining his petite figure.

Can we get please get a picture?

[Jessifer]

Here's an overview of a normal 10 gallon tank. That's how big he is compared to it. If you need a better picture of him I can get one later and upload it. I saw him on his rock earlier and it looked like he was leaning against the glass almost like he couldn't stand himself up. His eye was also closed (transparent eyelid) and it looked a bit glossy. I thought maybe he has something in his eye. I picked him up to look at him and he was suddenly back on his feet and he opened his eye. It was probably just him being scared when I picked him up.

[crazy]

can't tell from the picture but the toad doesn't look to be underfed.

[Charlieamanda]

If its a male toad, he'll "chuckle" when you touch or hadle him, he'll be smaller than a female, some as adults are just small.
im assuming its a American toad if caught from the wild.
I have 5 and all my males vary in size and they're all adults which I personally raised from tadpoles so I'm positive of their ages.
A better picture would help with something of a standard size next to him for comparison.
The good news is that toads and most locally caught frogs tend to be fairly hardy. Toads also are voracious eaters and unless they're sick or stressed will usually eat anything that moves and will fit in their mouths good luck

[Jessifer]

This is him compared to a toilet paper roll. Also I'm unsure of its sex for a while he would sit in the water and sing but he hasn't done that in a while now. I'm also a first time toad owner so if anything is a bit out of the ordinary I worry so I apologize if I ask stupid questions. I'm also wondering what to do if he doesn't eat because that may or may not be an issue right now. I honestly can't tell since I just put in crickets so he can eat whenever he wants. I tried to manually feed him mealworms and it worked for a short while. Now he only eats one at a time and won't eat another one until later that night if I've given him one in the morning. I feel like that isn't enough so I don't know what to do. :s

[Charlieamanda]

Looks fairly chubby and a good size I definitely say he's at least a yr or more, probably more. If he's recently been wc (wild caught) he'll be stressed for a while and will rarely take hand held food unless really hungry. I usually dump in 3-4 3/4"-<1" crickets every few days during the warmer months and 1-3 1-2x's/wk in colder. They poop GIANT poops about once a week or more so that's a good sign hes eating and not constipated. Start handling him after about a wk or so just to acclimate him and reduce initial stress, then hold him a lil each day to get him used to it if your planning on keeping him, if not try to keep contact to a minimum.
If he chuckles when you hold him it's a male and males usually have dark spots and patches under his chin. It he does his trill call again its a male for sure, females are silent.
I have 4 males( just brought one in cause he got stepped on) and 2 females and a few dozen toads in my yard plus a few thousand toad tadpoles in my pool!
Don't worry about any questions we all have to learn somehow and better to ask than not

[Charlieamanda]

Btw youve got an american toad Buford Americans aka common toad and probably is full size and a lil chubby, so looks good and healthy

[Jessifer]

I know I have a common American toad I took him/her home about a year ago due to an accident with his leg. I saw that leg just this morning and you can definitely see some bone there. He only has three feet so I don't want to put him in a dish that is too deep. I don't think he can swim very well. He certainly can't hop as well as a four footed toad. I've never seen him hop except out of my hand. I'm just worried I'm not feeding him enough but if he's hungry he should just eat the crickets I got him and hope that everything goes back to normal. I'm also curious, can toads change their sex? I know some animals can.

[Charlieamanda]

Im pretty sure they dont change sexes at least none ive come across yet but theres always new discoveries so maybe some day we'll find a species.
I thought you just took your lil fella in so sorry for going to the toad basics.
even missing a back leg/foot, ive got 3 gray tree frogs missing limbs too, and they adapt quite nicely. If you have concerns put a few rocks in the bowl so he can "hang on" and submerge to a comfortable depth, ive actually found a couple toads over the past few days missing back legs and you should've seen them in the pool/pond in their mating frenzy! They were flung by the other males feet over head and swimming well so they can adapt well but you need to be comfortable so do what you feel ok with.
To me your toad looks pretty normal and chubby so whatever your doing he looks good unless something has recently changed? Id check for poop, its a pretty good guage if hes eating if you can't tell how much hes eating.
btw its Bufo Americanus...stupid autocorrect! !

[crazy]

Im pretty sure they dont change sexes at least none ive come across yet but theres always new discoveries so maybe some day we'll find a species.
I thought you just took your lil fella in so sorry for going to the toad basics.
even missing a back leg/foot, ive got 3 gray tree frogs missing limbs too, and they adapt quite nicely. If you have concerns put a few rocks in the bowl so he can "hang on" and submerge to a comfortable depth, ive actually found a couple toads over the past few days missing back legs and you should've seen them in the pool/pond in their mating frenzy! They were flung by the other males feet over head and swimming well so they can adapt well but you need to be comfortable so do what you feel ok with.
To me your toad looks pretty normal and chubby so whatever your doing he looks good unless something has recently changed? Id check for poop, its a pretty good guage if hes eating if you can't tell how much hes eating.
btw its Bufo Americanus...stupid autocorrect! !

Toads can change sexes due to their bidder's organ. Kind of freaky.

[nicodimus22]

My female is 3 years old and still only 2.25" long. Some toads just don't get that big.

[Charlieamanda]

Toads can change sexes due to their bidder's organ. Kind of freaky.

that is freak, I actually had looked that up and I recall reading about cane toads ..see Jessie there are no stupid questions