Question about toadlet and transferring tanks!

[aksdgff]

Hello! Some of you may have seen my post in the general discussion about my newly acquired toadlet. He or she is about one week old, (one week since he left the water) and I've had him in a large kritter keeper since I brought him home. He seemed happy. He has eaten roughly three or four flies in front of me and is pooping frequently. He likes to hide around his water dish and under his large piece of leaf litter. However, tonight when I dropped his meal into his tank, I saw that while he was very interested in the flies, he seemed to be struggling to catch them. I figured that I had him in too large of a tank for his size, (the size of a fingernail at this point) and I transferred him into a small cricket keeper. Hes been hopping around and crawling up the walls since I put him in there a few minutes ago, and I am worried that the tank is either too small or maybe there was a better way to transfer him to a smaller tank. He's so small and fragile, I want to be sure I'm doing everything right!

[Xubby]

I don't think you have to worry about the cage being too small, at least for a few months longer. Mine are about the same age (Woodhouse toad) and, while they're getting more motivated to run down flies, still prefer waiting for stuff to come closer. A small cage definitely helps a lot there. Is he just failing a lot at catching stuff, not successfully eating at all, or just putting a lot of effort into getting stuff?

That said, I'm basing my care off of poison dart frogs, as unfortunately little is written about toads. A lot of breeders just put their froglets in a small Tupperware container for the first couple months, trying to always keep food available. I usually top mine off two or three times a day. You don't really have to worry about airflow, either. It shouldn't be wet, just a little damp, and opening the container once a day or more is plenty for gas exchange. The inside is spartan. Just a shallow lid for frequently changed water and some of the brown, chemical free paper towels on that bottom that have been lightly misted. Just make sure to keep up on your vitamin and calcium dustings.

Concerning moving them, I just let mine hop from one container to the other when I move them for cleaning. If they're being stubborn, I have them hop in some Asian style soup spoons. I'm sure you're doing fine with whatever you're doing, I'm just terrified of trying to pick one up and hurting it. You're right; they look amazingly fragile. I have no desire to test if they actually are.

Curious, you said you had your toadlet in a critter keeper. Can the flies not climb the side? I'd imagine you'd have a bunch of escapees. Not sure why I wrote all of this, as you probably know it all already. Hopefully there's something there that's useful.

[aksdgff]

Thank you! He seems very interested in the flies. He jerks his head around to see them like my other frogs have done right before they chomp, but he doesn't seem to get them. He may hop once or twice towards them but he seems to give up. Unless they are still on the wall right next to him, he doesn't seem to go after them. =/ and as for the tank, he just seems much more active in this smaller tank. Hes stopped crawling up the sides but he's still out and about much more and stands up and looks out of his tank quite often.