Help! My male toad is showing signs that he's dying

[HL4EHalfLife]

I have a teenage (medium size) American male toad that a caught back on Aug 2nd and now I've noticed that he's eating almost nothing at all and he's begun acting the same way my last 2 adult toads were before they died and both of them (male and a female) stopped eating. I've fed the toad pretty much any insects I find outside which includes ants, spiders (short and long leg) , beetles, and whatever else I can find. But lately he' been acting like he's getting weaker. I've been doing research and all I can come up with is he's lacking calcium. Since he's not eating dusting calcium on his food isn't really a option so I was wondering if I blended up a calcium pill in a blender and water and than poured some into his water dish would he absorb the calcium through his skin?

In case your wondering what he lives in look at the pics below.

[Frogman1031]

Hello! Welcome to the frog forum !!

Im sorry your toad isnt well

Catching wild toads is generally frowned upon. Although i do hate to be a hypocrite, because mine are wild caught.

Feeding even wild caught toads from outside is a big no no. They can have chemicals or parasites that can infect your frog

I really would not recommend putting calcium in his water.

Can you answer the "trouble in the enclosure" questions. I will post them in a minute

[Frogman1031]

“Trouble in the Frog Enclosure”
The following information will be very helpful if provided when requesting assistance with either your frog or enclosure. To help with your questions, please utilize the below list and post the information in the proper forum area to get advice from FF members that keep the same frog. This will allow for little confusion and a faster more informed response.

1. Size of enclosure
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences
3. Humidity
4. Temperature
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish
6. Materials used for substrate
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials.
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv.
8. Main food source
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often)
10. Lighting
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure
12. When is the last time he/she ate
13. Have you found poop lately
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)
15. Describe frog's symptoms and/or recent physical changes; to include it's ventral/belly area.
16. How old is the frog
17. How long have you owned him/her
18. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred
19. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats
20. How often the frog is handled
21. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area
22. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc)

[HL4EHalfLife]

“Trouble in the Frog Enclosure”
The following information will be very helpful if provided when requesting assistance with either your frog or enclosure. To help with your questions, please utilize the below list and post the information in the proper forum area to get advice from FF members that keep the same frog. This will allow for little confusion and a faster more informed response.

1. Size of enclosure
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences
3. Humidity
4. Temperature
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish
6. Materials used for substrate
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials.
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv.
8. Main food source
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often)
10. Lighting
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure
12. When is the last time he/she ate
13. Have you found poop lately
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)
15. Describe frog's symptoms and/or recent physical changes; to include it's ventral/belly area.
16. How old is the frog
17. How long have you owned him/her
18. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred
19. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats
20. How often the frog is handled
21. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area
22. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc)

==Answers==

1. Hx15", L=23.5", W=12"
2. Just the 1 toad
3. Between 50 and 70%
4. Ranging from 20 to 24c
5. Stale water is used for both misting and dish
6. Dirt and Peatmost
7. Lego
8. Insects from outside (spiders taken from webs, ants an beetles collected from under rocks).
9. None
10. 15watt fluorescent light
11. 15watt fluorescent light
12. 3 day go he ate 1 medium daddy long legs spider
13. He pooped today (28th)
14. pic of his current state is below.. poor fella
15. He is walking with his body way up in the air, his skin is very dark almost black, there is no signs of any injury visible.
16. Unknown however I have had him since Aug 2nd.
17. Had him for 58 days.
18. Wild caught
19. None
20. Once maybe twice a week and for very short times.
21. The Aquarium is kept in my bedroom.
22. His watch dish is cleaned 2 or 2 times a week depending on how dirty it is. The peatmoss is changed about once a month.






Ps. Since starting this thread Charlie has taken a turn for the worst.. he is pretty close to death, I have taken a last ditch effort to save his life by very carefully force feeding him half of a small earthworm that was soaking in calcium, after doing that i check his mouth and the worm has been swallowed and with any luck he will pull through and regain some strength.

[Praying Mantis]

Have you tried a very tiny pinkie mouse? Sounds gross, but live if possible. The wiggling movement might catch his attention. Get big crickets and try as well, dust them in the vitamin powder, like "shake n Bake"

lol. Also try just a couple of mealworms. But hold them on tweezers, as they burrow very quickly. They can have the vitamins out on them too. Just get a few big crickets, as you don't want the bugs to irritate him.

Good Luck, keep us posted.

[LilyPad]

Oy I'm sorry I didn't see this. I hope your little guy is still hanging in there. Firstly, you need to use dechlorinated water, leaving the water set out to get "stale" doesn't remove everything. Seachem prime is a common one but there are other brands out there too.

He needs his food dusted with calcium and vitamin powder, you can get them at most pet stores. You will need to purchase a more suitable feeder than random wild caught insects. You can do crickets, no longer than the space between his eyes, but he would really appreciate some night crawlers (not red wigglers) Cut them from the pointy end to the appropriate size. You can collect them but only if you're *sure* they're from a fertilizer/pesticide free area. Otherwise just get them from a bait shop, but make sure they're not dyed for fishing. I would not feed him pinkies or mealworms. Neither of them are necessary for his health.

[HL4EHalfLife]

Charlie passed away the night of my last post (3 weeks ago), Charlie never had an interest in eating night crawlers just ants, spiders, and the odd inch-worm.

Rain water is acceptable to use yes?

[Lady]

I am sorry your toad died.

For future reference, do not catch you toads from the wild, they may have illnesses that can spread to other animals in your collection. There is a nasty fungus called Chytrid that is ravaging wild amphibian populations around the world. It is safer to culture your own insects or buy them online or from a pet store, because of chemicals and pathogens. Chytrid can be transmitted form feeder insects to to a frog or toad that is otherwise healthy. Rain water can contain chemicals and parasites or the opposite contain no minerals and cause a very painful bloat death. The most recommended water source is from a Revers Osmosis filtering device. I personally use Gerber bottled water, which has been purified and has minerals added back in. It costs about a dollar a gallon from most grocery stores. Frogs and toads are more of a look at me pet than a touch me pet, handling some with your bare hands can make them sick because of the soaps and hand creams and sanitizers we use as well as the salts of our skin. Finally Toads do not live in castles. A more naturalistic Vivarium would mean a less stressed animal and a healthier pet.

I say this in hopes that you next pets will live a happier, healthier, long life.

[Lady]

Chytrid Fungus-Plague casuing global amphibian mass extinction

This article may give you some answers.

[Mentat]

Very sorry your toad died . Please read this article that will help you understand toads needs in captivity: Frog Forum - Toad Basics - Keeping ground-dwelling Toads. A care sheet for Bufo, Anaxyrus, Spea, Scaphiopus, Ollotis, Alytes, Pelobates. Water should be treated tap, usually recommend Seachem Prime or ExoTerra Aquatize. Bottled water can be anything since they are made to meet city/state codes, even so called "Spring Water" is treated: http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...hing-else.html. You should clean (rinse in hot water) and refill it's water dish daily, even if it looks clear.

Frogs and toads in captivity need food supplements, more info on that in here: http://www.frogforum.net/food-feeder...schedules.html. A diet based on Canadian night crawlers (not dyed from local bait shop) is OK. Can cut the worms from pointy end for smaller toads. Feeder crickets should be sized same or smaller than distance between toads eyes and gut loaded 24-48 hours with lettuce, carrots and cherios cereal before feeding toad.

Wild caught animals usually cary a load of parasites and other pathogens that need to be checked for and if found, treated. That can be very costly and one of the reasons we recommend a captive bred animal, specially for beginners. Hope this helps you care for any future toad pets, good luck !