Toad ID and help

[pokergirl]

Hi there! Just got back from an adventure travel trip to Costa Rica and came home with an unexpected freeloader in a laundry bag! Not wanting to see anything happen to him, I bought a nice frog habitat and so far he seems to be doing OK. Can anyone here help ID him and provide guidance on what to feed him and what the ideal temperature should be? I have a UV light going, but he most likely came from the Caribbean regions of Costa Rica. I have some small crickets in there now. Thanks for your help!

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

I am not sure what species they are, but I am not sure that UVB light would be good for an amphibian. Either make sure he stays cool, or use a normal fluorescent bulb for his light and give him dusted prey items

[pokergirl]

Love your picture! Wow, I thought he needed the warmth being a rainforest toad? This is what I'm using right now.

http://www.zoomed.com/db/products/En...lnaHRpbmciO30=

[gut]

not totally sure of the species either, but toads in general prefer room temperature or cooler environments, they can tolerate warmer ones but they don't really enjoy them. I wouldn't bother with the UVB, he should get everything he needs from his prey items as long as you dust them with vitamins and calcium! Room humidity should be fine as well, so long as your house isn't excessively dry

[victorsgrace]

Wow, what a surprise to come home to! There is a really good care guide attached to this forum, regarding terrestrial toads. Sadly it doesn't seem to be working right now but you can try again later.

Until then, here are some basics:

Terrarium:

His home should be elongated, with alot of ground space for walking. Toads are active during the early evening and early morning and like to stalk around, looking for food. So longer, not taller. And have a lid on it especially with tall plants, so he can't crawl out

His substrate should be non-maneured soil. If there is fertilizer in the soil, he'll absorb it through his skin and it could act like a toxin. It's best to buy the non-maneured soil, so you avoid any possible parasites. Fill the tank up 1-2 inches with soil.

Give him two caves to hide in, so he has different places to choose from.

Decorate the tank with not-sharp rocks and a branch or two (wash before putting in, like from an oak tree or something similarly not toxic) and some live, not fertilized plants (I have the best experience with ferns.).

WATER:

Have a watering can filled up 24 hours, to air out any remaining chlorine, and change his water dish daily. Once-twice a week, spray mist his tank with water to keep the tank moist, but not suffocatingly moist (as stated earlier, toads actually prefer non-rainforest surroundings).

FEEDING:

The best feeder animals are:

Earthworms (but if he's not used to them, can be hard to get him to like them), gut-fed crickets (gut fed meaning fed with nutritional vegetables and water 24 hours before feeding him. Or fed on insect fodder. Don't use the all-black crickets as they are meat eaters and can bite him), bench chewers and anything creepy crawly without huge tongs and that aren't posinoius.

There is alot of debate about this, but it is good to supply with wild caught feeders from an area you know doesn't use pesticides, as they are the most nutritious and nourishing feeders.

Feeder tip - feeders should not be bigger than the width between his eyes!

Feeding bowl: To keep track on his feeding, place a small, low-edged ceramic bowl in the same spot, to put feeder animals in. They will not escape and it will help him to not eat any substrate by accident.

Until he learns to use it (just be patient) let a few gut-fed crickets loose in his tank that he can catch, until he gets it.


Otherwise:

Now that he's new, give him 2-3 weeks to settle in. Place his tank in a not too trafficked area, and except for feeding and water changing, leave him alone! Give him time to settle in.

Don't generally handle him too much and deffinately don't "pet" him. If you do handle him, use one-time disposable gloves to protect him from your oils on your skin and to protect you from what he could carry

Don't place the tank in direct sunlight or in a place where strong sunlight will hit it - it could over heat your tank.


I think that're the basics. And if you come home one day and he's all slimey and much lighter in colour don't fret - ca. once a week they change their entire skin and eat it


Good luck with the little guy!

[pokergirl]

Hi there!

Thanks so much for this! Were doing good -- he's eating crickets and we introduced some wax worms and mealworms. Seems like there's debate on whether mealworms are good for him.

Two other questions -- how much should he eat per day and should he have some kind of tank lighting? I've seen that UVB is bad. If you have any thoughts, let me know. Really appreciate your info!

Jen

Wow, what a surprise to come home to! There is a really good care guide attached to this forum, regarding terrestrial toads. Sadly it doesn't seem to be working right now but you can try again later.

Until then, here are some basics:

Terrarium:

His home should be elongated, with alot of ground space for walking. Toads are active during the early evening and early morning and like to stalk around, looking for food. So longer, not taller. And have a lid on it especially with tall plants, so he can't crawl out

His substrate should be non-maneured soil. If there is fertilizer in the soil, he'll absorb it through his skin and it could act like a toxin. It's best to buy the non-maneured soil, so you avoid any possible parasites. Fill the tank up 1-2 inches with soil.

Give him two caves to hide in, so he has different places to choose from.

Decorate the tank with not-sharp rocks and a branch or two (wash before putting in, like from an oak tree or something similarly not toxic) and some live, not fertilized plants (I have the best experience with ferns.).

WATER:

Have a watering can filled up 24 hours, to air out any remaining chlorine, and change his water dish daily. Once-twice a week, spray mist his tank with water to keep the tank moist, but not suffocatingly moist (as stated earlier, toads actually prefer non-rainforest surroundings).

FEEDING:

The best feeder animals are:

Earthworms (but if he's not used to them, can be hard to get him to like them), gut-fed crickets (gut fed meaning fed with nutritional vegetables and water 24 hours before feeding him. Or fed on insect fodder. Don't use the all-black crickets as they are meat eaters and can bite him), bench chewers and anything creepy crawly without huge tongs and that aren't posinoius.

There is alot of debate about this, but it is good to supply with wild caught feeders from an area you know doesn't use pesticides, as they are the most nutritious and nourishing feeders.

Feeder tip - feeders should not be bigger than the width between his eyes!

Feeding bowl: To keep track on his feeding, place a small, low-edged ceramic bowl in the same spot, to put feeder animals in. They will not escape and it will help him to not eat any substrate by accident.

Until he learns to use it (just be patient) let a few gut-fed crickets loose in his tank that he can catch, until he gets it.


Otherwise:

Now that he's new, give him 2-3 weeks to settle in. Place his tank in a not too trafficked area, and except for feeding and water changing, leave him alone! Give him time to settle in.

Don't generally handle him too much and deffinately don't "pet" him. If you do handle him, use one-time disposable gloves to protect him from your oils on your skin and to protect you from what he could carry

Don't place the tank in direct sunlight or in a place where strong sunlight will hit it - it could over heat your tank.


I think that're the basics. And if you come home one day and he's all slimey and much lighter in colour don't fret - ca. once a week they change their entire skin and eat it


Good luck with the little guy!

[victorsgrace]

Hi.

That's great to hear! It's a very good sign that he's eating well.

Well, mealworms aren't bad for him, but they are not a good main food as they're basically just fat and protein and don't contain a lot of nutrients.

Also there's a lot of chitin in their shell that can be hard to digest in excess. Use them as a supplement and gut-feed them with healthy, not pesticide sprayes veggies 24 hrs before feeding

Here at home I feed my young baby every 1-2 day and the adults are fed every 2-3 day.

As to how much, try your way around if you're feeding him crickets try feeding him 6 at a time, in an apropriate size. If he's still hungry, try more.

Just don't leave like 50 if them in his tank LOL mine are fed, if it were crickets, 6-8 a day, or one big earthworm, or crawlers in a bowl


Allright.

There is a lot of debate regarding UVB lights or not, but they do need UV rays like any other animal. And most windows filter these out.

My baby toad used to love his UV light and would crawl as close to it as he could and would hide when he didn't need anymore.

What I do is I buy a NON heating UVB/UVA lamp, like for tree frogs (13w or something), and leave it on a few hours a day, when I'm home. I don't always use it and my guys are doing great

As long as the lamp isn't a heat source, isn't designated for desert animals and place din apropriate height, where your guy can leave if he doesn't want it, I see no harm in it.

Last note is remember to dust your feeder animals with calcium and multivitamin powder once or twice a week, when you feed him, to ensure basic needs you can find these dusts in most petshops


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[victorsgrace]

Also remember to change out his substrate every 3-4 weeks and remove poops 2-3 times a week LOL

I think that's all I can possible think of, for now.


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[Cliygh and Mia 2]

What about humidity and temperature?

[tgampper]

Some food for thought:
Don't throw away the idea of using UVB lighting in your toad enclosure. I have worked at the Omaha Zoo as an amphibian keeper. I took care of two species of toads that were critically endangered (CR) and extinct in the wild (EW). The Puerto Rican crested toad (CR) and the Wyoming toad (EW) both required UVB heat lamps. The cages were very simple. A large water dish and a cave made from flower pots and other materials. The cave was placed under the heat lamp. Every morning I would find all the toads in the cave or on the top of the cave soaking in the rays. We had a light cycle that matched the toad's native home. Also, the addition of Vitamin A to your toad is also important. At the zoo, we used a liquid Vitamin A and placed one drop on their back each week. Our contributor, Frank Indiviglio, has written an article on why this is important, you can find his article here: http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatre.../#.VZRChUZ3cvU

[victorsgrace]

I would say room temperature would do him fine, without a risk of overheating (tank not placed in direct sunlight) or getting too cold. As for moisture, I spaymist the tanks heres around two times a week, to keep the substrate and enviroment moist - which changing the substrate every third week will also help on.