New to Toads; general advice would be appreciated.

[daybr4ke]

Hi! I keep two toads myself,and what you've heard about voracious eating is true. So far I've fed them mealworms/superworms, crickets, pillbugs, earthworms and dubia roaches. Personally I'd recommend you try crickets if they aren't going for meal worms. Mine certainly preferred them to superworms, but one of my two toads adapts to new foods more readily than the other. Having a hide is great, but adding some plants can help make them more comfortable, if you haven't already. You may need to add a heating pad for them once the weather gets cooler.i hope this helps, I'll add anything more that comes to mind later. Oh, and mine usually come out of their burrows for food. I usually just drop it in their field of view and they go right for it.

[MrPeeps]

Thanks daybr4ake! I was feeling worried about her after not eating for at least 8 days so force fed her half a nightcrawler. I'm going to try crickets tomorrow and see what happens. Would you recommend placing a cricket or 2 in the tank and leaving them to her discretion?

[daybr4ke]

I usually just dump the food in for my toads in the terrarium with them, from crickets to worms and roaches. Even adult dubias are fair game. They chase them down and gobble them down. When I caught my toads I kept them in a small empty ice chest, and left food in for them overnight the day of, and it disappeared, so that kind of unwillingness to eat is somewhat worrying to me. I would try leaving in the crickets, since they're easy to keep track of. You could even add more than 2. Good luck. Also, how did you force feed the toad?

[MrPeeps]

It's concerning to me as well. I've been looking online for any info on it and all I can find is possible diseases related to appetite. I don't have any amphibian vet specialists near me so I'm out of luck in that department.

To force feed I wrapped the toad in a wash cloth and used a thin card to separate her upper and lower jaw and used the card as a slide to push the worm into her mouth. From there it was all her. Hopefully it doesn't turn her off nightcrawlers. Appreciate the help and the luck!

[daybr4ke]

Wow, okay. I've not had to do it, and didn't even know how, I've got a pacman that won't touch worms. The ones I've fed him live in a "colony" under the water dish lol. As for the toad, something to remember is theyour can go for a while without eating and can get stressed, but my toads, wild caught when freaking out after water switching, etc, would eat and calm down when offered food, and from day one were eager eaters of pillbugs and crickets, and easily adapted to dubias, with worms taking some coaxing, but in the the end they too were easily assimilated into their diet.

[MrPeeps]

I'm crossing my fingers at this point honestly. Hopefully something works for her or else I'm unsure on what to do. I appreciate the help! I'll be trying to add more plants in the next few days too. See if it helps.

[MrPeeps]

Success; to anyone following this forum. We have successfully fed the toad. Solution: heating lamp and crickets. Booya successful derp to Herp