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Thread: New to Toads; general advice would be appreciated.

  1. #1

    Default New to Toads; general advice would be appreciated.

    Hello all!!

    New to the site and looking for some help.

    I've recenttly acquired a Bufo Boreas from the wild and have set up an enclosure in my house.

    Tank: 10 gallon with coconut fibre substrate (toad is already burrowing) coconut husk below the fibre to help with water retention. I had sparghum on top of coconut husks to start and she was not digging it, literally. The coconut fibre has been a much better choice.

    Lighting: natural sunlight. Tank is on a coffee table in the living room and receives light for the majority of the day. Toad has a rock hide to disappear into but she has made a pretty intense burrow in the coco fibre.

    Heating: none; stays at room temperature. Found her in the rocky mountains so I assume she can handle cooler temps.

    Water: has a water dish she can sit with her head above the surface comfortably in. I'm using pond water because she was scratching at herself with dechlorinated tap water in. Seems to be a better choice.

    Eating: currently not eating, she had a 6 hour car ride from where she was found to home. I've left a sunken bowl with super worms in her cage but am worried about her eating habits as I've read that toads are voracious eaters. Should I be worried? Has only been 5 days since I've had her. She has pooped once already.

    General question. Do you remove them from. Their burrow to feed?

    I'd love any general advice on toad care or tips for health that is available!

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    100+ Post Member daybr4ke's Avatar
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    Default Re: New to Toads; general advice would be appreciated.

    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.

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    Default Re: New to Toads; general advice would be appreciated.

    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?

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    Default Re: New to Toads; general advice would be appreciated.

    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?

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    Default Re: New to Toads; general advice would be appreciated.

    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!

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    100+ Post Member daybr4ke's Avatar
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    Default Re: New to Toads; general advice would be appreciated.

    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.

  10. #7

    Default Re: New to Toads; general advice would be appreciated.

    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.

  11. #8

    Default Re: New to Toads; general advice would be appreciated.

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

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    Default Re: New to Toads; general advice would be appreciated.

    That's great, I should have thought of heating being an issue. Glad the toad went for the crickets, I hope it'll go for the other foods, too. Congrats!

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    Default Re: New to Toads; general advice would be appreciated.

    Don't forget to dust the crickets with calcium. Also you should get a uvb light so she can produce vitamin d. Most tanks filter out uv light. My toad got metabolic bone disease because I didn't do this. The lack of calcium and vitamin d caused her to take it out of the long bones in her body. Now she has a gimpy leg. Have you tried feeding Dubia roaches, my toads love them. They are packed with protein, while mealworms are more like a sugary snack. I mix up what I feed them.

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