Hi there, first-timer toad fan here.

I raised a ton of tadpoles this summer which were released to live in my garden. I kept the last seven that hatched. I want to say they probably hatched in late June or early July. I have had them in a tank in the house now perhaps 7-8 weeks.

Everything had been going just fine until Monday night. One of my two big guys was clearly straining to pass something, and ended up with a badly prolapsed cloaca. Poor thing didn't realize it was his cloaca and just kept trying to poop it out, so it got worse and worse. I gave him a sugar water soak but within a few hours he was gone. I was devastated to lose him.

Last night, I noticed one of my little guys also straining. He prolapsed as well, although not as severely. I also gave him a sugar water soak and put him in a quarantine tank on damp paper towels. Last I knew (I'm at work atm), he was still going, although looking very weak and still prolapsed. He had passed something else since placing him in quarantine, though, so for all I know it could have been resolved and then he prolapsed again (I haven't fed him since, he just clearly still had some junk in his pipes).

I've been feeding the little ones flightless fruit flies dusted in Herptivite, with the odd baby woodlice or teeny tiny spider here and there (also dusted). I'd run out of pinhead crickets (cat decided to 'play' with the last batch) and it's taken me ages to get more, but they should be arriving today! Anyways, the little guy pooped out something in a worm-like shape, but I haven't fed them anything remotely worm-like in at least a week. So, I'm thinking the culprit might be the substrate. I got some Zoo Med Frog Moss (pillow moss) on suggestion by the guy at the store. I read online later that it was not recommended and could cause impaction issues, but I hadn't had any problems and other people did recommend it, so I stuck with it. I really regret that decision.

It was fine in there for a few weeks... but now the problems have started. It was getting older, yellowing, and small bits coming out, but I thought it'd still be okay until I could get to the store and get more. Soon as I saw my little guy prolapse, I immediately removed the moss, cleaned out the tank / rinsed everything thoroughly, and put them back in with no substrate. As I mentioned, he hadn't had anything remotely worm-like in at least a week, so all I can think is it must have been a string of moss he snapped up along with a fly.

At this point I'm super worried and I'd like to ask those with experience -- what kind of substrate is safe for young toads? I just picked up a brick of cocofiber but I'm afraid to use it, at least until I know that everyone is passing food safely. Do I even really need to bother with substrate? I had peat moss in there before and nobody ever showed any interest in digging, anyways, and actually seemed really annoyed when it got stuck to them. And anyway, it's a lot easier to clean without substrate, lol.

Also, only two of them are/were really growing (and one of those is dead now). My biggest guy is about 1.5". The one that just died was a bit over an inch. Two others are very small but have typical chubby toad-shaped bodies. The other three are very small and thin, and they just don't seem to be growing at all. They seem healthy, active, and certainly have a voracious appetite, but they just aren't really growing. Assuming it's been about two months since they came out of water, shouldn't they be much bigger than they are? They're probably about just over half an inch. It makes it extremely difficult to feed them. I'm always struggling to breed my fruit flies fast enough to keep a good population going, since that's pretty much all they can eat.

The bigger guys had been getting fed BSFL, some fresh-shed mealworms, woodlice, spiders, ants, pretty much whatever I could find. Usually dusted. I give them water from my koi pond outside. Koi are good and healthy and water quality is excellent. Is it better to give them tap water? I'm not really sure what product to use or how much to add to make it safe for them. Is Herptivite okay or should I use something else? I notice they usually poop right when I start feeding, so I'm thinking that jump-starts digestion? If that's the case, should I maybe not feed them for a few days so that their little toady tummies can hopefully thoroughly digest whatever might be inside them?

I'm obviously very new to this and I am terrified of losing any more. I'd love to hear from experienced keepers as to what worked and didn't work for them on any subject: feeding (amounts would be appreciated too), supplements, substrates, water treatment, medical issues, everything. Sorry for the long rambling post, I'm kinda emotional right now. I've grown to love these little guys so much.

Thank you so much ♥