New to frogforum !!!

[Madeve]

Hello all,

I've been a caudata.org member since 11/07 and have now finally got my first pair of toads !!! My two year old son somehow talked his daddy into letting us keep the pair of Gulf coast toad that wanderer and got stuck on our porch.

Any good tips on how to better care for them would help, right now they are housed in a large 58Qt plastic tub, I use coco-fiber as substrate and have given them a large water container. I added some leaf litter from my yard and a half log hide. I have offered some gut loaded crickets and they ate them rather quickly, I'm not sure if I should dust them like I do for my Anoles.

That's it for now!!!!

[John]

A dusting every now and then won't hurt but it seems like you've got it all figured out already! Bufo valliceps is a cool looking toad. I saw them in person for the first time this spring and I've seen several since then. I would give them some more hiding places to make them feel secure. They should calm down and tame pretty well. Got any photos? And thanks for coming over .

[Kerry1968]

Welcome to the forum!

Sorry I can't offer you any advice, I'm sure you'll get plenty soon

[Jace]

A fellow Canadian! Welcome! I'm new to frog keeping myself, so I will leave the advice to John who has endless knowledge. Just wanted to say welcome-and thanks to your son for his excellent taste in pets!!

[lraulston]

Welcome!

[Kurt]

You know who should really time in on this subject? Billy, he's a huge valliceps fan. Where has he been lately?

[John]

No idea, send him a message!

[Madeve]

Since John asked and I'm a geek and take pictures of ALL my critters ... here they are !!!!

[John]

They look pretty laid back. Are they nervous at all?

[Madeve]

They are not nervous at all, they will spend most of their evening looking at us walk by their container and when my son goes by to watch them they come up to the side and just stare back.

I'm not 100% sure but I think it is a breeding pair, neither seem to have the distinctive throat coloring a male should have but I have noticed some breeding behavior such as one calling to the other and puffing up his throat and I caught a glimpse of one of top of the other with some definite moves on.

[John]

Take a photo of them both from underneath (put them on a sheet of class) and one of each toad from the side and we can sex them.

Addendum: I should say too that male toads aren't fussy about what the breed with so it could be two males.

[John]

According to this we are supposed to call Bufo valliceps found in the US Bufo nebulifer. Given the names of people behind this change I'm going to have to fall into line!

[Kurt]

And I would add to that they have been added to the genus Ollotis. The genus Bufo has been broken up and is no longer vallid in the Americas.