Enoch the Western Toad.

[Greg M]

Hi Jace!

Cute little guy! I love toads! With these little guys (presumably transformed this year), its hard to over-feed. Certainly, feeding them what they can eat in 15 min. everyday, is not too much. I feed mine in a separate feeding cage so there's no danger of eating substrate (although Eco Earth is fairly safe) and, more importantly, so I can monitor their actual intake. I like Repashy Calcium plus ICB for dusting and Repashy Gutload ILF to gutload the crickets. Allen Repashy doesn't sell directly but there are lots of Gecko sites that carry his products (I get mine from LLLReptile.com). I also subscribe to the diverse diet approach - my guys eat silkworms, crickets, small Dubia roaches, small hornworms, butterworms, earthworms, phoenix worms and the occasional pinkie mouse for the big guys. I am looking to add isopods because I read an article about the nutrient composition of bugs and isopods are really high in calcium... An interesting article that you not have seen is http://ardeajournal.natuurinfo.nl/ar...82-299-314.pdf - it may seem off-topic (its about birds), but it has a lot of data about insect calcium content...

Cheers!
Greg

[Greatballzofire]

http://www.wormman.com/cat_sow.cfm
I feed my toads isopods. All's I have to do is go out in the garden and lift up an old piece of plywood over a damp mulchy spot and find gobs of these sowbugs. brush them off the plywood into a tub and feed them to the toads.

[Greg M]

Hi Greatballzofire!

I've done that too, but my concern is that our neighbors (and I, on occasion) spray their lawns, and so I have been worried about pesticides, herbicides, etc. What I'd like to do is start a culture and raise them myself so I know they're clean... In my youth, I always fed a range of wild-caught insects, isopods, etc., and I never had a problem with MBD, etc.

Cheers!
Greg

[Jace]

Thanks for the info guys! I will need to look into this Repashy Calcium plus ICB. However, I cannot always get things in Canada that seems to be available everywhere else. For the time being, I am putting Enoch on a calcium/vitamin schedule (2 days calcium/1 day vitamin) and will try and find a vitamin A supplement that I can grind down. I believe in a varied diet as well-most of my other frogs/toads get a variety of earthworms, crickets, mealworms, grasshoppers and grub. However, now that we are getting into winter, their diet is more based on earthworms and crickets. I have ordered phoenix worms, but after two weeks, they still have not arrived. I can't wait for Enoch to get bigger so I feel more comfortable feeding him larger items. Right now, he is about the size of a fingernail. All this info has been great, though-Enoch and I really appreciate it!

[Greg M]

Jace,

Let me know if you can't get the Repashy and I'm sure I could send you some. Vitamin A is an under-appreciated nutrient for toads. Without enough, the toads get "short-tongue syndrome" (squamous metaplasia of the mucus glands) - this results in feeding difficulties. However, vitamin A is fat-soluble and is toxic at high-levels, so I'd be very careful with supplementation via a vitamin A supplement. I don't personally have the expertise to supplement with vitamin A appropriately, so that's why I use Repashy. Maybe Seth said it already, but it's not clear that toads (or many other herps) can convert Beta-carotine to retinol, so Allen uses actual retinol at an appropriate dose.

Cheers!
Greg

[Jace]

That is an amazing offer, Greg, thank you! I will be cautious on the Vitamin A supplement. I use Rep-Cal Herptivite, but there is no Vitamin A in the ingredient list. I have several pet stores in town-I will check them all and see if I can find a supplement that contains that vitamin and give it a try. I've had Enoch for two weeks-I hope he is not going to be permanently harmed by this.

[Greg M]

Hi Jace,

Don't worry - there is evidence that toads can recover from vitamin A deficiency and resume normal feeding. One example in the published literature is in the introduction of A complex Enrichment Diet improves growth and health in the endangered Wyoming toad (Bufo baxteri) - Li - 2009 - Zoo Biology - Wiley Online Library , which I think is an interesting paper for a variety of reasons. In short, 90% of severely affected Boreal toads resumed normal feeding and growth patterns within 3 months with supplementation (Li et al., 2009). My (very) big boy had that problem and recovered, hence my familiarity with the subject. pm me if you decide you want to try the Repashy...

Greg

[Greatballzofire]

Hi Greatballzofire!

I've done that too, but my concern is that our neighbors (and I, on occasion) spray their lawns, and so I have been worried about pesticides, herbicides, etc. What I'd like to do is start a culture and raise them myself so I know they're clean... In my youth, I always fed a range of wild-caught insects, isopods, etc., and I never had a problem with MBD, etc.

Cheers!
Greg

http://insected.arizona.edu/isorear.htm
They are pretty easy to grow. You could grow your own and not have to worry about contamination.

[Greg M]

Thanks for the isopod link Greatballzofire! I'm going to set that up!
Greg

[Eel Noob]

Looks great, love its colors.

[Jace]

Thanks Eel Noob-I find the colours and pattern rather neat as well. Greg, I will use the Reptivite for now. Enoch has yet to pass up food, so I am hoping that he or she won't even notice...like slipping mashed brussel sprouts into mac and cheese.....the kids won't notice...right?!?