Quote Originally Posted by Zach View Post
I raise toad tads every year, and its not hard at all. Until they become toadlets, then they are pretty much impossible to feed. Once they get front legs, I would reccomend letting most of the go and keep maybe 5 at the most. They will still be incredibly difficult to feed, sometimes fruitflies are to big. However if you go back to the same location you found the adults in in about a month, you should find lots of little toadlets that are big enough to feed. On a side note, the toads here are going crazy. i got several dood pics of pairs in amplexus. I'll post them if anyones interested. I'm currently working on a documentary of the life cycle of the American toad.
I understand. I may even do that. I was just thinking of when it comes to the front legs Ill keep maybe 20. I am hoping to get a viable source of food. I always wanted to do this ever since I got into this hobby 8years ago. Like I got into the reptile/amphibian hobby through buying a RES turtle in nyc. I was literary a newbie to the world of herps. Knew nothing about nothing. But unlike most people--- I have a strong perseverance and stubborn streak and I kept the turtle, and upgraded the tank to a proper tank. And thats how it all started. Its a long story.


But yes I know they can be hard to feed. Which is why Iam going tommorrow over to the woods and find some spring tails. Ill catch alot and breed them. I been reading alot about them. Springtails are pretty small too. So they would be good food. Iam also going to try finding pillbugs and breed them too. They will serve food to them when they are bigger, but not big enough to eat a big cricket.

Right now about a great deal of them have hatched. Weird thing is--- some are still in the egg but are wriggling, they look like small noodles. While some came out of the egg before in the shape of a ball and started turning into a noodle outside of the egg. They're still taking a bit to grow. But I notice alot of movement. Alot of the tadpoles still in the eggs are turning from black to white.

Which leads me to another question. Are those okay? And I have a small filter asides the 3g filter which is a filter but actually serves as a water mover(very gentle).

but I have another filter a bit stronger its ment for 20gallons. Its an older model I dont even know what kind it is. But I do know it doesn't have a strong pull. I used it with guppies, small shrimp, etc.

Could I turn that filter on? I am thinking of covering it with a cup and poking very very small numerous holes in the cup, and covering any large gaps to prevent the tadpoles from getting sucked up. But will this do harm to them? Its because the water is now turning cloudish.. Not soo cloudy but starting to get cloudier. Iam thinking of doing a small water change soon. Like a 20% water change.

I know rearing tadpoles isn't hard. I didn't want to go out back in the wild and do that. Because Iam thinking of releasing the adults I caught. Exception of the one I reared from a toadlet last summer. Iam keeping her no matter what.


Shes my favorite one and I have a strong bond towards her(parental-ish, possessive). Iam thinking of releasing the two toads I caught in that place trying to mate. So I can raise the toadlets to adulthood and keep those. I didn't want to buy the toads online because. For some reason with amphibians I don't tend to get interested in too many things I don't catch.


Like I do. But not with certain ones. I guess it brings back certain memories to catch them and keep them. But I rather rear them since eggs. In total for myself I'd keep 4-5 of those toadlets. Like Ill keep 20-30 just to increase my chances of getting that amount. No matter what, not all tadpoles and toadlets will make it to adulthood. It doesn't matter if the conditions are extremely perfect. its just not quite possible imo. Because the reason they lay many eggs is because they know that many of them will die.

Personally I think Iam increasing their mortality rate though. Like saying throw it back in the pond--- sure I get the sentiment. But think about it. Where I found them, is connected to a canal/creek water way. It's also home to many fish like bass, sunnies, pike, catfish, birds, and many other animals.

Tadpoles and toadlets have many predators. It doesn't matter that they're toxic. There are still many many predators out there. In reality I am not saying Iam their savior. But iam not their killer either.

Sorry I just wanted to throw an opinion out there.

But my question is, the tadpole eggs and tadpoles turning white. Are they becomming albino or just dying? Cause I defenitely know not all will hatch and survive. But I wanna know. I do have a freshwater clam in there with them thats alive.

I put it there because I read up on clams and they are filterfeeders. So they're like a filter persay. One clam is not enough, but it does help keep the water slightly cleaner I think. I think theres actually like 500eggs/tadpoles in total. But Idk ill just keep it as is. When I see a great deal hatching, the ones that aren't hatching Ill put them in a seperate container and give them an extra few days for hatching. If I don't see improvement on that ill have to throw em out.

Also other potential food sources Iam thinking about are aphids. They are very small bright green insects that are very common in my neck of the woods. I know they are a pest species so they shouldn't be hard to breed once I figure out their lifecycle.

There's so many things I can breed(i feel like there is). Now I'm also going to look for other food sources for the adults as a staple diet. Crickets are okay so if I can't do anything else ill stick to crickets.

I heard roaches are good for breeding and are healthy as a staple diet. Thing is, are there any that don't fly or have a potential to escape and infest the house?

Worms are a possibility, but oddly they keep dying in the container a week later. I think Iam getting a bad source of them. Since I used to have a container full of earthworms a year ago that were in the same container for months and were alive or reproducing.