Gravel? Do I need to buy aquarium gravel?

[Ribbet]

So what do I use for fire bellied toads? They need half water and half land.

[Kurt]

I keep mine in a Rubbermaid box with about an inch of water and a floating styroform tray. I keep it real simple.

[into]

I keep mine in a Rubbermaid box with about an inch of water and a floating styroform tray. I keep it real simple.

Geeze, I must be thinking over the top, because I was thinking about setting up a tank for the crickets to live in.

[Ribbet]

So what do I use? If not gravel or coconut how about dirt?

[SludgeMunkey]

Geeze, I must be thinking over the top, because I was thinking about setting up a tank for the crickets to live in.

Some day I will post a video of my critter room...believe me when I say, it shows how bad the obsession can get! Fancy custom vivaria, Sterilite boxes, ten gallon tanks....ziploc containers...etc...

But anyway, about gravel- No need really. In fact, it is much easier to keep the enclosure clean if you leave it out.

While I have not finished the part on terrestrial substrates yet, here is everything you did not want to know about aquatic substrates. While written for caudates (newts and salamanders) most of it is applicable to frogs and toads too! (Just insert "Anurans" in place of "caudates")

Aquatic Substrates

For terrestrial areas for frogs and toads, I am a big advocate of coir, the coconut stuff. Note I advocate the finely ground stuff that comes in compressed bricks, not the chunky mulch. For my semiaquatic ground dwelling species like Bombina orientalis, I skip the coir and use aquarium gravel bonded together with epoxy. Over this I have live moss growing. This works well to keep the terrestrial substrate from fouling up the water.