California toad (Bufo boreas halophilus) experience

[Pete]

I should add that when my girlfriend realized they were toads she became more-or-less disinterested. She expected frogs. So when I went to the campus lake last week to confirm for myself that the toadlets there are larger there. I found a young pacific chorus frog, and gave her that. She likes that one, but I"m not sure if it's because it's cute or because she can feed it the Pholcus phalangioides, crane flies and other assorted bugs that come into our apartment. Maybe both....

[Curb71]

thanks for the pics. I caught a few tiny tadpoles about 4-5 weeks ago in the hills on a hike in Granada hills. finally a few of them have legs and your pics helped me confirm what these little tadpoles are. I got about 35 of them.

[LilyPad]

Thanks for sharing! Those are some wonderful pics! My kids caught some toad tads a couple of weeks ago but we released them back into the pond after a few days. How wonderful to watch them transform though!

[Pete]

Well, in total I got 9 toadlets out of the adventure. I was out of town for three weeks and left them with a good friend. Two of the toadlets didn't survive (one was the previously mentioned toad with the mouth malformation). Another toad seems to have some problems with its form and its skin, he never fully developed his patterning, although is growing. I suspect he won't last much longer.

Overall, they've become quite the little pigs. I've been struggling to keep up my fruit fly production and my ant collecting.

Finally, I realized that there is tons of little insects in our garden, so I've built a little play pen that I've let the toadlets run around in the evenings. It's quite amazing how efficient they are at finding tiny insects, and it's also amazing how many tiny insects there are in the garden when you stop and notice them.

So tonight I was watching and photographing the toads. I just wanted to post some pics.

[Pete]

more photos.

[nicodimus22]

I should add that when my girlfriend realized they were toads she became more-or-less disinterested. She expected frogs.

Aww, tell her to give toads a chance. They are lower-maintenance than frogs and beautiful in their own way.

It's quite amazing how efficient they are at finding tiny insects, and it's also amazing how many tiny insects there are in the garden when you stop and notice them.

Yeah, it kind of struck me after the first couple days with my toadlets that no matter how tiny and cute they are, these really are predators. They are very efficient and waste no time when they see something that they want.

[Pete]

Aww, tell her to give toads a chance. They are lower-maintenance than frogs and beautiful in their own way.

I completely agree. Some of my best pets were toads when I was young.

[Kurt]

I found a young pacific chorus frog, and gave her that. She likes that one, but I"m not sure if it's because it's cute or because she can feed it the Pholcus phalangioides.

So you're feeding it spiders. I never considered using those and there are plenty Pholcus running around the basement. Interesting.

[LilyPad]

Ohhh the little toadlet playpen is the cutest idea ever!! I was shocked with our toadlet we just got, how well it hunts! The fruit flies dont stand a chance with that toad!

[Pete]

So you're feeding it spiders. I never considered using those and there are plenty Pholcus running around the basement. Interesting.

Yes there is always plenty of those, but keep in mind that Pholcus are major predators of other spiders and of the more creepy ones. So you may want to not deplete their numbers too much or you tend to find really ugly spiders in your house. The only spiders I don't use are the yellow sac spiders, because I've been bitten by one before and it wasn't too pleasant. Actually, I suspect the frog could eat it. I'm just cautious. It's like bees.... I know they can eat them. I've seen it happen, but it's hard for me to comprehend.

Ohhh the little toadlet playpen is the cutest idea ever!! I was shocked with our toadlet we just got, how well it hunts! The fruit flies dont stand a chance with that toad!

Just remember if you make a playpen that many toads can dig. So you have to work that into the design. Also, I keep a sheet of plastic I can cover over it when I'm not there, so that no birds get any ideas when I'm not watching.

[LilyPad]

Just remember if you make a playpen that many toads can dig. So you have to work that into the design. Also, I keep a sheet of plastic I can cover over it when I'm not there, so that no birds get any ideas when I'm not watching.

Good to know, I wouldn't have thought of either of those things. This is something we might do though now that we have 3 little toadlets. I think my kids would love it, but I can see the neighbor kids messing with them if I step away, so it would definitely have to be supervised.

[Pete]

I just wanted to give an update. All 7 toads have survived and are now feeding on crickets, fruitflies and bugs from the yard. I tried to get at least one good photo of each one yesterday in a toad photo shoot. It's crazy how they're patterns have continued to change. I can't tell half of them apart anymore. The one with the mouth deformity apparently survived. It's the one in 4th photo. Seems to eat with no problems, but if you look at the photo you can see his mouth is a little weird. That's all.

[Curb71]

if you're still around Pete, would love to hear how the 7 are.