California toad (Bufo boreas halophilus) experience

[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.