California toad (Bufo boreas halophilus) experience

[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.

[Pete]

Hello, I'm still around, but I haven't posted anything in awhile. Here is the update:

I lost one toad in November. I had been keeping a small small pile of melon rinds in the bin with the toads to attract wild insects. I made an unfortunate mistake and threw in some old melon slices with the fruit still attached. This act in turn managed to attract an ant raid. I think the toads ate a lot of them, because they had pretty full bellies. However, in the clean up (which was a pain in the butt), I found one toad dead in the rotting melon mush. I don't know if he drowned, got stuck, or was bitten to death. Possibly a combination of all three.

In December, I converted my old Dicamptodon tank to a terrarium, and I've been keeping them indoors. I'll try to post some photos later on. Mainly they've been eating crickets now, and they seem to be on a growth spurt now. I find it curious that the spurt began around when the 'rainy season' should have started. They've since doubled in size. Well, it seems that 4 of them are growing faster, and the other two are growing slower. I wonder if it is going to be the females (big) and males (smaller), but only time will tell. Noticeably the toad with the mouth deformation is the smallest of the size. It still seems to be strong, so maybe it will just be a runt.

I'll try to post some photos soon of the setup and the toads.