Bad aim maybe...?

[Poly]

I took my toad out of her normal tank, and put her in her feeding tank. I dropped 3 worms, 1 grub and 1 slug.

At first, the worms REALLY caught her attention, she kept going after this large one that was about 4 inches long, but everytime she tried to grab it with her tongue, she missed or hit it, but wasn't able to grab it, why is this?

She then proceded to go after a tiny worm and couldn't even catch that, she instead "caught" the clump of dirt the worm was near...

What should I do, I will have to go in town and get some crickets, but for the time being what should I do to get her to eat?

Thanks

[LilyPad]

A 4 inch long worm is too big for that tiny toad, try cutting it up into smaller pieces (I just use a scissors) She should be able to nab them up then. I even cut up the smaller worms. To give you an idea, my bigger toadlets are about the size of your toad, and they are still eating mostly fruit flies with occasional pieces of worms. They could probably handle 1/4 inch crickets, but fruit flies are safer and easier for them yet at this point.

[nicodimus22]

Toads DO seem to miss a lot, but it sounds like the worm is just too large to eat whole. It's safer to feed it several smaller things than 1 big thing. If you live near a wooded area, another idea is to see if you can find some small wood lice (pill pug, sow bug, roly poly) under rocks, bark, and leaf litter on the ground. They are a good source of calcium.

http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatre...nd-amphibians/

[nos187]

If size is not the problem which it very likely is i would put the food items in a little glass bowl. That way the food items cant get away from her and makes hunting much easier.

Just a thought!

-Kevin

[Pete]

big long wet slimy things usually stick to the surface of the container better than they do to a toads tongue. So, even though it's interested and it's trying to eat it, the physics often don't work out. So you have to either cut it up, or some toads can eventually learn to go down and just bite a worm, and not use much of their tongue. This may take some training and practice. It also probably is a little species dependent, too.

[Greg M]

I have noticed that some species (Woodhouse's toads, for example) are just terrible at eating earthworms. My impression is that earthworms are simply not part of their regular diet and they are poorly adapted to eating them. That doesn't mean that earthworms are not great food for these species of toads, but simply that they have a hard time catching the worms when offered them. Usually, cutting up the worms into small pieces and feeding the toads in a container that is not wet helps. I have noticed that my Woodhouse's toads use their tongue exclusively to catch their prey and are not "grabbers" the way horned frogs (for example) are. The prey has to stick to their tongues or they can't eat it. By comparison, a horned frog will simply lunge with the whole mouth open to grab large prey. I do have one large female Woodhouse's toad who has mastered the "grab" technique and will eat very large prey (big nightcrawlers, full-grown hornworms, female Dubia, adult mice, etc) with great facility.

[Poly]

So then, how do toads eat pinky mice?

[Pete]

reminded me of this youtube video I saw earlier.

American Toads Eat Mice - YouTube

You can see how they do it.

[Greg M]

My Woodhouse's toads absolutely love pinky mice! The pink mice are small enough for a 2+ inch toad that the mice easily stick to the tongue and are eaten in one gulp. I use frozen/defrosted mice. I just put the hungry toad in a feeding cage (critter keeper, in my case) and drop the defrosted mouse in front of the toad with feeding tongs. Usually, the toad will snap at it when the mouse lands. Sometimes, you have to repeat the drop a time or two if the toad misses, since for the most part, the food needs to be moving to attract their attention. My biggest toad (Junie) is good with tong feeding, so I just hold the mouse (adult mice, in her case) in front of her and she takes it from there. The others will strike at mice held in the tongs but have a hard time grabbing them, so the "drop method" works better... Let me stress that not everyone thinks mouse are good food items for toads and frogs (so don't flame me, please!) and I only use them as "sometimes foods" (Sesame Street/Cookie Monster reference).

Here is Junie eating a mouse...

[Wormwood]

Use a glass or ceramic jar with high sides to feed her worms. I notice it usually takes a toad a few weeks to pick up how to snag worms with their tounge but they do get it after a while.

I'd a fan of smaller feeders myself over large meals like mice. It's not a flame but I'd have to agree with those folks who say mice are not good items for feed; that thing is way to large to be feeding your toad.

[Poly]

Thanks for all the info guys! This site is amazing, the people are friendly and very informative! You guys are great!