How much food??

[nicodimus22]

Usually, adults are between 2.5 to 4 inches long. They can reach that in a number of months, once their growth spurt kicks in.

[Greg M]

Two quick points.

First, in response to Poly's question, toads certainly can become obese. Adults don't need as much food relative to their size as the rapidly growing juveniles. Fed an excess of high-calorie foods (mice, waxworms, etc.) can result in extremely fat toads which may suffer health problems, including corneal opacities (eye condition, can result in blindness). Transitioning to less-frequent feedings after they are mature and keeping low-fat insects as the staple of their diet is best for the long-term health of your pet.

Second, the size of the prey item is partly a matter of common sense. The "space between the eyes" rule is a good idea for the more "hard-shelled" prey items but I don't believe it should be slavishly adhered to for soft-bodied prey. I think you can bend the rule for silkworms, hornworms, earthworms, etc. As an example, I have an extremely large female Cranwell's horned frog (named Ralph, of course). She might be 1.25 inches between the eyes but she is now pushing 6 inches in length. She can easily eat a dozen or so ~6 inch nightcrawlers or 4 inch hornworms at a feeding. I can't possibly imagine feeding her a hundred or so ~1 inch crickets! GADZOOKS! Ditto for some of my larger toads... I personally have no problem with feeding a 6 inch nightcrawler to my 6 inch frog (or a 1 inch earthworm to a 1 inch frog, if I had one). Just be cautious and use your discretion and common sense...

[Wormwood]

I've never had any issues with night crawlers either. They do carry a decent gut load of dirt in them so be wary with how many you feed your toad at one sitting. I've always been wary that the dirt inside them might be a cause for impaction. Because of this I usually offer a earth worm and some crickets, wood lice or meal worms.

[LilyPad]

I agree with you Greg. But you have to keep in mind that sometimes you need to focus on the space between the eyes rule for people who are new to the hobby, otherwise they'll be feeding 1 inch grasshoppers to a baby toad. My toads are about the same size as his, and they are eating fruit flies still along with worm pieces. They could handle 1/4 inch crickets right now and possibly 1/2 inch, but they are happy and growing well right now so I will leave it at that for a while yet. A 1 inch grasshopper could easily cause choking or impaction in a toad that small.

[Poly]

Okay... well now that (I know) large insects are off-limits for my toad, and I have been catching small food, I caught 5 feild crickets and 4 small grasshoppers yesterday, so that is what I will be sticking to feeding her.

Also, I had once caught a toad in the wild by a remote lake, and it was easily 7" accross the back, it was huge, what would cause this toad to grow so large, I mean espically in the wild?

Also, I caught a breeding pair of crickets... so we'll see where that takes me, not normal crickets either, the small black feild crickets.

[kueluck]

I'm happy to hear the toads are doing well. I've captured four toadlets about a month ago and the two that I've kept seem to be happy and healthy. I'm always pondering about the feeding thing because the one will eat until she looks like it will explode!! I feed the pinhead crickets, mini meal worms, fruit flies and the occasional small moth or fly. They actually figured out the worm dish and will go and eat as they please when there is nothing to hunt in the habitat. I love watching them stalk their pray, crazy toads. I've also captured adult field crickets and the eggs hatched yesterday. The crickets are about the size of the small black ants, guess I'll be waiting a few weeks before they can be food. Enjoy your new friends!!

[Greg M]

Wormwood: you can always "squeegee" the dirt out of the night crawlers - that's how you prep them for human consumption !! Seriously, you squeeze the dirt out the worms and then cook as desired. The best strategy is to dry them, pound to powder and add to stews/broths, then you can't really taste them!!! Yum, yum! (According to my SAS (Secret Air Service) wilderness survival skill book)...

Lilypad: I agree - I always tell people the "space between the eyes rule" if they are new to the hobby... If in doubt, go with smaller feeders. Frank Indiviglio, an expert in the field, attributes his success with American toads to [in part] feeding them appropriately sized (i.e. smaller) food items...

Poly: Over the ~35 years I have been catching wild amphibians, I have noticed that there are often pronounced geographical differences in size, coloration, etc. I remember reading a report of a population of American toads with females reaching 6+ inches in length. This is much larger than typical for American toads! I'll see if I can find the report. There are also the occasional atypical individuals in any population...

[Poly]

Well, that toad I found seemed abnormally large, I actually found it on a small snady beach of the lake, maybe it had eaten something that caused to to become bloated...?

Today, I set my toad on the floor, and put a small beetle in front of her (a "Suking bug" as there known) and she grabbed it within seconds, then 2 aduld feild crickets, same thing, finally, I put a small grasshopper in front of her, she started to stock it, but then lost interest, I offered her many other food items after that, and no interest was displayed. I think she is full.

I am pretty sure my problem before is that I was feeding/offering her food that was to large, now that I am keeping the food small she seems to be eating much better, and so far everyday.