Comments on: How to Care for Toads

on 9/17/2007 And hibernation? Do pet toads hibernate? And when do they hibernate. Will they store up food and should we leave them alone? I will be so grateful for the advice! Thank you. Also, I call it "it" because we don't know if its male of female. Guess I need to find that out! Although it is large (female?) and my son calls it "Pepper!"

on 9/17/2007 Hi. My son just got a toad and we bought a 10 gallon aquarium for it. The pet store said to feed it crickets, but how many do they eat a day/week? I would also like to vary its diet, so I will give it other things mentioned here. Right now we have the reptile mulch in there (per instructions from the pet store--basically chopped up mulch that is about the size of small wood chips, not small enough for them to swallow and untreated) a good sized piece of bark it likes to sleep under, a bowl of water, some grass and fern. Should we add some rocks too? I have been misting the "mulch" daily and it seems to like its new home. We have given it a small grasshopper, ants, crickets, spiders etc...what should we feed it when it comes inside for the winter and you can't find these bugs? Also, what happens to toads in the wild in the winter? I plan on bringing ours in the house.

on 5/10/2007 when should i feed my toad?

on 7/5/2007 If your pet toad is small, your should contain your toad in an aquarium with the minimum size of 10 gallons. If your pet toad is large, you should contain it in a large size plastic tub.
In the tub you should also contain half clean ground dirt and half dry, cut grass. Also a shoe box house where the toad can go inside and sleep. A water dish should be place in the tub level to the top of the dirt.
So make the toads new home more natural, you could add some twigs, a small log, or a live plant.
I suggest you do not use an outdoor pin if you want to keep your toad.

on 7/5/2007 If your toad has come from a common life pond, and is common, put a little more water than you would usually as they tend to swim in a pond a little more.

on 8/8/2006 Toads mostly like to eat insects (bugs). They eat earth worms and meal worms. I feed my toads meal worms every day and they seem to like them. Toads also enjoy eating lightening bugs. Do not feed your toad maggots (fly larva). They tend to eat away inside of your toads body until the toad is dead. Toads will eat house flies.

on 7/5/2007 When people report that their toads are leaning into their hand to be touched, they need to know that this is a defense mechanism. Toads secrete poison from behind their eyes and behind their heads to prevent predators from eating them. When they lean into you, they are trying prevent what they think is predatory action. The salts and oils from human hands actually hurt toads (as they absorb everything their skin touches). It is really best to touch your toad as little as possible.

on 7/5/2007 You can use a guinea pig cage, it's like a fish tank,but it comes with a top with little holes in it.

on 6/30/2006 This is a great care sheet for Oriental Fire-Bellied Toads! Not a great care sheet for your average backyard toad or any other kind of toad for that matter (namely of the genus Bufo or true toads)! It will kill other kinds of toads! So never house any other kind of toad this way! Other common toads need a fish tank with dry dirt as a ground cover, and hiding areas such as a pre-fabricated cave.

A humid hide is very important! Use a Gladware or Tupperware container and bury it all (save the top), cut a hole in the top and fill it with moist sphagnum moss or dirt and keep this moist, cleaning the moss thoroughly and drying it occasionally to rid it of fungus. A water bowl kept full always and cleaned weekly. Morning misting daily. 5-9 crickets or 8-15 meal worms, appropriately sized crickets and meal worms or other captive raised food bugs every two days or so. They also like earthworms and very large toads may like newborn frozen (then thawed) "pinkie" mice sometimes. Most of all they need a slightly larger cage than you may think! About the floor space of a ten gallon aquarium per 2" of toad is perfect. The bigger the better! Also, let the cage (besides water bowl) dry out every day after the morning misting.

I've kept toads for years (both fire bellies and Bufo) and these care tips have always worked for me.

on 6/30/2006 Toads live on land, but sometimes they like to take a swim. All toads like different kinds of environments.
You should have these materials in your toads tank:
~water, dirt(mud), earthworms, grubs, and or other insects in a dish
~rocks(not pebbles), weeds, dried leaves, sticks and or twigs.

If your have all these materials in your toad's tank, your toad will be very happy.
Don't forget a cover on the tank!

on 6/30/2006 Toads like to eat insects (bugs). They eat earth worms and meal worms. I feed my toads meal worms every day and they seem to like them. Toads also enjoy eating lightening bugs. Do not feed your toad maggots (fly larva). They tend to eat away inside of your toads body until the toad is dead. They will eat house flies.

on 6/30/2006 - If your pet toad is small, your should contain your toad in an aquarium a minimum size of 10 gallons. If your pet toad is large, you should contain it in a large size plastic tub.
- In the tub you should also include half clean, ground dirt and half dry, cut grass. Also, a shoe box house where the toad can go inside and sleep. A water dish should be placed in the tub level to the top of the dirt.
- Make the toad's new home more natural. Add some twigs, a small log, or a live plant.

I suggest you do not use an outdoor pin if you want to keep your toad.

on 3/14/2006 My new toad - 24 hours - likes me to pet him on his back. He vibrates and chirps. I accidentally dug him up out of hibernation yesterday. I am going to keep him indoors till spring arrives. My dogs don't bother the toads that live here. I have lots of toads.

on 4/12/2008 Toads will not see the food if it doesn't move.

on 11/29/2005 I have several toads on my property, and I have trained my dogs to leave them alone. But I haven't heard tell of anyone petting their toads. When I rub their side, behind the ear, they lean into it like scratching a dog behind the ears. Switch sides and they will lean the other way also. This also works on their protruding belly side. They seem to like it, and won't hop away. I encourage my toad (Morris) to eat mosquitoes.