I poked around online and found a lot of websites dedicated to the identification of toads... now I know I have a Woodhouse's Toad. Unfortunately, I wasn't as good at finding out what to do with him/her now. I've dubbed it Bud, got it a big box, water, made plans to buy crickets tomorrow, and got it away from the cats and dog. But what else should I know?
Okay I caught a toad. Now what?
- Thread starter Keeper of the Ropes
- Start date
for awhile had a female common toad in a 20 gallon long that i had mixed topsoil (in this case potting soil with no fertilizers or anything...nothing extra just good rich soil), peat moss (the milled kind) and bed a beast (coconut fiber bedding) in about equal parts.
I build two hills one on each end of the tank with a nice low spot in the middle. There a buried into the side of the biggest hill a chunk of pvc pipe fitting to act as a premade cave to try to discourage burrowing. She seemed to love it she'd hop way back into the cave and sit when she wanted (it went about seven inches into the hill almost to the glass (next time i might go all the way) and the opening was hidden with some unmilled peat moss. I covered the rest of the soil surface with unmilled (long strand) peat moss and planted the hell outa the tank. I had pothos and philodenron on one end, small peace lillies on the other and growing everywhere else i had vining ficus. For the the vining ficus and babies tears (the baby's tears didnt do as well as i would have liked) were the key. When those started to look wilty i used a mister and watered the whole damn tank until it was moist again.
i did offer her a water bowl about three times a week over night and normally she'd defecate in it and i'd remove it in the morning).
She never burrowed to any degree and would hammer three dozen crickets at a twice a week feeding (next time i'm going to get one on pinkies to offer variety)
For lighting i just used two 24 cabinet light fixtures. One with a regular white or daylight bulb and one with a plant or aquarium bulb. Too much light and they can get a little shy too little and the plants suffer. But the plants are low light tolerant and can handle moisture from damn near aquatic to moist (the vining ficus isnt as forgiving and its the monitor species for the tank...if they look wilty the soils drying too much and needs a mist.
I used a three gallon pump mister from wal mart the bug spray kind thats right off the shelf. It lets me mist as much as i need with out getting a cramp from pumping a spray bottle or a hernia from toting the bucket..
I hope this helps some what they are awesome long lived amphibians.
Damn i forgot this the first posting....i just used room temperature...for the most part they are temperate animals and 68 - 75 will be fine a little higher is ok but if they get too cool i'd boost the heat. i aimed for the mid 70s
Jason
PS they really are capable of eating a great deal...if you spend too much i'd look into getting crickets online from a supplier typically 1000 can be had for 15-16 bucks shipped. Thats dirt cheap and you can feed (and probably will need) to feed the animals as much as they want. Maybe you could go in with others locally and split an order or something.
I build two hills one on each end of the tank with a nice low spot in the middle. There a buried into the side of the biggest hill a chunk of pvc pipe fitting to act as a premade cave to try to discourage burrowing. She seemed to love it she'd hop way back into the cave and sit when she wanted (it went about seven inches into the hill almost to the glass (next time i might go all the way) and the opening was hidden with some unmilled peat moss. I covered the rest of the soil surface with unmilled (long strand) peat moss and planted the hell outa the tank. I had pothos and philodenron on one end, small peace lillies on the other and growing everywhere else i had vining ficus. For the the vining ficus and babies tears (the baby's tears didnt do as well as i would have liked) were the key. When those started to look wilty i used a mister and watered the whole damn tank until it was moist again.
i did offer her a water bowl about three times a week over night and normally she'd defecate in it and i'd remove it in the morning).
She never burrowed to any degree and would hammer three dozen crickets at a twice a week feeding (next time i'm going to get one on pinkies to offer variety)
For lighting i just used two 24 cabinet light fixtures. One with a regular white or daylight bulb and one with a plant or aquarium bulb. Too much light and they can get a little shy too little and the plants suffer. But the plants are low light tolerant and can handle moisture from damn near aquatic to moist (the vining ficus isnt as forgiving and its the monitor species for the tank...if they look wilty the soils drying too much and needs a mist.
I used a three gallon pump mister from wal mart the bug spray kind thats right off the shelf. It lets me mist as much as i need with out getting a cramp from pumping a spray bottle or a hernia from toting the bucket..
I hope this helps some what they are awesome long lived amphibians.
Damn i forgot this the first posting....i just used room temperature...for the most part they are temperate animals and 68 - 75 will be fine a little higher is ok but if they get too cool i'd boost the heat. i aimed for the mid 70s
Jason
PS they really are capable of eating a great deal...if you spend too much i'd look into getting crickets online from a supplier typically 1000 can be had for 15-16 bucks shipped. Thats dirt cheap and you can feed (and probably will need) to feed the animals as much as they want. Maybe you could go in with others locally and split an order or something.
What Jason said pretty much. I think as long as the environment in the toad's cage is the same as where you found the toad, you'll be good.
Thanks for all the comments but I'm not sure I should be replicating the outdoors where I found her. I'm in Texas, and she's been living just fine in weather above 105 with the heat index for well over a month... Do you think there is any way I could make her something and keep her on the balcony so the temperature remains the same as it would if I never caught her? My balcony is shaded (it faces the woods) so she'd never get any direct sunlight to worry about. My selection of plants could go up quite a bit so I could make it its own little forest to hide in during the day. As for the crickets, I'll start just going to PetsMart... I'm already there at least twice a week getting rosies and other fish food for my bichirs (little hungry brats!) so I won't be wasting gas.
you might be able to construct a wooden box and put an over hang on it at least a few inches over the inside...i'd go five to six they are talented animals given time. Just make sure the moisture is available somewhere. if the substrate or water bowl dries out in that temp the toad wont last long. So either something to burrow down into and keep it moist or a humidity box of some sort that you maintain the moisture level in. Doesnt need to be soaking wet just enough for the toad to either maintain moisture or soak its little backside in.
jason
jason
It would kill the turtle..
Wait untill the woodhouse starts croaking..
It sounds like someone screaming.
it is a creepy sound no getting around that, almost as unnerving as having a pac man stand on all fours and scream when you piss him off. i about messed myself the first time i had one do that.
it was late i was tired and methodically cleaning the amphibs and i moved him to the temp tank while cleaning his display and wham he cut loose. i was awake after that....
jason
PS in all honestly i highly doubt you'll need to expose your toad to those obscene temps even if thats where he was living, room temp should be more than suitable..just my experiences and opinion though
it was late i was tired and methodically cleaning the amphibs and i moved him to the temp tank while cleaning his display and wham he cut loose. i was awake after that....
jason
PS in all honestly i highly doubt you'll need to expose your toad to those obscene temps even if thats where he was living, room temp should be more than suitable..just my experiences and opinion though