Home » Misc » Baby toad feeding

Baby toad feeding


General Toad Care - Four Seasons Animal Hospital

Congratulations on welcoming a new toad to your family. We here at Four Seasons Animal Hospital want to help you with your new friend, starting with the basics…

Size & Life Span

Depending on the species of toad:

Average adult size: 2 to 6 inches

Average life span: up to 10+ years

Diet

A well-balanced toad diet includes recently fed crickets, waxworms, and mealworms. Your toad’s age will determine how often you feed him. If you have a young juvenile toad, you should feed him everyday. If you have an adult toad you should plan to feed him two to three times a week. You should give your toad four to six standard-sized food items (standard being the size of a cricket) when you feed him. Toads will recognize a routine. Try to feed your toad at the same time every feeding day. Only feed your toad store-bought crickets. Crickets caught in the wild could be carrying parasites that will make your toad sick. Food items should be sprinkled with a calcium supplement at every feeding and multi-vitamin supplement once or twice a week. Most toads will eat their food within 15 minutes. Wait at least 15 minutes and then remove any uneaten food to prevent food rot.

Housing

Cage Size & Design

You will need to purchase a ten gallon tank for one or two toads.

Cage Furniture

Substrate is ground covering that is specifically made for terrariums. Apply at least three inches of substrate down on the floor of your terrarium to allow your toad to burrow when he feels like hiding. The type of substrate will depend on your specific type of toad. In general ‘frog moss’, which is sold at pet stores, makes for good covering, as does additive-free potting or topsoil purchased at a garden store. Pulverized coconut fiber is also an excellent form of substrate. Never use artificial turf or gravel, as these ground coverings are too harsh for your toad’s delicate skin.

Temperature

Keep your toad’s tank between 65-82°F

Humidity & Water

Your toad should always have a bathing pool. You can make one in a couple steps: (1) buy a shallow plastic bowl, (2) make a hole in the substrate so that the bowl’s mouth is level with the rest of the substrate on the floor of the terrarium (3) put a sturdy plank of some kind into the bowl so that your toad can get in and out of the water easily as toads a relatively poor swimmers. The pool should be roughly half the toad’s height and four times as long as your toad. It is very important that the water you use to fill the pool is dechlorinated– toads can die if given chlorinated water.

Potential dechlorinated water sources include:

● Aged water: Allow chlorinated water to sit in an open container for 24-48 hours so chlorine can dissipate.

● Bottled spring water

● Filtered tap water: run through a sediment and activated charcoal filter

Maintain humidity over 60% by misting the tank as needed every day.

Lighting

Toads should have roughly 12 hours of ‘sunlight’ each day. Use a daylight lamp or a low UV level lamp, but only you have provided your toad with hiding places (so he can get away from the light if he wishes to). If you want to be able to see your toad at night, you can install a red lamp to light up his home at night. Toads are most active at night. Toads can’t see red light, so they will think they are moving around in the dark but you will still be able to see them.

Temperament

You should generally not put more than three toads together in a tank, as many toads can become aggressive. Never house different kinds of toads together.

Handling

Amphibian skin is very sensitive so handle toads as little as possible. Always wear gloves when handling your frog as oils or residue on your skin can harm your toad.

Please do not take a toad from the wild. Wild animals should not be taken from their home in the wilderness and should be left alone in their natural habitat.

What do Baby Toads Eat in the Wild and as Pets?

For years, many people mistakenly believed that touching a toad would cause you to grow warts! We know that’s not true, but toads have never received the same love that frogs get. Have you ever heard of a princess kissing a toad? Didn’t think so. Still, their popularity is growing, and people are starting to keep these carnivorous amphibians as pets.

If you’re planning to get a baby toad, you’ll need to figure out how and what to feed it. There are some differences in a baby toad’s diet if they’re in captivity versus the wild. But there are also some notable similarities. Starting at tadpoles, we’re going to discuss the main foods that toads will eat in the wild and in captivity, so you can be sure to feed your toad the proper diet.

What do Tadpoles Eat?

Toads are hatched from eggs, but they don’t come out with legs. Rather, they’re born as tadpoles. They don’t even have air-breathing lungs yet, so they’re stuck in the water until they mature.

When a tadpole is first born, it will eat the remaining yolk in its egg. After that, the little tadpole will rely mostly on plant matter to sustain itself. This means eating algae and little floating plant particles. However, if there’s not enough plant matter for the tadpole, it might turn to cannibalism. While this is uncommon, it’s far from unheard of.

  • Yolk in their egg sack
  • Algae
  • Plant matter
  • Other tadpoles
Image Credit: Alexas_Fotos, Pixabay

What do Baby Toads Eat in the Wild?

In the wild, a toad is going to eat a diverse array of food. They have varied diets and are open to eating pretty much anything that comes along that will fit in their mouth. Remember, toads are carnivorous, so they strictly eat living creatures. For baby toads, those creatures are very small.

Any type of crawling insect or bug is a great meal for a toad in the wild. They’ll munch on small crickets and grasshoppers, which will increase in size as the toad does. Even small mice are fair game for a toad, though they tend to eat these more once they reach maturity.

Worms of all kinds are delicacies. Mealworms and earthworms are common cuisine for these four-legged amphibians. As the toad gets larger, bigger meals also become available. Snails, slugs, and locusts will all be eaten if they stray too near to a large enough toad. Centipedes and flies aren’t safe either.

  • Centipedes
  • Flies
  • Bugs
  • Small mice
  • Crickets
  • Grasshoppers
  • Mealworms
  • Earthworms
  • Slugs
  • Snails
  • Locusts

What do Baby Toad Pets Eat?

For toads in captivity, nutrition looks pretty similar to that of wild toads. However, there are some foods that pet toads are unlikely to eat. For example, centipedes and locusts might be common meals for a wild toad, but you’ll have a hard time purchasing feeder centipedes from the local pet store!

You never want to feed a pet toad something that you caught in the wild. Though these insects are on their meal list, wild-caught specimens are liable to have bacteria, diseases, and more that can negatively affect your toad’s health. Even if it’s a food your toad eats all the time, such as crickets, you’ll want to stick to store-bought crickets and never feed your pet toad crickets that you caught.

You might notice that some of the insects on this list are different from what wild toads eat. A lot of that comes down to what’s available. Since you have to get sterile insects that haven’t been out in the world, only insects that are grown as feeders are appropriate.

Image Credit: pixel2013, Pixabay
  • Grain moths
  • Small crickets
  • Pinhead crickets
  • Small earthworms
  • Mealworms
  • Ants
  • Fruit flies
  • Aphids
  • Leaf rollers

How to Feed Your Pet Toad

You have to be aware that juvenile toads eat their food whole. If you provide prey that’s too large, they’re likely to choke. Ensure that the insects you choose are no larger than the width of your toad’s head.

Gut Loading

Also, make sure to gut feed the insects you’re going to provide for your toad. Gut feeding is the process of loading the insects up with nutrients by allowing them to feed on fruits and vegetables before giving them to your toad. This ensures that your toad is getting as diverse of a nutrient intake as possible.

Image Credit: CassidyMarshall, Pixabay

Buy from Reputable Sources

Though you want to make sure to purchase all of your feeder insects from reputable sources, you will have plenty of choices to pick from. And you should feed as many of these to your toad as possible. It’s a good idea to feed them different foods each day. For instance, you might feed your toad earthworms on Monday, crickets on Tuesday, Aphids on Wednesday, and so on.

Establish a Routine

Another good habit is feeding your toad at the same time every evening. Keep in mind that toads are nocturnal, so feeding shouldn’t be done during the day. Captive toads do best on a feeding schedule since they recognize routine. Your toad will be healthiest if you feed it at the same time each night; around nine o’clock.

One more good rule of thumb is to only feed your toad for 15 minutes. Put the insects into your toad’s cage and let it go to town. But after 15 minutes, remove anything that hasn’t been eaten. This prevents overfeeding and ensures that dead insects don’t rot in your toad’s environment.

  • Related Read: What Do Tadpoles Eat in the Wild and as Pets?

Things to Never Feed a Toad

While toads certainly need a diverse and varied diet, there are plenty of things that you should never feed a toad; wild or domestic. These foods can cause serious problems for any toad. Take salt or seasoning as an example. They can cause a toad to dry up and dehydrate, which could spell death.

You’ll also see that feeding meat to your toad is a terrible idea, even though toads are carnivorous. These animals only eat live meals though. They aren’t scavengers. You should take care to only feed your toad living insects, though you can also feed rodents when they’re large enough.

Make sure to never feed your toad any leftover human food. While this might be ok for dogs, it’s a terrible choice for toads and can lead to disastrous consequences.

  • Salt
  • Seasoning
  • Pesticides
  • Expired Food
  • Sugar
  • Bread
  • Rice
  • Meat
Image Credit: ekamelev, Pixabay

Conclusion

Toads have a pretty diverse palate. In the wild, they’ll eat pretty much anything of an edible size that comes along. Worms, bugs, centipedes, slugs, and more are all tempting choices for a wild toad. But toads in captivity need more structure and safer feeding. They haven’t been exposed to all the same bacteria and could get sick from eating wild-caught insects. As such, baby pet toads should only be fed feeder insects from reputable pet stores to ensure continuing health and longevity.

  • Related Read:10 Best Pet Reptiles for Beginners (With Pictures)

Featured Image: ROverhate, Pixabay

Keeping green toad (Bufo viridis)

The green toad is suitable for beginners due to its low maintenance requirements. But it should be remembered that she has very delicate skin, which is easily injured. To create all the conditions, you will need a horizontal type aquaterrarium (with a volume of 50 liters or more). A mixture of peat (sand), garden soil, sandstone and tree bark is used as a substrate...

Green Toad Aquaterrarium

Type: Horizontal Aquaterrarium.
Dimensions: 50 liter terrarium (for two adult animals).
Substrate: peat/sand mixture, garden soil, sandstone, tree bark. They like to dig, so the substrate layer should be thick.
Cleaning/cleaning: once every 2-3 weeks with light disinfectants.
Temperature: daytime - 23-26°C, nighttime - 21°C.
Heating: not required.
Lighting: daylight hours - 12 hours. Lighting with ultraviolet lamps.
Humidity: up to 50%.
Plants: Needed in large numbers. Plants should be tough and strong.
Reservoir: An additional reservoir is optional.
Decoration: You need to build some shelters from stones or tree bark.

Feeding the green toad

Can be given: any live crawling insects - earthworms, slugs, bloodworms, crickets, cockroaches, flies, moths, etc.
Feeding frequency: adults - 2-3 times a week with a mixture of insects, young (growing) - daily.
Water: a small saucer with fresh drinking water is required (the depth should not exceed the height of the toad). Water is changed daily.
Mineral supplements/vitamins: powdered vitamins and calcium. Young animals are fed 2-3 times a week, adults - 1 time.

Related article Green Toad (Bufo viridis, Bufotes viridis)

Socialization / domestication

Domestication: fast.
Character: calm.

Behavior

Psychology: green toads are awake until midnight, even until 2 or 3 in the morning.

Green Toad Breeding

Preparation: The breeding season comes after hibernation (6-8 weeks). During hibernation, the temperature in the terrarium is lowered to 10 ° C and below. After spawning, the animals are returned to the terrarium.
Adjustable terrarium / aquarium: volume 50-60 liters, aeration is required.
Male to female ratio: 1:1
Gestation/incubation period: after mating, the female lays two strands of eggs 3-4 meters long. At room temperature, tadpoles appear after 5-6 days.
Feeding young people: scalded nettle, hercules, small (cut) tubifex, "live dust", dry fish food.
Growth rate: fast. Landing in 55-58 days. Starter food - crickets.
Molting: after molting, toads eat the old skin.

Related article Equipping a terrarium for ground frogs

Diseases

For the main diseases, see here diseases of amphibians

its skin secretions, getting on the mucous membrane (in the eyes, mouth) can cause severe irritation, and in large quantities - even poisoning of varying severity.

Tags: amphibians, tailless amphibians, toads, keeping amphibians, green toad

Keeping toad-aga, care feeding breeding disease treatment breeding behavior terrarium humidity temperature lighting photo activity food poisonous amphibians

Toad aha is very poisonous, its poison is contained in the behind-the-ear glands. Therefore, these toads (and they are quite often kept in terrariums) should not be handled, especially by children, who can inadvertently squeeze the poisonous glands and for whom the poison can be fatal. Not only adult toads are poisonous - their eggs and tadpoles are also poisonous. A dog or cat that bites a toad-agu can die. Also, this species should not be kept with other amphibians.

Toad terrarium

Type: Horizontal type aquarium.
Dimensions: standard 200 liter aquarium, topped with a mesh lid for ventilation.
Substrate: coir chips or pure high-moor peat, or a mixture of sand, opal leaf and peat. Or gravel 4-5 cm, on which a layer of fresh earth is at least 10 cm, moss on top. In such a soft mixture, toads love to dig.
Temperature: daytime - 25-28°С, nighttime - 23-24°С. For heating, a lamp or a thermal mat is used.
Lighting: not necessary, since the toad-aga is active at night. You should install a UV lamp on daylight hours, which helps to increase immunity and better absorption of calcium.
Plants: strong potted strong plants that are easy to replace.
Pond: spacious and not too deep - the toad does not have to plunge headlong into the water. Place in the darkest and most humid corner of the terrarium. Water is changed daily.
Decoration: Knotty branches, rocks, or large pieces of trees to provide cover for the toad. Once a day, the terrarium should be sprayed with warm water.
Cleaning: once every 2-3 weeks, a complete cleaning and cleaning of the terrarium with disinfectants suitable for amphibians is necessary.

Feeding the aga toad

May be given: tadpoles are fed daphnia, cyclops, brine shrimp and coretra. Young individuals, after metamorphosis, should be given crickets and cockroaches, mollusks, worms, over time, introducing newborn mice into the diet, and with the achievement of puberty, newborn rats, rats and chickens are added. They eat pieces of meat and fish from the feeder. Toad-aga is very gluttonous: willingly consumes dry food for dogs and cats.
Feeding frequency: tadpoles and little toads are fed every day, adults on average once every two to three days. Evening feeding.
Water: saucers of water are placed in shelters.
Mineral supplements/vitamins: vitamins B1, B6, B12, calcium glycerophosphate, phytin. Mineral supplements are given to young toads 2-3 times a week, and to adults - 1 time per week.

Related article Toad aga (Rhinella marina)

Socialization / domestication

Domestication: fast. Toad-aga willingly eats from the hands.

Breeding toad-aga

Preparation: they are kept in captivity, as well as the common toad, stimulating reproduction by lowering the temperature, then it is raised again and “tropical showers” ​​are arranged artificially. Manufacturers are irradiated with UV lamps.
Adjustable terrarium / aquarium: aquarium volume - from 400 liters, air temperature 28-30°C, water temperature 26-28°C, for growing tadpoles: 24-26°C.
Male to female ratio: 1:1.
Weaning from parents: young toads are very weak and helpless.
Growth rate: after metamorphosis, they grow very quickly.
Offspring: for rearing tadpoles, an aquarium with constant aeration and landfall (after metamorphosis) is used. Tadpoles are demanding on the purity and transparency of water. Once a week, to prevent cannibalism, tadpoles should be sorted by size and seated.
Overwintering: optional, but necessary for breeding. In March, a gradual decrease in temperature and a decrease in daylight hours begin, until the lighting and heating devices are completely turned off. The toads stop being fed. The soil in the terrarium is sprayed once a week. Toads are brought out of wintering by a gradual increase in daylight hours and an increase in temperature.

Learn more