In order to breed you are going to need a rather large setup. Floor area should be around 5x5 feet, if not more. I would suggest a black or some type of solid tub, plastic/rubber/metal/wood will all work.Be sure to drill and set up a drainage system both under the ground and water section.

To sucessfully breed and raise the babies I suggest you have at the very least 2 enclosures. 5 would most likely be ideal(really depends on how much breeding you plan on doing).

Lay down a 1 inch layer of pebbles, then a 1 inch layer of sand, garden net(the kind for weeds) and then 5-10 inches of clean soil or coconut fiber. The more, the better. Be sure to leave room for a tub/pan/pond liner that will hold the water. The water should take up about half the enclosure and be 5-10inches in the deepest area and 1 inch in the shallowest area. You can create your own depths by using rocks/pebbles and sand in the water tub. If you have access to fresh leaf litter you can bake leaves and also put them into the water. It will create mulm over time which will help nourish aquatic plants and feed tadpoles.

Inside the tub you should use two low pressure filters. Try not to create too much rapid movement or water fall effects. You want a slow stream or pond effect. Place them in the corners that are against the tub. It would probably be best if you set up an external filter system so water come out in one corner and gets sucked up the other. To prevent eggs and other stuff from getting sucked up just rubber band a thin cloth over the intake. Once the tadpoles get a bit bigger you can start upping the filtration.

To make the toads feel secure I suggest some branchy driftwood, water lettuce, water hyacinth, , anacharis, and fanwort.

On the land portion of the enclosure you can use real plants if you want but fake will be fine. For real plants you could try babytears, ribbon grass, california/spike rush, mexican feather grass, or cattails. For fake plants, try to get vines or bushy plants. You will also want to include hiding spots. You can build(from wood) your own houses or you can purchase plastic igloos from the rodent sections of a pet store. Try to get 2 or more. Logs and rocks will provide good climbing exercise and areas to burrow under.

The temperature of your water should be be about 65-70 degrees. Once the egg have been laid you can slowly bump the temp up to 75 for faster growth. To increase humidity in the tank a UTH can be used under the dirt side. It doesn’t need to be hot, in fact the lowest temperature should be more than enough. The air temp should be about 75-85 degrees during the day. Try to keep the dirt moist but not wet. Stick your finger down into the dirt as far as you can. If it is moist and spongy then its fine. Its is wet and sloppy stop water for 2 or more days. It is is dry then double your amount of water.

Breeding season for toads happens between March and May. If your toads are not at least 3 years of age and have not gone through hibernation they won’t breed.The water in your pond/pool/tub MUST also cycled(look up the nitrogen cycle.takes about 1 month to complete.) If your toads are old enough and have gone through hibernation correctly I suggest placing one male in the enclosure for a week. Allow him to set up his territory. Once he "owns" the place you can try putting a female or two into the enclosure. You can leave them together until they breed. Once they have bred you should switch them to a different enclosure.

As for th eggs, they should hatch in about 1-2 weeks. Just leave them alone in the water. You can touch them and move them if needed, just be careful. Keep a close eye on your cycle, temp and water flow. If your lucky they should hatch on time.

Before any breeding happens you will need to contact your local Fish and Game office to make sure it is legal. In most cases there is a bag limit which includes the amount of babies your toads may have this can be bypassed with the right permits. Of course, without permits and licenses you will not be aloud to release any of the babies which means you will need to find homes for over a 1000 babies.Most states also make it illegal to sell native animals.Failure to comply to the law can result in high fines and confiscation of your animals.

Unless you have the money, time, knowledge and permits breeding toads and frogs is to much work. Most centers that work on breeding and conservation of toads and other species get state grants to cover the fees.

I had the opportunity to visit C.R.E.S. laboratories. One of their employees came across a once thought to be extinct species of frog right here in my city, mountain yellow legged frog. They contacted the state and got permission to take the thousands of tadpoles they found back to their lab. However, that same year, we had a severe drought so the C.R.E.S. pretty much tore down one of their labs to fit about 25 50 gallons tanks in.They had to keep the frogs a whole extra year. While it was interesting seeing all the young frogs and tadpoles I could clearly see it was a lot of work and money. Up until then the thought of breeding toads and frogs had always sounded interesting and fun but after witnessing the work of C.R.E.S. I knew it would almost have to become my career to handle and devote the time to it. Because of the money and time need, most toads and frogs purchased from stores are actually wild caught.