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Froggyfeet   JackAsp

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#1813210 Froggyfeet View Profile	Questions I just got a american toad. I keep him in a 15 gallon aquarium with 2.5 inches of coconut husk, peat moss, some pothos, and other faske plants. Oh, and his water dish. My question is if I keep him in the basement is it important he have any kind of light during the day and what kind of lighting?
07/29/08  11:00pm
#1814176 JackAsp View Profile	Message To: Froggyfeet   In reference to Message Id: 1813210  Questions They should have a day and night cycle. They’re nocturnal, so if you want to cheat and give them mostly night they won’t mind, but mine is more active at night if she also gets daylight, so I have the timer set to run her light from noon til 8PM. Do not use a heat lamp. They don’t like it as warm as reptiles do. Also, I do not suggest an ultraviolet light. Yes, there are certain animals, such as humans, tortoises, and iguanas, that need sunlight to produce Vitamin D. There are also animals such as slugs, earthworms, and toads that do not. For animals that need it, lack of sunlight results in what in humans is called rickets and in reptiles (note that toads are not reptiles) is called MBD. It’s an inability to absorb calcium. There is a lot of hippie science out there that insists that sunlight is good for absolutely everything, but out of the millions of toads that have been kept without full-spectrum lighting, the evidence just isn’t there. If there were, believe me, I’d be insisting you get a UVB light, but the truth is you’re going to hear a lot of well-meaning people who will suggest full-spectrum lighting for amphibians despite the fact that properly fed amphibians do not get MBD. If they eat calcium , they absorb calcium. If they don’t eat calcium, a sunlamp isn’t going to help them any. All it will do is raise their chances of getting cataracts and/or skin cancer. Whenever I find toads outside during the day, they’re in the shade. And most of them are just sleeping and buried then, unless it’s raining. A regular strip light like you’d use for fish is actually perfect. It doesn’t even need to be as big as the tank. If you’ve got an old one from a 5 or 10 gallon, that’s fine. The toad isn’t using it to bask. It’s just there to give them an environmental pattern so you don’t wind up with a jet-lagged zombie toad. I suggest putting the light fixture directly on the screen, instead of using the glass and plastic cover that it comes with, unless it gets very cool in the basement, because even fluorecents will add a few degrees of heat, and the screen will allow ventilation to cool things down. If the room’s already in the 70s, the toad will do better right at that than at a higher temp. My girl’s tropical, and even SHE’S not enjoying the summer heat right now!
07/30/08  10:16pm

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