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Crazypoh   PrinceSushi  
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 #1827678


Crazypoh
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 Questions about American Toad (new owner here!)

I am a summer school teacher at a daycare center and my kids found a toad this past Friday. I agreed to keep it as our first class pet not thinking it would survive the weekend and sent it home in a large butter container with grass and a water dish with a student to care for it for the weekend. I came to work this morning to find the parent had bought a small aquarium for it complete with a a shallow rock pond, a food dish and a half of a coconut with a hole in the side which I gathered to be its hiding spot after reading these forums! The tank is small-but the toad is tiny about a inch long.
After some reasearch I think it is a Eastern American Toad. I fed it a cricket and 2 flies this morning because it was all I could find on the playground-I caught some more crickets tonight and will feed it again tommorow. My main question is that the mother had put about 2 inches of sand in the bottom of the tank-not soil. Is this an ok substitute for dirt? I live in Central Wisconsin and the soil here is extremely sandy-there is only about a half inch of actual soil before you hit a heavy mix of dirt and sand on the land up here. So is straight sand ok for this toad since it closely mimics the natural habitat?

Also how many crickets should I feed it and can I just dump them in the tank or do I have to hand feed it? Also what about the weekends? Can I not feed it for two days? I’m a bit squeamish about this whole thing but am determined to take care of this toad.....I’ve grown a little attached already! :) Also-the cage is on a table in my classroom and I have no light or heat lamp in the cage and my room is on the lower level and only has two small windows for natural sunlight. The temprature is anywhere from 70-83 degrees in my room-I have no AC just fans and it gets quite humid in there too. Do I need to take any other measures as far as temp or humidity go?

And what about sound control-one of my kids suggested the toad hid alot because the room was so loud...something I cant really help considering I have 17-25 students a day! Will loud noise hurt it? Also can the kids lightly pet it? I havnt let them yet but they really want to...can you tame a toad? Thank you for reading this and I will greatly appreciate any help I can get!! Thanks!
08/11/08  10:10pm

 #1828116


PrinceSushi
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   Message To: Crazypoh   In reference to Message Id: 1827678


 Questions about American Toad (new owner here!)

Its most likely an American toad, which means its going to grow to a considerable size. Your looking at 4-5 inches, not including the legs. A 10 gallon is the minimum you can house one in. A larger tank such as a 20 long would be more suitable for this species. Plastic bins of the same size can also be used, and are MUCH cheaper.

The substrate needs to be changed to coconut fiber. Sand cause impactions with toads very fast, which could mean vet visits or death for the toad.

You should be feeding store bought crickets. Wild crickets can carry parasites, have eaten a poisonous plant, or they could have fertilizers on them. At his current size 5 crickets should be plenty, but be prepared to offer more if he is still hungry. At adult size he will be eating roughly 15-20 everyday. You do not need to hand feed him. Simply dump in 1 or 2 at a time until he has eaten his daily amount. Also, because of his size, I would not miss feeding him. An adult should be fine going 1 or 2 days with out food, but a growing youngster needs to be fed everyday.

Your temperatures sound fine and the windows should provide enough light to stimulate day and night. If you want, you can place a small desk lamp next to his cage, but he will be fine without it. Fans can actually dry substrate fast, so be sure to keep an eye on moisture levels. Mist at least once a day.

Well, toads are mostly nocturnal so you aren’t going to see him too much. Sound can also frighten him, but they do get used to it. Just remind your kids to not bang the tank or scream around it. Toads should not be handled unless absolutely necessary! One reason is that they breath through their skin. If you or a child has something on their hands, it could damage the skin and kill the toad. Toads also release a mild poison, which can cause rashes, eye infection, eye irritation, fever, and many other symptoms. Generally people don’t have any effects from simply touching a toad, but children can rub it places or be more sensitive than most people. The third reason is that its extremely stressful for toads to be handled. Even simple petting can stress them out so bad that they die.



08/12/08  09:37am


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