Your Reptile and Amphibian Resource and Information Site

Back to Toads Forum   Forums   Home   Members Area  

Toads Forum

Greatballzofire   JackAsp   Fluff   Greatballzofire   Toads5912   JackAsp   Lair*of*toad   Greatballzofire   Greatballzofire   Greatballzofire   Lair*of*toad   Wolfpup54   Greatballzofire  
 Member  Message

 #2150814


Greatballzofire
View Profile

 My California Toads

Bufo boreas halophilus - California Toad


Two toads at water dish getting crickets that fall in water.


Overhead view of their tank.


Four of them; moved hide to show them.


The other three.


Toads hanging out on rocks.


Toads in hand.

I have had these toads starting in early April. How this project began is my California king snake’s tank got cracked and I moved the snake into a new tub. Then I got a piece of Plexiglas and replaced the broken pane. But what to put in it, since the snake was already in new quarters and seemed to be happy with that. I was doing yard work and as I moved lumber and rocks around I kept finding these little toads, and decided to keep them, as their husbandry is pretty simple. Since they have been in this tank, some for over a month and others more recently, they have grown incredibly fast on crickets. I also put earthworms in there. It’s a good thing I raise crickets, as toads eat a lot! This tank sits on my coffee table and is quite entertaining, as the toads come out and walk around, take swims, and hunt crickets. They soon learn I am not a threat and let me watch them for hours. I do plan on getting a much bigger tank just for them in the near future.



05/26/10  08:07pm

 #2150844


JackAsp
View Profile



   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 2150814


 My California Toads

Yeah toadlets get big FAST. It’s always funny how I’ll go hiking somewhere and see a bunch of little tiny ones, and then a month later I’m still seeing them, but at a size or two up... I guess the tadpoles are in such a hurry to sprout legs before the mud puddle dries up that they forget to actually grow.
05/26/10  11:25pm

 #2150926


Fluff
View Profile



   Message To: JackAsp   In reference to Message Id: 2150844


 My California Toads

I love your set up!! Very nice :)
05/27/10  12:39pm

 #2150959


Greatballzofire
View Profile



   Message To: Fluff   In reference to Message Id: 2150926


 My California Toads

Thanks!
I went out to the garden today and rounded up a big crop of sow bugs for them. Sow bugs are not only good food for the toads, the sowbugs will eat the waste in the tank and help keep it clean. Finally a use for sowbugs! LOL!
05/27/10  02:15pm

 #2151051


Toads5912
View Profile



   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 2150959


 My California Toads

Hahaha! Nice toads! I like the variety in coloration! And just out of curiosity, how big is the tank you have? I personally feel that going by floor space, not gallons, is the best way to determine good tank size. And sowbugs are really great food! Easy to care for, too. Just dirt, a tub, and dead plant matter!
05/27/10  08:05pm

 #2151105


JackAsp
View Profile



   Message To: Toads5912   In reference to Message Id: 2151051


 My California Toads

I’m not a big fan of the "edible scavenger" cage-cleaning technique. That’s a great way to make sure any trace pathogens the animals were carrying when captured keep getting reintroduced... into all four of them. (Too many crickets in the cage often leads to the same problem, actually, for the same reasons.) Nematodes especially are fond of using different hosts for different parts of the life cycle, and a small enclosed area gives them the perfect closed cycle.
05/28/10  01:55am

 #2151113


Lair*of*toad
View Profile



   Message To: JackAsp   In reference to Message Id: 2151105


 My California Toads

I LIVE IN SACRAMENTO AN I CAUGHT SUM LOCAL TOADS BUFO BOREAS BOREAS,there are two subspecies bufo boreas boreas and bufo boreas halophilus,out of curiosity do you think you could be mixed up and that your toads are actually bufo boreas boreas becus bufo boreas halophilus is known for its lighter markings according tomy book and other finding when i myself was researching my toads two and a half years ago,and if in fact we have the same subspecies your toads will get big i got eight and there all pretty nice size and bigg eaters.
05/28/10  03:00am

 #2151167


Greatballzofire
View Profile



   Message To: Lair*of*toad   In reference to Message Id: 2151113


 My California Toads

http://www.californiaherps.com/frogs/pages/b.b.boreas.html

http://www.californiaherps.com/frogs/pages/b.b.halophilus.html

I think I have the halophilus as the boreas is a lot further north than where I live according to the range map. The boreas range is even further from Sacramento; I think you also may have the halophilus as their range includes the entire San Joaquin valley as well as the Motherlode foothills (my home).
05/28/10  01:45pm

 #2151169


Greatballzofire
View Profile



   Message To: JackAsp   In reference to Message Id: 2151105


 My California Toads

Hi, JackAsp,
Your comments on the pathogens being reintroduced is a good point. I kind of hate to give up on the sow bugs, though, as they are so plentiful and the toads love them. I went to clean the tank today and put fresh new soil, and I could barely find any of the sow bugs I had put in yesterday. I use clean unfertilized topsoil and moss on top of that. I think if I change the soil often that should help with any pathogen problems or build up of parasites.
05/28/10  01:50pm

 #2151171


Greatballzofire
View Profile



   Message To: Toads5912   In reference to Message Id: 2151051


 My California Toads

Toads5912,
My tank is 10" wide by 30 " long. At this point in time this is fine, but I am scouring Craig’s List, etc for a 48" x 12" x 16" tank, which will fit on my coffee table perfectly. This summer I am going to get a small wading pool and set it up with soil, water and hides in a shady spot with a screen cover for protection, and let the toads enjoy summer outdoors.
05/28/10  01:58pm

 #2151971


Lair*of*toad
View Profile



   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 2151171


 My California Toads

yes you could be rite greatballs,that is wut i had believed at first to be true,our toads look very much alot exept as sum of my younger ones from this year got bigger they actually got a little lighter too,but yes sum of my toads look like i could pass em off for yours.
05/31/10  08:16pm

 #2162415


Wolfpup54
View Profile



   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 2150814


 My California Toads

i was wondering what do Bufo boreas halophilus - California Toad eat ive tryed house flys but all they do is fly around his water and do you got any help full info please let me know my email is sammy_robbins@hot mail.com im new at owning frogys but i know how to raise snakes is it the same way????
07/13/10  10:13pm

 #2162423


Greatballzofire
View Profile



   Message To: Wolfpup54   In reference to Message Id: 2162415


 My California Toads

I feed my toads crickets I raise myself. Toads eat so much it is easier and cheaper to raise the crickets than to have to buy them. also you can collect sow bugs (pill bugs) and moths and grasshoppers. Toads will eat anything they can fit in their mouths. Just be careful when collecting wild bugs that the bugs have not been exposed to pesticides.
07/13/10  10:29pm


Back to Toads Forum   Forums   Home   Members Area