United States
AnthonyLampe
I have owned many pets over the years, and I would say that my favorite was the American Toad.
View:
View:
Admin Articles
Pets:
No Admin Articles Found
. I then did a little online research and decided that it was best to have more water in the aquarium than land, to keep the Toads' skin moist. So, I filled the whole bottom of the tank several inches deep with water, then placed a few rocks and bricks as land. The two toads loved the water and spent most of their time playing in it.<br><br>One issue with having water as the primary habitat is that it becomes polluted quickly. I know pet stores had water filters, which unfortunately cost around $80 for the cheaper ones that would have worked for that aquarium set up. Not wishing to invest that much more money into it, I decided that I would just have to drain the water every week or so and replace it with clean water. It was a little bit of an inconvenience, but it worked.<br><br>The other issue with almost all water was feeding time. The Fire-bellied Toads loved crickets and sometimes meal worms. I would place a few meal worms on the brick in the aquarium, and if the toads noticed them, they would climb out of the water and eat the food. However, what would often happen was that the toads would ignore the food, and the meal worms would walk to the edge of the brick, fall into the water and drown. I realized that I would have to stick with crickets for the toads, which would hop around, swim in the water, and give the toads a nice workout to catch them. It was really fun to watch the toads hunt the crickets down.<br><br>When I moved states, I unfortunately had to sell the Fire-bellied Toads. But, the buyer was a teacher at the Science Center, and promised to take great care of them and would provide all the crickets they could eat, while letting students watch and observe them. I was glad they would be loved.<br><br>Overall, the Oriental Fire-bellied Toads were a little more maintenance than my previous American Toads, and I couldn't hold them which was difficult. But I really loved watching them eat, and their bright colors made them appealing. If you don't mind changing the water often, and are ready to spend a few dollars a week to buy crickets for them, Fire-bellied Toads are a great pet.){kind=link}
. I used regular dirt from my backyard to line the aquarium, a fake brown log to give the toad a place to hide, and a few artificial flowers to add some color.<br><br>Feeding American Toads was super easy, for the most part. Each toad is a little different, and has preferences as to what it loves to eat. I have had around six toads over the years, and some loved large night crawlers (worms), others preferred meal-worms, crickets, rolly pullies or grubs. I had one toad that let me hold him in my hand and it would eat flies off of walls! As I said, every toad has its preferred food, but once you find it, feeding the toad is super easy. Drop the food in the aquarium and just watch your toad hunt them down.<br><br>In the winter, my toad would semi-hibernate. It would eat tons of food and pack it in, then during the colder months it would burrow into the dirt to hide. Those months took very little effort to keep the toad happy. All I had to do was drop in a few bugs every few days and the toad would eat them. However, those months were fairly uneventful too, as the toad would not be active, so watching the toad was a little less fun during the winter.<br><br>Overall, I found it enjoyable throughout the years to watch the American Toad eat, hop, hide and just look around. Toads make little messes, which are easy to scoop out. I would recommend replacing the dirt every few months to remove any slight odors that build up, but little work as far as maintenance. Feeding is a few bugs daily, or several worms throughout the week. I had great experiences watching and caring for my toads. The American Toad was perfect for me, and if it sounds great for you, I would highly recommend them as pets.){kind=link}