Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The substrate in my toads house in coconut bark shavings. However there are a couple potted plants in their house, and they're constantly going into the pot, digging up the roots and burrowing there in the moist potting soil.

My first question is, can this harm the toad because even the most basic potting soils have some plant fertilizer in it?

Secondly, how can I give the toads what they want and make them happy so that they will stop tearing up the roots of the potted plants to burrow there?

They've been doing this for months, and I know it means they want a moist place to hang out other than their water pond. Any suggestions? I'm wondering if I should just give them some more potting soil as a layer on one side of their house for them to enjoy, or if there's something else I should use to create this moist spot for them which they seek.

removing the coconut fiber and replacing it with soil/bed a beast/forest bed/jungle mix or mixing in untreated potting soil with the coconut fiber is probaly your best choice. you could also add some moss, which will retain moisture. if you don't want to add soil to the tank, give the toads some hide boxes and put moss and/or soil just under the hide boxes and kepp it moist.

Sounds like an easy fix, but do you have an example of untreated potting soil?

Since my toads have been sitting in the same potting soil I start my vegetables in every spring, should I assume this potting soild isn't/can't hurt them?

most chain pet stores, ie. petsmart, petco, etc. and specality stores will carry bed a beast, forest bed, jungle mix, etc. which are made espically for reptiles and amphibians. otherwise your best bet is to go to a local garden supply store and see if they carry any untreated potting mix or topsoil. many fertlizers are not harmful to amphibians unless they contain herbicides or pesticides, these are what you need to avoid when choosing a substrate. you can also buy reptile substrates online from places like:
www.thatpetplace.com
www.drsfostersmith.com
www.blackjungle.com
www.petsolutions.com
www.lllreptile.com
i use t-rex forest bed,esu reptile jungle mix, and black jungle.com dendro bedding in my vivariums without any problems. they are all safe and are easy for amphibinas to burrow into and hold moisture well. they will last for months and some for years if you spot clean fecal matter and don't over water.

I'd like to get in on this soil issue because it rather drives me bug nuts when I read bags, AND I've read quite a few of them lately. I recently almost purchased some soil which claimed it was all organic soil. I read the back and it states that it has nittogen, phosphorus and potash in there also. Are these naturally in soil? What's more is that it doesn't state how much of each ingredient is in the bag. Those three ingredients are also in fertilizers like Scott's, etc.

What about plain topsoil? Some bags state that they are not responsible for "losses". That's crazy to make a statement like that. Then again, they are not disclosing any other ingredients either, and I'm leery to use this because of this.

If I knew for certain that I could bake soil from my own garden (I never use any chemicals) to get all the other creepy crawlies out, then I'd do it, but many insect eggs can withstand some extreme heat and cold.

using topsoil is to be done at your own risk. as previously stated, baking only reduces the chances of insect larva and eggs hatching and thriving in your soil, there is no guarantee. i don' t personally use topsoil anymore, i prefer to spend the extra money to buy "reptile safe" substrates and not have to deal with the hassels that come from using garen topsoil, saving the extra few bucks isn't worth it, in my opinion. as for ingredients in topsoil, using your backyard soil, if you don't use chemicals, may be a better solutionthen trying to determine what is and isn't added to bagged topsoil, though things like phosporus, nitrogen, potassium, zinc, etc. are found naturally in soils, just not in high percentages, usually.

Well it turns out the pro potting soil I have is as neutral as potting soil gets, and it hasn't seemed to make toads sick for this long.

So I made a mound of poting soil with a little of their bark chips scattered in it too, and I water this mound for them especially on a hot day. Meanwhile I've placed a layer of river rocks ontop of the soil in the plant's container. The toads are probably strong enough to kick all these rocks out of the pot and continue ripping up the plant's roots if they really wanted to, but it's been weeks and they seem to be happy that I gave them this mound of soil which I moisten for them sometimes.