Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.

Click here to visit Classifieds
Click for ZooMed

Toads for Veiled Chameleon food?

b3finga Jun 08, 2006 02:48 PM

I was just wondering if baby toads might be a good food for a Veiled Chameleon. I found about 50 of them in my backyard yesterday and I've got them in a terrarium for now. I know some toads are toxic to some animals, but I don't know which ones are. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Replies (5)

insecttrap Jun 08, 2006 03:42 PM

I think you answered your own question.

Some are poisionous...

so I wouldn't risk it.

Unless you are a breeder or researcher doing an experiment with many animals, but then it is best left up to them watching their behavior in the wild.

Frogs and anoles are a different story.

Michael

nymph Jun 08, 2006 04:54 PM

Any wild animal could have parasites or even be sick. I would not take the risk. Your cham is beautiful and looks healthy. Keep him that way.... Just say no to WC food!!!

Melisondra Jun 08, 2006 09:55 PM

I would agree, any wild caught food, even insects, can carry harmful parasites for your cham. Whether those specific toads are poisonous or not (they look like Fowleri Toads from the pics but no idea if they are poisonous or not) it still is a big risk you take. It is better off to stick with store bought feeders or hand raised critters that you can guarantee the health history of.

Cute babies though! :-D

Erin D.
-----
1:1 Veileds (Gene and Alis)
1:0 Sambava Panther (Knoxville)
1:1 Albino Clawed Frogs (Phedre and Jos)
?? Fire belly toad (Harold)
Various cats and dogs

Melisondra Jun 08, 2006 09:58 PM

>>I would agree, any wild caught food, even insects, can carry harmful parasites for your cham. Whether those specific toads are poisonous or not (they look like Fowleri Toads from the pics but no idea if they are poisonous or not) it still is a big risk you take. It is better off to stick with store bought feeders or hand raised critters that you can guarantee the health history of.
>>
>>Cute babies though! :-D
>>
>>Erin D.
>>-----
>>1:1 Veileds (Gene and Alis)
>>1:0 Sambava Panther (Knoxville)
>>1:1 Albino Clawed Frogs (Phedre and Jos)
>>?? Fire belly toad (Harold)
>>Various cats and dogs
-----
1:1 Veileds (Gene and Alis)
1:0 Sambava Panther (Knoxville)
1:1 Albino Clawed Frogs (Phedre and Jos)
?? Fire belly toad (Harold)
Various cats and dogs

beardiedude Jun 09, 2006 12:22 PM

I think its great that you are looking to expand your chams diet....but how you are going about it is questionable....

Lets take a look at the veild chameleons habitat....a savanna type terrain with large trees, sand, and intensive heat. In those terrains, locusts and many other large bugs are a frequent encounter for the chameleon. A toad on the other hand is not. The chameleon might show some interest in the toad, but we would be altering the animals diet. Crickets are related to locusts and trigger the same response in veilds....

I do applaude your interest on expanding your herps diet. Too many people only want to feed animals that are convenient for them to get. Of course there is a GREAT chance of infecting your cham, be it the poison of the toad or its parasites, you could breed them for feeders.

When i had my mellers chameleons, we were also breeding tree frogs and mantids at the time. Both of these were absolute FAVORITES of the chameleons. They eat those food items in the wild. I would occasionaly donate spare offspring to the chams and they loved it!

If you want to expand your chams diet look into its habitat and see what flora and fauna live there and are consumed by veiled chameleons.

Peace dude
-----
Eric

I fight for the unconventional
My right, and its unconditional
I can only, be as real as i can
The disadvantage is
I never knew the plan
This isnt the way just to be a martyr
I cant, walk alone any longer
I fight, for the ones that cant fight
And if I lose, at least I tried....
(Slipknot:Pulse of the Maggots)

Site Tools