Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all.

I'm new to this forum. I would have preferred introducing myself under different circumstances, but right now I've gotten myself into a situation that has me a little bit concerned. I have [4] four American Toads that I have raised from tadpoles. They are about 3-4 months old, healthy and thriving.

Well, tonight I got the bright idea to feed them some maggots that I'd discovered in the trash barrel while gathering it up for tommorrow a.m. collection. It really wasn't as yucky as I thought it would be. I just brushed them off of the bags into an old canister that I had pre-filled with a small amout of repti-cal powder.

After feeding the little toads, I'd set down to study them for a time. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that some of the maggots escaped!! I don't mean that they got out of the aquarium that I'm using to house the toads. Or that they were able to burrow their way down into the substrate, away from the toads. What I mean is that they escaped right out of the toads! That's right. They were eaten alive and came out alive. Emerged from the bottoms of two of the toads as if they were being birthed or something. Kind of neat, but on the other hand, freaky. I can honestly say that I did not expect that.

So... aside from suggesting that I do not feed maggots to the toads anymore (I won't), can any experts here tell me if I should be more or less concerned. The toads seem to be alright. I'm hoping that I haven't done anything to harm their digestive system.

Thanks in advance for your kind replies.

--
Corvus

WOW! That IS disgusting! I can understand your concern! Sorry, but I don't have any answers for you but I just wanted to tell you that I fed my american toads (when they were toadlets) maggots once and this didn't happen to them.

Can you tell us how quickly did it take before they started poopin' out maggots? Do the toads look annoyed or like they are in discomfort? Is there feces coming out with the maggots also? Do the maggots look the same as before they went in? Any blood? (I hesitate to ask since those are really gross questions, but the answers might help in finding out what happened!)

I'm also wondering if there could have been something in the trash can, something like grease, that might have been on the maggots and there in turn made the toads' digestive systems go faster? (I want to say that this is a TOTAL guess and sounds like quite an uneducated and stupid one too, but it was the only thing I could come up with!) I mean, how could something pass through alive?! I'm totally surprized (and disgusted too!) Hopefully someone will have an answer for you and hopefully your toads will be ok.
-----
-Laurah

>> Can you tell us how quickly did it take before they started poopin' out maggots? Do the toads look annoyed or like they are in discomfort? Is there feces coming out with the maggots also? Do the maggots look the same as before they went in? Any blood? (I hesitate to ask since those are really gross questions, but the answers might help in finding out what happened!)

>>-Laurah

About 10 Minutes, No (more like a befuddled expression), No, Yes, No-Thank God!

So I'm thinking that they will be okay.

Thanks,
-----
--
Corvus

Well if they weren't covered in blood they should be OK. Maggots are hard to digest I've heard. My little toads couldn't even eat waxworms. They came out dead but in one peice more or less.

Things I've found that little toads can digest very easily are slugs and earthworms. You can try adult flys too. You will see undigested exoskeleton pieces, but not whole flys.

I base this stuff on my Western Toads.

>>Well if they weren't covered in blood they should be OK. Maggots are hard to digest I've heard. My little toads couldn't even eat waxworms. They came out dead but in one peice more or less.
>>
>>Things I've found that little toads can digest very easily are slugs and earthworms. You can try adult flys too. You will see undigested exoskeleton pieces, but not whole flys.
>>
>>I base this stuff on my Western Toads.

When I got home from work this evening I noticed that the toads had passed some more of the maggots. Whole, but dead. I've removed the dead maggots from the set-up.

Thanks for the info. I may try the earthworms but I would probably have to cut them up as the toads are still quite young. I'm more inclined to just stick with fruit flies and small crickets with the occasional ants and woodlice. They seem to like the woodlice although I'm not sure of the nutritional value if any. I more or less just throw them in for variety.

-----
--
Corvus

Hello:

I have some resources for you to consult. Patty Slaytonp from the Dart forums knows some about the different kinds of Maggots and the types of flesh they will eat. Look for some posts with the last name Slaytonp. Some types will get inside, say a rabbitt(I've seen this myself) and can eat the insides of the animal causing death, other types used in medicinal purposes have been used to actually eat the rotting flesh off of humans to prevent infection(I've also seen this done in present day medicine). Some folks on the dart forums have actually cultured maggots to feed to the darts commenting that they are somewhat difficult to digest however. Dr. David Frye, the leading vet on Frogs(not just Lizards), will have a lot of help for you. He is at Milan Area Animal Hospital in Milan, Michigan. He can be reached through email for consult or just call his office. Its better to consult him, he really is an invaluable resource and in an emergancy, you'll want him to tell you what to do instead of guessing when time is of the essence. Your local vets really won't be too much help and may even hurt if they don't really have frog based experience(but call themselves vets to "exotics" ) Let me find his email and I'll post it for you again. There probably isn't too much to worry about, but just consult them to make sure. By the way, how many maggots came out?