Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was going to go get some newts today, but after reading that post about everything that could go wrong if you mix species, i dont think i am going to get them. Right now I have a 20 gallon tank. 1/3 land with moss and rocks, 2/3 water with vines, and a submerged log. I have 2 male FBT's and 4 guppies(1.3). I was wondering if i have a 20 gallon tank how many toads can I put in it comfortably? Can I put anything else in it other than toads, that wouldn't end in horror?

Also, I have had them for 2 days now and fed both of them 2 wax worms each. I know that wax worms are really high in fat content and should only be treats, but if one of them is on the slender side can i keep feeding them wax worms until they are both nice and plump? Other than crickets, is their anything else like wax worms that are easy to maintain. Any other type of worm other than meal worms with their hard shells that i can feed my toads for a base diet. I would rather not feed them crickets because they always get out of the tank somehow. Would it be possible if i just dumped a lot of earth worms in my tank so they can grow and live off the plants? Or would i have to get a second tank and start a culture.

Also, If I am able to get a female or two how hard or easily are FBT's bred. How difficult is it to hatch and raise their young. Has anyone in here successfuly bred FBT's? If so any tricks to the trade.

I purchased my toads from a petstore two days ago. They were in a tank full of very small toads like only .5 inches some slightly smaller some slighyly larger. I picked the largest two. If one is 1 inch and the other is 1.25-1.5 inches long how old could they possibly be?

Last question, They both have 2 light green patches on the upper part of their backs. Are they shedding, or is this a common marking in FBT's? If they are just starting to shed roughly how long does it take if they are in proper conditions?

Mike

well now lets see, im not your average expert, but ive had FBTs for a few months now, so i can give you a little advice...
first of all, ive heard that in a 10 gallon you can house about 2-3 toads comfortably, 4 in a 15 gallon, so you might be able to have 5 or so in a 20 gallon... as for mixing different species w/ the toads, its always questionable what you can put in w/ these guys... FBTs are not natively w/ a lot of the types of amphibians/fish that they sell, so it could end disastrously if they were to be mixed. i have not mixed anything w/ my FBs so far, and they seem to be fine this way... newts and salis are usually picked on by frogs, which would cause more stress to the newts than frogs. my bf has 2 fire belly newts, and he put ghost shrimp w/ them as food, but the shrimp died off quickly. however.. these are two different amphibians...
i would suggest a greater variety of food for your FBs (even tho this is advice i havent taken yet either ) you can try earthworms, guppies, or ghost shrimp...i would think the guppies are the best choice b/c they are seld as feeder fish and are easy to take care of... the frogs will enjoy chasing them but will most likely be unsucessful, so you will have to give them a fish on land. do you have a top on your tank that is secure to keep the crickets from getting out? also, are you giving your FBTs a diet supplement? its very important that these guys get a good source of calcium and other nutrients, otherwise they can develop malnutrition and bone deficiencies. you can buy a powder to put on your crickets or waxworms, or you can buy cricket food that is full of vitamins for your frogs. the earthworm set up sounds very nice to me, but i think you should get more advice about that one before going thru it, as im not sure if it would be healthy or not.
im going thru trying to figure out breeding these little guys myself... the males are very open to breeding, as you can hear them calling very often (which is a soft, beautiful sound! ) but its the females that do not always seem too often for breeding. be sure to find out lots of information about breeding these guys first. there will hopefully be some good posts about that once someone replies to my breeding post .
dont worry about stuffing your frogs.. if they are slender, that is ok as long as they arent underfed or sick looking. sometimes frogs can get too plump for their own good. i would say that one waxworm is enough for each day... you dont have to feed these frogs every day, 3 or four times a week is good.
also, when they shed their skin, it is more like a clear shed, rather than any color, kind of like other reptiles such as snakes. FBTs like to help each other shed, so its ok if you see the other guy trying to eat his skin or something . i think shedding does not take more than 2 days, it can go thru within a day, at least how ive seen it.
most importantly, if you plan on going out to buy females for your tank, PLEASE MAKE SURE TO QUARENTINE YOUR AMPHIBS! you should keep the new frogs in a separate tank for at least a month. this does not have to be an elaborate, huge tank. even if they look healthy, they could be very sick and would not show signs until a few weeks after purchasing, which could spread to your healthy male frogs if they were to be put directly together. if you are extremely impatient, you can put the new frogs together just a little under a month, but remember, its better to be safe than sorry.
if you have any updates, feel free to post them and say how youre doing

I have a 1 male guppie and 3 female guppies with them. The frogs show no interest in them. The guppies will actually swim rigtht up to them and pick the skin off their skin, and the frogs dont even look at them. I think i will let the guppies breed, and feed them their babbies for a diet. I will take a pic of my tank soon, and try to post it on the forum. But thanks for responding. I think i will get 2 or 3 more toads, and i will definatly keep them separate for a few weeks. Thanks for the advice.

Mike

The light green patch behind the eyes is normal, mine have it too. I wish I had a male FBT, mine don't bark at all. I'm going to get another one this sunday or next week for my 10 gallon tank. And for breeding them here's a good webpage on breeding and such. http://www.amphibian.co.uk/bombina.html