Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Bought my FBT today (Trevor the Toxic Toad)! He's all set up and so far he's just sitting around mulling things over. He's from a local pet store, and like most of the FBTs I've seen in the stores around here, he's black on top instead of green. This is most likely the result of some deficiency in husbandry, right? That's no big shocker given that he came from a pet store, but what I'm wondering is will he "green up" again once he's being given the right environment and diet? Or once they've turned black, is that it?

The pet store had him in a tank that had deep water with piles of rocks for him to sit on. Everytime I'd been in there he was on the rocks, not in the water. There was a light on him but I don't know if was a UVA/UVB. They fed him crickets.

Now he's in a semi-aquatic 10 gallon, with a gravel base, then a layer of larger gravel, Eco-earth as a third layer, and finally clumps of moss (it smells really nice in there, like a fresh spring pond). The water area is about 3 inches deep, with large rocks and plants to climb on. I have some aquatic plants in the water and pothos on the land. The water is filtered with a Whisper 10i. His light is a UVB strip light that's one year old, and was originally a 10% UVB output. Since these lights lose most of their UVB after a year, I'm hoping there's enough left to keep him and the plants happy. I could always get another bulb if I need to.

Right now the air temp in there is 78 degrees and the water is a little bit less. I can do a heat spot but I don't know that he needs one since during the day it's likely to get slightly warmer in there anyway.

I plan to feed crickets dusted with calcium powder but for variety I'd like to try freeze-dried bloodworms and daphnia (this is what I have for my newts), plus reptile/amphibian pellets if he'll eat those. I have some meal worms as treats for my aquatic turtles but I don't know if it's a good idea to give these to the FBT since he's not very big. My FB newts don't care for them even if they're cut in half.

A diet question, too: Has anyone had much luck getting their FBTs to take the prekilled crickets, either freeze-dried or in the can? When I had a bearded dragon, he switched from live to not-live without too much trouble.

Thanks guys. You're always a helpful and informative bunch!

well, sounds like you are doing everything you can. as for the color, i think he will "green up." when i first got mine they were more of an emrald green and now all three are bright bright green. most people don't relize how terrestrail they are, i just have mine in a 10 gallon with a large water dish and they are extremely happy and healthy.

3 in. of water is good, but i wouldn't go any deeper. they like to be in the water, but on a rock or something, not fully submerged in it. thats what i've found out at least. they aren't very messy so your water should stay very clean if you have a filter.

as for UVA and stuff, they actually don't need it in the form of light, as long as you have a good vitiman/calcium supplement that you use don't worry about it. if you really wanted to though, change bulbs every 6-8 months. reptisun 2.0 is a special florescent just for amphibians, but not necessary for most. there are also special plant bulbs, usually like 10$ that work well.

room temp. is good for them, don't let it go below 65F or above 90F. if you want to keep it warm get a glass top, it keeps temp. up and also humidity. but it will also filter out all the bentificial rays your bulbs are giving off, you choice.

i would definitly stick with live crix, the dead ones tend to be a lot less nutricious and you would need to hand feed it cause they only eat things that are moving. i wouldn't use bloodworms either, i used to use those with my newt but it made the water filthy and extremely smelly, plus, they are just nasty. you could try the pellets, you would have to move em' around a little though, they only go for things that are moving. it depends on the frog for mealworms, you would have to "supervise" it cause the mealworms drown if they are even in like 2 mm water, so you might want to "help" your frog eat them. contact me if you have any more questions!!! good luck ps- my fBT's: the tank has been redone so the white isn't showing, just odn't have recent pic.

Well, from my experience, they tend to like the semi-aquatic set-up best. I have two of mine in a ten gallon with a large rock at one end for feeding. Believe me, when I had it set up in a terrestrial style set up, they would try to climb out, but after setting up the semi-aquatic set-up for them they calm down. I even left my screen top open for long periods of time and they never try to climb out with the semi-aquatic set-up; I guess they like the humidity. I have one of mine for 6 years and still going strong! Now, about the temperature, I think they tend to like room temperature. Amphibians likes it moderately cool, which means if you can maintain the temperature at around 75-85 degree it's great. Amphibians can digest food even if the ambient temperature is 60 degree, any lower, all bets are off. Any higher than 85 is too hot. Amphibians have moist porous skin, and high temperature causes them to loose water quickly. From my experience the fire-bellied toads like it in the 75-80 degree range, so room temperature is perfect. I have mine in a room temperature set-up for 6 years.

For feeding, frogs rely on movement to tell them if something is food or not, so feeding live insects is a must because they will not take dead preys! Although, in the past, I've sucessfull hand fed my FB toads from a pair of tiny tongs, and even by hands. If you want to do this for fun, just slowly approach the frog with the tongs in one hand. Don't make any sudden movement because that warns them of predator approaching. Once you get close enough dangle a cricket or mealworm infront of it, and see, if he will go for it. They will if they are hungry. You can try to fast them for a couple days; then try feeding them by hands if you want. It's a really enjoyable experience.

And, lastly, they don't need UVB light as long as they can tell the difference between night and day. If your room is really dark, then I guess the UVB light might be benefitial since it would stimulate there night/day cycle activity, and FB toads are active during the day; so, if your room is dark, I sugest the lighting for psychological benefits to stimulate feeding. You can use the regular incadescent bulb if you like, but make sure the wattage is not too high to cause them heat stress. Remember amphibians like it moderately cool compared to reptiles.