Reptile & Amphibian Forums

HELLO!!

I am the proud new owner of a very adorable cane toad!!! I've been constantly researching information on them through google and other sites, but I've had sort of a hard time finding any care info other than what I've read off of other forums. If someone could just answer a few questions for me about housing and care and stuff, that would be great!!!

THANKS SO MUCH!

just ask and i will try to help

OKAY!!!! Here goes:

-How often should I feed him?
-What should his house be set up like?
(Right now, there's just some rocks and a little house I made out of a butter container and there's a higher area of rocks where it's dry and a lower area where there's some water)
-Do I need to wash my hands every time I handle him? Or just if I think he's secreted out of his glands?
-Does is water need to be changed in his house often if he poops in it and stuff? Or do you think it's okay?
-Does he need separate drinking water from his sitting water?
-Can he play out in the grass if he's in a well guarded cage or pin?

I'm sure I will think of more, but there's a few that I couldn't find any info about online.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!!!

lol, thats a lot. ive been feeding my marine toad 2-3 times a week. my set up is a 40 breeder tank. i have about 4 inches of a topsoil and a peat/spahgnum moss mix. i use a have log for his hide. i keep the whole tank dry but i do daily mistings. sometimes i soak the dirt pretty good. i keep a water dish in there. he uses this everyday so it needs to be cleaned out and new water added everyday. so i would get rid of the water set up you have and go all land like i have and then just have a water dish in there for him to sit in. clean up will be easier. yes i would wash your hands after every time after you have handled him. i would only bring him outside if you are gonna be right there watching him. they are great climbers and diggers and you wouldnt want him to get out or have someone/something get in at him.

THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO!!! I've been planning on remodeling his temporary house to have less water and some more dirt and natural plants and things. I'm keeping my eyes open for a big aquarium in the classifieds!!! ;D!

Do you think it would be okay to put natural stuff in his house like rocks from outside and things like that just so long as I clean them real well?

Also, should he be alright eating crickets, or should there be more variety in his diet??

You are right about washing hands!!! I was playing with him for awhile yesterday and then didn't wash my hands and I mush have been biting my nails or something and got whatever in my mouth because my tongue was feeling really weird when I would drink or eat, like it stung really bad on the tip of my tongue to drink cold water. SO THERE'S MY LESSON! HAHA!!!

I AM EXCITED TO WATCH MY LITTLE GUY GROW!!!
THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO!!!

I'll probably have more questions constantly!!! I'm new to owning amphibians, I'm used to chinchillas and guinea pigs and dogs!!! HA!

THANKS AGAIN!!!!

oh, and here's a picture of my little guy:

i just go to the garden store and get regular top soil and peat moss. make sure that its all natural. you dont want anything that has added chemicals to it. rocks from outside are fine, just wash them good. i also use branches from outside and stuff. never had a prob.

crickets are good. also nightcralwers and roaches are good too. mine also likes super mealworms

I'm glad it's okay to use outside stuff!!! Do you think painting rocks with like acrylic paint would be okay to put in his home??? I like to embellish stuff a lot but if acrylic paint may be harmful to my friend then he'll just have to have plain rocks!!!

Will your Marine toad eat dog food,etc? Around here they will eat dog food ,cat food in other words non moving food .

there is an old movie 1972 it came out but you can rent it called "Frogs" about killer Cane Toads among other reptiles but the Cane Toads are the main killers lol its good if you like amphibians and reptiles as shows lots of them but ofcourse plot is silly

OOH! That movie sounds awesome!!! I love cheesy movies about crazy animals or monsters or anything!!! HAHA!!!

I want to try to start getting him to eat dog food. Does it need to be soft, or is hard food fine??? Any kind of dog food that is dangerous to them???

dod food is for dogs. stick to the insects for your toad!

There are zillions of them in the area (Miami) maybe due to canals in area. I just had lots tadpoles start leaving a pond near the house

Phantoms gave you all the info you need. I did want to add that they need room as adult he has his in 40 gallon tank which is great but if you prefer you can keep them in long plastic storage bin with chicen wire screen top or plastic egg crate held in place.

They sell them at Walmart . Some keep them outside in them just keep it out of direct sunlight and drill few holes near bottom just incase it rains so bin doesnt fill with water.
They love it warm and at night will croak if you keep them outside they seem to enjoy that

I would add be careful anytime you take it out, they are escape artists and I had one escape into a hole I didn't know about in a fraction of a second.

Definitely change the water everyday, go even two days and it will be the most disgusting sewage stew you ever saw. Wash your hands every time you touch it. They like deep dishes they can soak in, just make sure it can get in and out easily. I used an old cheese spread crock about 5 inches across and maybe 5 inches deep, they loved it.

They need hide spots and enough substrate to burrow in, I used moistened cypress mulch. Hides are important, it has to be able to be completely hidden and feel safe.

Feeding it, they are machines. 2-3 times a week is good, everydaya they will love it!

THANKS!!!

I figured he needed a hiding place because he's been trying to burrow in the rocks I have for him now.

If I used dirt and mulch in his house, can I just buy it at like a greenhouse, or is there special mulch and dirt for them?

I have two little guinea pig pins that i connect together that he goes in and he just hops around and doesn't try to dig or climb the pin or anything!!!

I AM NEW WITH AMPHIBIANS AS PETS!!! SO THANKS FOR HELPING ME WITH ALL MY QUESTIONS!!! THIS IS AWESOME!!!

Lots of mulsch has wood splinters and harmfull if swallowed not to mention made from the killer called cedar which leeches oils into amphibians,reptiles that will kill them.

I love either regular non chemical,non fertilizer soil big bags real cheap or ZOO MED ECO earth which is 'bricks" of shredded coconut and moss you add water to it in a bucket and it expands you get a lot in the 3 "brick" package .

It dries fast or if you prefer use it moist. Its harmless if swallowed and cheap enough .

Be it soil or ECO earth I throw it in the yard when I change it and the plants LOVE it . I dont have Cane Toads I have green toads but same premise as far as substrate .
I will say this after awhile your toad will recognize you over other people. I keep toads and snakes toads by far way "smarter"

Yeah you have to be careful with mulch--cedar mulch is absolutely toxic, and a lot of mulch is polluted because it's stored badly, surrounded by car exhaust, etc. I use cypress mulch only, absolutely no dyes, sanitized by baking it, or the expensive pet store mulch. But cane toads pee so much that I doubt you want to keep bying pet store mulch. I always feed outside the enclosure, but if you feed inside the enclosure and your toads will take moist prey like earthworms, I would feed the worms outside the cage to avoid ingesting mulch.

I wasn't sure what you meant by the guinea pigs, but I wouldn't put them together w/ cane toads even for a few minutes--the cane toad venom can blind or kill a curious guinea pig, and a curious guinea pig with teeth almost an inch long could take a quick chunk out of a cane toad. I raised guniea pigs for 10 years as a kid, and they look placid but they think everything is a snack. It only takes a split second for something really bad to happen.

Cane toads are also pretty dirty, especially if you use a soil mixture in the substrate, so that's why the hand washing is important as much as for the venom.

Oooh, no, I know not to let my other pets around the toad because of how toxic he might be. What I meant with guinea pigs was that I have a little pin that I use for my pig to play in and thought that he would play in it too, just like outdoors and stuff, if I kept a good eye on him!!!

I know about cedar mulch being bad for guinea pigs and like snakes and stuff because I think it burns their bellies and feet maybe??? Do they make other kinds of mulch?

cypress mulch is ok to use. stay away from the cedar stuff like you said and i think pine is also bad for reptiles and amphibians.

I've had a couple of male Cane's for five years now. They both are extremely shy. They don't mind being watched, but each time I have to pick them up they pee, pee, pee. I tried a plain dirt substrate, even coconut fiber, but it would foul up too quickly. What I did then was to get a container which was big enough for both to get into and placed dirt in it. It's much easier to yank this out and change the dirt that way. The rest of their enclosure has newspaper on the bottom, therefore much easier to clean. Some frown on this, but it's had no ill effects on these guys. My main intention is for cleanliness above all else. Lots of hides, a nice deep soaking bowl, and a much weighted down screen top (because they are great escape artists) finish off their "home". I always love their croaking at this time of year. It sort of echoes thru the house.

your idea is actually a great idea as they get burns,sick from dirty enclosures your right keeping them clean is #1

what do you mean by burns???

i was gone for the weekend, and my cane toad was home alone for almost 48 hours and when i came home, he sorta has these weird white spots on him! what does that mean? i've been changing his water dish daily (except for when i was gone) but i haven't been changing his dirt daily. does the dirt need to be changed daily too?

i havent changed the dirt in my tank since january. i did add dirt to it though. my guy pees monstly in the water dish so i clean that everyday. other place he poops is on top of the half log so i just pull that out and clean it. now that its warm im gonna add to the tank pill bugs and millipedes to reduce waste.

my whites tree frog tank i hadent changed the substrate in over 2 yrs. i did add some more substrate though because i added bigger plants

Oooh, yes, cedar mulch isn't too good for any sort of animals though, is it???

That's exciting to hear that the toad will start recognize me someday!!!!! I talk to him a lot, and my other pets, do they respond to voices at all, or am I nuts?

They definitely recognize you, especially when you come bearing gifts such as food. This is the way to ANY toad's heart. Mine especially love a nice juicy nightcrawler dangling in front of them.

they are somewhat "smart" we have them in the area they know I wont hurt them though I hate them in pond (well we built chicken fence around it now) and ignore me as I ingore them while my other neighbor they flee as soon as he enters his yard as he kills them.