Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all!

I recently took home a few tadpoles from someones filtered freshwater pond to try raising them basically just for the experience. I had 3 with legs and 4 very tiny ones that I put in my aquarium inside a breeder tank to keep them safe until they were larger. 2 of the large tadpoles died the first night, but everyone else is still fine so far. It's been about 3 weeks. My 4 babies are quite large now. Larger than my frog(toad?) that I've been attempting to feed for a week now. He/she is very small, about the size of the end of my pinky finger and neither really brown nor green. Ok, let's just call it a "he". I got him fruit flies because he's so small and he seems terrified of them. If they move to fast or get to close he hops away. I managed to get him to eat one fly so far since he lost his tail and decided he wanted to come up for air. He's so little, I'm afraid I'm going to lose him due to his nervousness around his meals! Is this a matter of natural selection?? The tadpoles are larger than him already and they are still black and have their tails. Is it possible he was just a runt or maybe the others have had it too good in my tank with daily feedings since such a young age? Is there a point where they eat something else in between algae and insects? Help please! Thanks in advance!

Here's a pic of him. He looks quite a bit more brown in this light than he does for real.

how long has he been out of the water? when they are absorbing their tails they don't eat anything, and usually not for the day after as well. are the ff flightless? if not it will be very hard for the little guy to catch. http://blackjungle.com has ff available. bufo americanis are extremely hardy little guys, i raised over 50 tads and have 4 little babies right now so if you have any more questions i can help.

as far as that one being a runt, i doubt it, the tadpoles often are larger than the metamorphosed toad. i have my 4 toads in a 190 oz. bin with 3 inches of leaf litter, a small piece of driftwood, and some plant clippings. this type set up has always worked for me. the more hiding spots minimize stress and less stress=the animal wanting to eat more.
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A room of herps.
www.freewebs.com/kapoktree

Hello,
Thanks for the help and sorry for the late response, but that frog (well, I now believe toad) didn't make it. He refused to eat. Period.

Out of my tadpoles, I now have one left. He's doing ok I think. He's been a "toad" for about 2 or 3 weeks now. I have him in a 10 gallon with gravel and trees. Just tonight I think that I figured out what he is. A fowler's toad. I know that they are quite common and nothing special but since I've had him since he was a little guy (small enough to go up the filter of my fish tank) I'm attached and want to keep him alive and well. Does anyone have experience with them? He's eating the fruit flies which are still about the only thing I can find that's small enough for him right now. There's very little info about them on the internet. I don't know how to change up his terrarium to suit him or what else I should know about the species to take the best care of him. Any help would truly be appreciated. He's my only one left! Thanks in advance.

By the way, I had 2 up until today. The other one's belly bloated up and he died. Anyone know what that was about?

Don't know why your other one died, could have been a million things...
as far as housing your alive one. a 10 gallon is huge for such a little guy and it makes it harder for him to find food that way. a 190 oz. container from joshsfrogs.com work really well. or a large cricket container (with a glass lid to hold flies in). put 2-3 inches of moist dirt, 2-3 inches of leaf litter, a pothos cutting or fern, and a small water dish. their care is the same as bufo americanis and there's plenty of info on them, so just research that. they one of the hardiest groups of toads so it's pretty hard to mess it up.
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A room of herps.
www.freewebs.com/kapoktree

Thanks for the help. I'll get working on some new terrain for him. Is outdoor dirt ok since he's a wild toad or does it need to be bought?
I've been taking him out and putting him in a half gallon fish bowl at feeding time. I do this for several reasons. 1). To make sure he's eating. 2). To make sure he can see the food because I agree with you, there's WAY too many places for flies to hide in the 10, and 3). I was hoping it would help him get used to being handled. Is it ok to do this? I looked at is as a little bit of bonding.
Like I said, going by the orange arrangement on his back, I'm pretty sure he's a fowler's toad, but with all this "he" talk, is there anyway to determine their sex? I realize it may still be to early for that. Thanks again! Much appreciated!

SOMETHING ELSE!!! What about his water? Should it be something specific? Spring? Treated somehow? I'm assuming nothing right out of the tap. I've been taking water from my fish tank since that's what I raised them in, but he may have out grown that by now.

wild dirt is fine, with animals from the wild you can take supplies from the wild.

the whole taking him out and feeding him is fine, but just know that he is getting absolutly nothing out of this, it is just for your own satisfaction. if you ever plan to release him you will have to wean him off this habbit. toads really don't like to be handled, the adults will squirt water out their anus when held.

there is no way to sex it yet, you will have to wait for it to be at least 8 monthsish.
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A room of herps.
www.freewebs.com/kapoktree