Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently moved my two firebelly toads (bombina bombina) into a 55 gallon terrarium with lots of moss and plants and about a 10 gallon water area. They're doing well and seem to enjoy the large, well planted environment. But they love to burrow in the moss so much that I often cannot find them at feeding time. I dust the crickets and drop them in, hoping the toads will eventually hunt them down and have a meal, which they usually do. But I'm worried that most of the calcium will be brushed off the crickets by then, or that the toads may not possess the hunting skills to track them down, since the crickets tend to hide in the moss as well.

Any thoughts or suggestions??

You can gutload the crickets as an alternative to dusting- offer them a fortified cricket chow, or cereal flakes, with calcium dust added. That way the nutrients will be in the crickets and not on them.

I use a cricket rock in which I put the dust and the crickets in, give it a few shakes, put it in the tank and the crickets come out when they want. My guys now know that when the rock is in the tank their meal is also being delivered. I also leave some fish flakes in the rock because some of the crickets will return if not eaten or like to stay in for a while.