How do you take care of a toad?

[Keys]

The title explains it. I know nothing about toads. how do you take care of them?

[Keys]

Somebody has to know how to take care of a toad. :D

[LeahPrincess]

The best way, is to kiss it and turn it into a prince maybe?

[Keys]

If only... :lovestruc lol

[Dawg]

Well they do like to eat small moths, flies, ladybugs, etc. I'd say keep plenty of those on hand and maybe some water?

(sorry couldn't be of more help)

[Keys]

That's OK. We have lots of toads around here and I thought it might be cool to have one but I don't know anything about them.

[Dawg]

Well as mentioned they like bugs. (ones that move around) I don't think they like being in water but they can swim. They are usually nocturnal. From what I've been told some are poisonous. Not sure what else there is to know about them. :boggled:

[Gainer]

Hi,

I have 20 odd wild toads living at my backdoor. They have freedom of the world but they seem to enjoy just the 3ft square of concrete I have there. They got there through the underground water pipes.
Anyway, I just got a large wooden box and filled it with moss and stones from the local river and bits of wood bark making lots of hidey places inside it. I try to keep it damp and pour water over it on hot days. It started off with about 4 - 5 toads, now there are 20 of them, all colours and sizes. They always want to come into my house and forever try to climb over the door ledge. They are very tame and although I dont feed them every day, I feed them mealworms (larvae of a beetle) which you can get from reptile/ wild bird suppliers. Otherwise you can dig up some earthworms. They dont seem to like moths - tend to spit them out as I guess they are a bit powdery. Basically though the food has to wiggle somewhat or they wont register it as food. Hope this helps.

[Keys]

I think I will try that. It sounds really cool. We keep finding more and more baby toads. We have alot of old water lines around my house too, so I think that might be where they keep coming from.

[toad]

Toads, you say? As it happens, my avatar picture is of Mortimer, who lives on the other side of the room I'm in now. I (obviously?) like pet toads. However, there are some things to consider when you decide to keep toads.
First off, yeah they're all poisonous, but most species won't harm a human unless you stick one in your mouth or maybe rub one in your eye. I'll presume you don't plan on doing either of those things. Since your location is "USA" and I don't know where therein, I should mention that there are some more "dangerous" species of toads living mostly in southern coastal states, like the marine toad. As an example, if a dog even licks one of those, let alone eats one, the dog can actually die, although it might just become severely ill for a time and recover unless it eats the whole toad. Anyway, I had a point here, truly. Oh yeah, wash your hands after you touch your toad or anything your toad touches alot, like anything it prefers sitting on, etc.. It's a good idea to try to identify the species of toad you're dealing with if you aren't sure. Some look very similar. Field Guides are pretty good and if you search the web, there are a few good sites out there too. I don't think I have any bookmarked here, sorry. Oh and also, try not kiss your toad - tempting as it may be to see what it turns into. It might squirt on you for looking like you were going to eat it.
Another fairly important thing to know is that toads don't drink water through their mouths. They need a dish of water big enough that they can sit in it, but a shallow one, (water level not over their head) they have to be able to easily climb in and out. The dishes that go under potted plants work pretty well as long as you get a "glazed" ceramic type one instead of a bare clay one - bacteria thrive in porous surfaces. The reason for this is that all toads have to absorb water through their skin or they dehydrate and die. It has to be clean, soap-free water too, distilled if you've got it handy. Soap, chlorine and many other such chemicals are really bad for amphibians. Actually, the salt and oil in human skin isn't great for them either, so you really can't hug toads or pet them or carry them around in your hands any more than you have to.
Despite all this, toads are very interesting little animals to live with. Some of them can learn to tell one human apart from another and come hopping over when they see the one they know probably has some crickets or worms to hand out.
Incidentally, mine are indoor toads. I take Mortimer for regular "walks" outside in the summer so that he gets some good variety to his diet. In the winter he eats mainly store-bought crickets with periodic dusting of vitamin powder on them. Alot of people do like the mealworms, and I feed them to my box turtle, because she chews her food, but just so you know, toads are at risk of having a swallowed-alive mealworm live long enough to chew through the pet's stomach - it doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's not pleasant. Softer shelled insects are safer for any animal who swallows things whole because they die pretty quick when eaten.
Hm.. don't mix toad species in an enclosure or whichever species is more toxic will unintentionally cause the other to die. Don't keep any toad with any toad small enough to fit in the other's mouth. It will. They don't descriminate well between family and food if it's the same size and it moves.
By the way, toads don't need heaters or special lighting in most cases because they usually keep themselves buried during daylight hours in the wild and most prefer reletively cool temperatures.
On the frivolous side, my toad, Mort, chases the virtual fish back and forth if I let him near the aquarium screen saver on my computer. Sometimes he gets confused and appears to hunt my cat through the translucent wall of his enclosure. In conclusion, toads can be fun, interesting pets.
I've ranted and rambled on far too long now. I'm sorry. I meant to go to sleep an hour ago, too. Oops. If you have any specific questions about anything toadly, let me know. I'll try to keep it short next time, honest.

[Dawg]

Good info. I did not know all toads were poisonous. I knew they had glands behind their eyes that release a foul tasting substance if an animal tries to pick it up in it's mouth. Them absorbing water thru their skin is good to know too.

[crazycatlady81]

If it was a wild toad, maybe it should stay that way. I always think how selfish it would be to take something, no matter how wonderful, out of it's natural home, away from it's family, to keep it for my own selfish enjoyment. Only if they need our help should we interfear. If it's a "domesticated" toad, do a little research and listed to they last person, the one who had oodles of info.

[Dawg]

You should tell that to anyone who's ever domesticated any animal.

[froghound]

My husband and I have a creek running alongside our property. We are always bringing in various frogs and toads from down there. My question is, can they be kept in the same tank or should we separate the frogs and toads?

[toadguy13]

can any of you help me?
i seem to be haveing trouble getting my toads to eat anything

[CrazyBird]

I'm so glad I found this thread!

I'd never take anything out of the wild to keep as a pet. With this one exception.

I found a small toad, with a bum leg. I'm hoping to be able to care for him here. I hated to let him go knowing that, with survival of the fittest in place, he was a goner. I'm going to get him some store bought crickets tomorrow. I'll give it some time, see if he will eat them. If he thrives here, I'll keep him. If not, I'll try to find somewhere safe to release him.

Is this a good idea? I never realized people kept toads as pets. (Other than the frogs that you find in petstores).

About them being poisonous, does this include toads native to Ohio? I have a picture.....

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b92/crazybirdlady7/toadie1.jpg