Fire Belly frog help please n ty

[critterz]

We currently own to very well maintained and down right spoiled very healthy dragons (2) and a 5 year old firebelly newt.
We are contemplateing the Firebelly toad and are wondering about how toxic the poison is as it will mainly be the pet of an 8 year old.
Also is there any advice that I should know first hand from owners and can you actually handle them?

Thank you so much for any help offered.

[SlipknoT]

Umm as long as the kid dosent rub his eyes or put his fingers in his mouth after holding it he should be fine

[mouseboss]

You could probably keep the newt and toad together, assuming there is no major size difference. Just make your 8 year old wash the hands after play-time with the toad.

[shadowfx78]

Um mouseboss thats not correct. FBN's and FBT's have different temperature requirements. The newt needs cooler temps

Any particular reason you are looking at Fire Bellied Toads?
there are better beginner reptiles and amphibians especially for an 8 year old.

the toads dont take well to handling, you may want to consider just a regular common toad as a possibility or a leopard gecko.

[sn0wball]

Firebelly Toad's are only toxic enough to disuade their natural predators (which are a lot smaller than humans) Their toxicity isn't something that will generally effect a human being in the least sense. Your main concern would be retilian diseases such as salmanella, which can be contracted from any amphibian anyway, so your child should always avoid contact with the eyes and mouth, and should always wash their hands before and after handling a frog. As to the specific species of a FBT, the toxicity isn't anything to worry over. Just make sure its cage mates don't try to eat it :rolleyes:

[critterz]

TY all,
My son already helps with the Bearded dragons and he is the only and sole caretaker of the FBN. He is an excellent animal care taker (better then some adults I know even) and his FBN shows that as it is now 5 years old.
He hopes one day to be a marine biologist when he grows up dabbling in retiles and amphibians.
He is looking for a species a little more active this time.He is allowed 5 minutes time 2 times a week to handle the newt and is fine with that, I told him that would probably be the same rule with FBTs as well.
We have bred pinhead crix b4 when our dragons were babies so we plan to use that as a staple and already have 2 seperate vitamins the dragons use at our disposal too.

[mouseboss]

Um mouseboss thats not correct. FBN's and FBT's have different temperature requirements. The newt needs cooler temps

They can be kept together...I've seen it done. The tank needs be be half land and half water. The most important condition is that the animals are relatively the same size. If that balance changes they definitely need to be separated. The duality of the tank set up accounts for the newts preference for the water and the toads liking for land. Perhaps I shouldn't reccomend this type of set-up to a beginner, but it can be done.

[shadowfx78]

Yeah it can be done but its not in the best interest for either of the two species. I too have seen it done particulary in petstores but it doesnt mean its right.

[sn0wball]

Your kid sounds really responsible and good with pets. A firebelly toad is a great choice because they're very simple to care for. The poison will not effect your 8 year old beyong anythign else you're owning so don't worry about it at all. As to being handled, I've never really attempted to handle FBT overmuch, but what you have to watch out for is their mucous membranes. The reason you wash your hands before handling isn't because of the oils on your hand, but rather the friction of your skin rubbing of the mucous membranes of the frog. So make sure your kid wears latex gloves or wets his hands when he wants to play with them.