That Reptile Blog – Reptile, Amphibian and Exotic Pet Care and Information

 

Albino and leucistic American bullfrogs are becoming quite popular in the pet trade.  The two females that I’m holding in the accompanying photograph are approximately 1 year old, and were received as tadpoles.  The other photograph shows two others in an exhibit I prepared for the Maritime Aquarium in Connecticut (note the pumpkinseed sunfish…bullfrogs usually do quite well with predatory fish).

Basking Platforms

The frogs in the exhibit photo are resting upon an R-Zilla Basking Platform.  I use these extensively, both at home and in the zoo/aquarium exhibits that I design.  The platforms are very realistic in appearance, especially when surrounded by real or artificial plants and with a light covering of algae.  They are equipped with a stick built into the surface – you can wedge a bit of R-Zilla Beaked Moss below this for extra effect.  I also favor the Zoo Med Turtle Dock.  One end of this platform slopes below the water, providing easy access to metamorphosing frogs, newts and other creatures that might need a bit of help exiting the water.  I’ve also used this model for a spotted turtle that lost his rear legs in an accident…the gentle slope allows him to easily climb on board.

In most situations, I prefer suspended platforms to rock piles, as the former leave the water below clear for swimming.  Cork Bark works well also, but floats freely or must be cut to fit the tank and wedged into place.

An Un-cooked Chicken!

Most visitors to the aquarium remark favorably upon the albinos, which live in an exhibit with normally colored bullfrogs.  I did, however, overhear one gentleman respond to his companion’s “Aren’t they interesting?” with a definitive “They look like un-cooked chickens”!

Unusual Physical Traits (in addition to their color, or lack thereof!)

Albino bullfrogs behave in all respects as do normally-colored individuals, and like them vary greatly in their dispositions.  The two in my collection are incredibly shy, while a male on exhibit frequently calls during the day, in full view of the visitors.  However, I noticed that mine lacked the solid “feel” that I associate with bullfrogs, and seem not to have very good muscle tone.  They move slowly, and “slide” more than jump from basking sites when disturbed.  Those at the aquarium, and in the possession of a colleague in Louisiana, exhibit similar characteristics.

All were raised on well-proven bullfrog tadpole favorites (kale, algae, algae tabs, Tetramin fish flakes and bits of fish) and since metamorphosis have been fed a varied, high calcium diet that has always yielded robust frogs in the past – crayfish, minnows, earthworms, well-fed crickets, roaches and wild-caught cicadas, grasshoppers and other insects.

 

Field notes on albino bullfrog tadpoles in the wild are detailed in an article posted at:

http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/vnhs/pdf-files/pdf-full-articles/Full-Bullfrog%20albino%20tadpole.pdf

A visitor to the aquarium exhibit mentioned in this article has posted a video about it, see below

Please see Parts I and 2 of this article for information on housing and diet. Today I’ll conclude with some thoughts on toads in community terrariums and the wild.

Tank mates
American toads are quite peaceful towards one another, but larger animals will nudge others from food, so keep an eye on them at feeding time. The conditions favored by toads are also suited to a number of other interesting creatures, and their diets and temperaments suit them ideally to community terrariums.

Compatible animals include spotted, tiger, marbled, slimy and other terrestrial salamanders (see photo), wood frogs (see photo), gray, barking, green and other native treefrogs and land snails. Assuming that space permits the establishment of a warm basking area (without over-heating the toads), you can also house a number of small reptiles with American toads. I have had kept them with 5-lined skinks, Italian wall lizards, green anoles, DeKay’s (brown) snakes, ring-necked snakes and smooth green snakes. There are other possible toad-companions as well – please write in if you would like more suggestions.

Free-Living Pets
American toads will utilize favored burrows for years on end, with wild individuals documented as remaining within the same territory for over 20 years. If you have a population living nearby, encourage the toads to stay nearby by providing a shallow, easily-exited pool and some retreats in the form of half-buried, inverted clay flower pots. Resident toads will learn to gather at an outdoor light in hopes of an insect meal, and will otherwise delight you with their comings and goings.

 

We know little about the movements of adult amphibians, but it does seem that American toads are usually found within a limited home range, so one can become quite familiar with the individuals resident in a garden or similar area. An interesting article on the home ranges of American toads is posted at:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3845/is_/ai_n17183721

Click: My Animal Collection: How a Herpetologist Keeps American Toads, Bufo (Anaxyrus) americanus and Related Species, Part I, to read the first part of this article.

Temperature

American toads are, in contrast to many amphibians, quite resilient in terms of temperature tolerance.   However, they do best at moderate temperatures, and in the heat of summer will attempt to burrow below the substrate.  Mine are kept at room temperature, which ranges from 62 F in winter to 78 F in the summer.  During particularly hot spells, I move them to an air conditioned room or the cool basement.

Naturalistic and “Hybrid” Terrariums

Toads also adapt well to planted, naturalistic terrariums.  A substrate of top soil and peat moss will allow them to construct burrows, which will be used repeatedly by the same animals.  Cover the soil with one of the moss-based products listed above and dead leaves in order to retain moisture.

A “hybrid” type set-up combines certain features of both styles described above.  A substrate of smooth aquarium stones (1/2 inch size or larger, to prevent ingestion) allows for live plants but deters burrowing (see photo).

R-Zilla Rock Dens serve well as shelters in such terrariums, or you can create your own using cork bark or rocks.  When designing rock caves, consider that the toads may injure themselves if able to burrow and collapse the structure.  Exo-Terra Terrarium Plants are extremely life-like and can be used to good effect in naturalistic terrariums as well.

A Terrarium for Public Display

I designed the gravel-base terrarium shown in the accompanying photo for a museum in New York City.  Zoo-Med Terrarium Moss is mixed into the gravel, which itself sits on an Under-gravel Filter Plate.  A drain cut into the tank’s glass bottom allows the entire terrarium to be hosed down.  A water reserve is kept below the under-gravel plate, creating a damp but not wet environment for the resident toads and salamanders.

Feeding American Toads and Their Relatives

Wild Caught Invertebrates

From spring through fall, I feed my toads exclusively upon wild-caught invertebrates.  A Zoo Med Bug Napper yields plenty of moths and beetles, and easily meets their needs.  However, I enjoy poking around, and so also collect tree crickets, sow bugs, harvestman (“daddy longlegs”), millipedes, termites, earthworms, field crickets and caterpillars whenever I am able.  I feed the toads just about every day during the summer (2-3 small insects each) and 2-3 times weekly when temperatures drop.

I avoid spiders, fireflies, ladybugs and brightly-colored insects, due to possible toxicity problems, and do not collect for a week or so after the area has been sprayed to control West Nile virus.

Commercially Available Insects

During the winter, I keep breeding colonies of sowbugs, earthworms and mealworms as a food source for my collection (regarding mealworms, feed toads only newly molted, or white grubs, and beetles).  The balance of the diet is made up of crickets, roaches, waxworms and butter worms.

Training your pet to tong-feed will go a long way in helping you to introduce dietary variety.  By doing so, I have been able to add Zoo Med Canned Caterpillars and Grasshoppers to my toads’ diets.

I powder feeder insects with a Tetra Repto Cal Supplement once weekly during the winter.  I’ve found that such is unnecessary in summer, when wild caught invertebrates dominate the diet.

Some Thoughts on Prey Size

I have always believed that American toads are designed, by mouth structure and feeing behavior, to take smaller-sized prey than do similarly-sized frogs (i.e. the green frog, Lithobates clamitans).  Even when feeding adult toads, I rarely use insects larger than a ½ to ¾ grown cricket.  Toads under my care are still thriving in their late 20’s and, while I cannot document such, I believe that prey size may be a contributing factor.

 

I’ve written other articles on toads and on amphibian care in general.  Please check out the following when you have a chance:

Canned Insects and other Invertebrates – An Important New Food for Pet Reptiles and Amphibians

Making the Most of the Mealworm: some tips on enhancing the nutritional value of this pet trade staple

Providing a Balanced Diet to Reptile and Amphibian Pets – approaches to consider

Terrestrial Isopods (Sowbugs, Pillbugs, Potato Bugs) As Food for Captive Reptiles and Amphibians

The Marine Toad, Bufo marinus (recently re-classified as Rhinella marina) in Nature and Captivity – Part I, Natural History

Today’s article is the second in a series concerning animals in my own collection.  For additional information concerning this line of articles, please see My Animal Collection: How a Herpetologist Keeps Barking Treefrogs (Hyla gratiosa) and Gray Treefrogs (Hyla versicolor).

Note: the following information is also largely applicable to other toads that commonly appear in the pet trade, i.e. the Great Plains toad, B. cognatus, the Gulf Coast toad, B. valliceps, the southern toad, B. terrestris, Woodhouse’s toad, B. woodhousei and the Texas toad, B. speciosus.  Fowler’s toads and the various Spadefoot toads prefer arid substrates…I’ll cover the care of both in the future.

Most North American toads in the Genus Bufo have been recently reclassified within the Genus Anaxyrus, but not all herpetologists agree on this point.

An Ideal Terrarium Pet

As with many of the animals I favor, American toads have much to offer the hobbyist but are not as popular as some of their more colorful relatives (actually, they vary greatly in color – I have run across yellow, reddish and nearly black specimens in the field).

Perhaps because they are so well- protected by virulent skin toxins, American toads are calm and confiding in captivity.  They usually take on diurnal habits, and even wild caught adults will feed from the hand in short order.  Pardon the stretch, but their behavior brings to mind that of the striped skunks I have kept.  Skunks seem to know that they are “untouchable”, and hence are very approachable (even in the wild)…toads are much like that, at least in my mind!

They are also quite intelligent and responsive – please see my article entitled “Amphibian Learning Abilities – the Southern Toad, Bufo (Anaxyrus) terrestris and Bumblebee Mimics” for further details.

Designing the Terrarium

I currently keep 2 yearling American toads in a Tom Aquarium Jumbo PLA-House Plastic Terrarium.  This terrarium’s ventilation ports assure adequate air exchange (despite favoring moist habitats, toads and other amphibians fare poorly in stagnant air) yet are small enough to prevent small feeder insects from escaping.  This set-up is dismantled and cleaned weekly – the terrarium’s light weight simplifies this chore.

Substrate

The substrate pictured in the photo is R-Zilla Compressed Frog Moss.  American toads prefer a drier environment than do most frogs, so I use only ½ to ¾ of the amount of water called for in the instructions when preparing the moss (the moss is packaged dry, and must be reconstituted).  Hagen Exo-Terra Plume Moss and Zoo Med Terrarium Moss are also good choices for toads and other amphibians.

In this terrarium, the substrate is rinsed or spot-cleaned once mid-week and replaced weekly.  As with most amphibian terrariums, I use only hot water to clean, with bleach or table salt added when something stronger is called for.

Water

The terrarium is sprayed once daily with de-chlorinated water.The toads also frequently soak in their water bowl…just bear in mind that they are poor swimmers, so provide an easily-exited container for their pool.

Terrarium Decorations

I set up the terrarium in manner that encourages easy visibility and feeding- time interactions.  This is not always possible with amphibian pets, of course, as secretive species will languish and die if unable to hide.  American toads take to it readily however, and so observations, feeding and cleaning are much simplified.  In this terrarium the toads have become quite tame – noticing when I enter the room hopping forward in anticipation of a meal.

I provide a Zoo Med Turtle Hut or a Cork Bark Hollow as a retreat, but the toads are more often to be found on top of it, scanning the moss for insects or, it seems, watching the room in general.

Light

The PLA-House Hood Light fits right onto the terrarium’s lid, and is useful for providing additional illumination without excess heat.

In planted terrariums, a Reptisun 2.0 Florescent Bulb will provide sufficient light for plants without exposing the toads to harmful levels of UVB – most amphibians have UVB “filters” in their skin, and actively avoid the sun.

Click: My Animal Collection: How a Herpetologist Keeps American Toads, Bufo (Anaxyrus) americanus and Related Species, Part II to read the rest of this article.

 

The bizarre Surinam toad needs little introduction to amphibian enthusiasts…their unique strategy of brooding the eggs below the skin of the female’s back has rendered the species quite well-known. Yet, when I received a group of adults in 1986, I found that little had been published on their husbandry, and the last recorded captive breeding seemed to have occurred in the 1950’s.

Courtship and Fertilization of the Eggs
One female was in breeding condition, as evidenced by the circular, swollen ring about her cloaca and the dark brood patch on her back. Several males were giving forth their metallic, clicking breeding calls, so I chose the most robust of the group and placed him with the female.

Surinam toads swim in a series of circular loops, from the bottom to the top of the aquarium, when in amplexus, and will rarely be successful in fertilizing the eggs unless provided with a tank of at least 48 inches in depth. As the pair reaches the top of their loop, the female lays an egg, which is (on the next loop) fertilized and manipulated by the male onto her back’s spongy brood patch.

My Observations of Amplexus and Birth
Amplexus in the frogs I observed lasted for nearly 3 days, which I have subsequently found is the norm. The pair “shivered” in unison on many occasions, but I was not able to see the “bobbing” motions described by others. The photo accompanying this article shows what might be the first captive breeding (this while I was working at the Bronx Zoo) in many years. Within 24 hours of this photo, the skin on the female’s back swelled and completely covered the eggs.

After egg-laying, I removed the male. The female fed as usual. I did not offer blackworms, as these voracious little beasts burrowed into the soft skin of her brood patch at one point…talk about a horrid sight (I was able to wash them away easily)!

The young began to pop their heads out (the sight of 74 pointed little heads protruding from their mother’s back was yet another vision not for the squeamish!) in 100 days, and swam off on their own within a day or so. They averaged ½ to ¾ inches long, and fed readily upon chopped blackworms, brine shrimp and guppy fry. Sexual maturity was reached in 3 years.

Amazing Healing Abilities
The females back appeared “healed” within 24 hours of giving birth, but remained roughened in appearance for several weeks. Amphibians are increasingly being found to produce compounds of great medicinal value…I wouldn’t be surprised if the incredible skin trauma undergone by female Surinam toads is somehow tempered by a chemical that could be of use to people.

A wonderful video of baby Surinam toads emerging from their mother’s back is posted below:

Baby Surinam Toads emerging from their mother’s back