Keep a Wild Caught Toad As a Pet

This is a fun article to tell you how to keep a wild toad that has been caught, in a new habitat. Remember to let it go soon, though.

Steps

Finding a Toad

  1. Keep a pile of chopped wood in your backyard because those harbor many insects and will draw in toads. This is the perfect place to catch a toad.
  2. Go outside just before dark when everything is damp. Arm yourself with a bug net and a "critter carrier" about a gallon in volume.
  3. Look for toads by turning over logs and rocks, as well as checking around corners of houses outdoors. These are mini ecosystems for insects, so replace the logs and rocks after you check under them!

Catching a Toad

  1. Act fast when you locate the toad! Toads are very shy creatures and dart away when they see something moving, larger than another toad.
  2. Swoop down upon the toad with your net. Cover the toad with the net and lie the long net part to the side, and poke the toad until it hops in that pocket of netting.
  3. Pick up the net and make a twist near the top so the toad can hop around but cannot escape.
  4. Gently put the toad inside your container (Make sure that there are plenty of air holes so your new pet can breathe!)
  5. Carry the toad back to your house. Dribble some distilled water into the tank so the toad can soak up some water.

Housing the Toad

  1. Prepare the toad's tank. A tank size of {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} or more is perfect; any less than that and the toad will not have enough room.
  2. Cover the bottom of the tank with {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of soil from the area where you caught the toad.
    • Peat moss makes an ideal addition to the base of the tank. It's soft, comfortable and akin to what the toad is used to. Add enough for the toad to burrow into.
  3. Sink in a water dish designed for small reptiles about half a toad deep, 2 toads wide, and 4 toads long. Fill this up with bottled water, or water that has been treated to have it's chlorine, chlorinates and other heavy metals removed and change the water once a day. Never use distilled water as it is completely devoid of minerals and salts. Toads absorb their minerals and vitamins through their water needed for survival through pores in their skin, called Osmoregulation. Therefore it is important that you get a dish they can sit in and keep moist. Be sure not to get one that will be too deep for your toad, and preferably one with easily climbable sides for easy access, as toads are poor swimmers.
  4. Take a rock, ensuring it is not too heavy and unbalanced or a purchased hide from a reptile store and prop it up against the side of the tank for a nice hiding place.
    • Make a small cave-like hole for the toad to crawl into. Try using pieces of sticks or bark to build the "frame" of the cave, then simply cover it gently with the soil. Clear out any dirt that may have fallen into the hole.
  5. Take a very small flowerpot (about 4 inches across, 7 inches high). On the lip, smash a hole about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} wide, and {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} tall. Put this (lip down) on top of the soil so the toad has another place to hide.

Adding the Toad to its New Habitat

  1. Place the toad inside the tank gently. Place a screen weighted with rocks for a lid.
  2. Use a plant mister to mist all around the tank when the dirt gets dry. If you chose to add live plants to your tank for added comfort and authenticity for your toad, then this step is extra important, as without water your plants will die. Rotting plants in close proximity to a water or food dish poses a health risk due to the formation of bacteria present to decompose the leaves of the plant, so be sure to prune the plants within your toads tank and remove any dead plants or parts of plants before they start to rot.

Feeding the Toad

  1. Add a water dish to the housing. You might use the bottom of a pot or a dish. Make sure whatever you use is short, to allow the toad to hop in and out of it.
  2. Feed your new toad every other day. Never feed your toad dead things; it will not eat them if it is not moving. You could buy bugs at the local store or catch them yourself.
    • Suitable choices for food include:
      • Small toad feeding: 2 bugs, one small slug, or 2 pinhead crickets
      • Medium toad feeding: 3 bugs, 1 regular size slug, or 2 small crickets
      • Large toad feeding: 4 bugs, 1 larger than normal size slug, or 2 regular size crickets.
    • If you have a dog, an easy way to catch flies is to stalk dog poop. Take a bug net, and wait until flies land on top of the poop. Quickly and silently put the net over the flies. Once they are all at the top, bunch the net so they have room to fly around, and twist it so they can't escape.
    • If you feed crickets, pull off their back legs before feeding (their jumping legs) as they can damage the stomach of a toad, and toss them in the trash. If you keep crickets as feed for your toads, be sure to provide the crickets with plenty of food such as spinach, carrots, sweet potato and grapes. The vitamins and minerals that end up in the crickets belly will end up in the toads belly, therefore providing the toad with much needed supplementation. #* Meal-worms are a cheap and easily accessible food source for your toad. They can be purchased at many local pet stores and all reptile stores. Be sure to store them in a refrigerator as this will make them slow down almost to a hibernation like state, ensuring they stay alive long enough for your toads to make use of them. If left active they will continue their life cycle, eventually turning into a black beetle with a hard outer carapace that can get caught in your toads digestive system causing pain or even death.
  3. Add the toad's food in one spot of the cage only. This is so they know it's always going to be there. They don't like the same food all the time, so use a variety of bugs.
  4. Beware of any change in their eating habits. If the toad suddenly stops eating, it may be ill. Look up toad sicknesses online.

Toad Enrichment

  1. Provide plenty of hiding spaces. The peat for burrowing, the rocks and flowerpot for hiding under.
  2. Do not hold the toad often. Toads, unfortunately, aren't intelligent enough to form a bond with their owners, and handling the toad will do nothing but cause stress for the creature. Toads are lovely to watch and read about, but taking it out of its tank for entertainment, or cuddles, will just increase the risk of the toad falling and hurting itself and being an unhappy pet..



Tips

  • Don't worry if your toad starts burrowing under anything, he is just adjusting and trying to find a place to hide.
  • Make sure that you clean up any bacteria that are caused by its urine or any feces that are left behind. When it sheds its own skin it will eat its own skin so you don't have to clean it.
  • Put live plants in its cage to make it similar to the outside world.
  • When giving your toad water to swim in, make sure it has a pile of dirt or a medium sized rock. This will provide a dry land in the middle of the swimming spot so that it doesn't drown.
  • Toad pee does not give you warts.
  • Keep your toad away from other pets where he might be attacked or stressed out constantly.

Warnings

  • Do not put your hands on food or in your mouth after cleaning or handling the toad, always use hand sanitizer or wash your hands after you play with him. Never put a smaller toad or frog in the tank with a larger toad or frog because the large toad will eat its own species. Washing your hands helps protect you and him from disease, plus the oil from your hands can hurt your toad. Try not to touch him too much.
  • The glands behind the eyes secrete a poison that is bitter and unpleasant to predators, and may cause irritation to the human skin.
  • Don't put tap water in the tank! The chlorine will be absorbed into the toads skin and kill him!
  • Don't put your toad with any other frogs or toads, as the toad may poison them.
  • If a toad pees on you, wash your hands right away. Be especially careful not to touch your eyes.

Things You'll Need

  • Food
  • A Tank
  • Logs
  • Water
  • Dirt
  • Cleaning supplies
  • Moss (they love burrowing under it, but it gets moldy fast so change it every day)

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