Changing colors, different colors, multiple species?

I have four fire-belly toads. Two are green, one is green-and-brown, and one is all brown.

The all brown one has an orangish belly, and orange toes. The brown-and-green one has a reddish belly.

The two green ones are the ones I'm really puzzled by. When I got them, they both had bright red tummies. Now they have faded to light orange and pale orange-yellow. Why have they faded? Is this bad? Can it be reversed?

The brown/green and all-brown ones seem fine. I think that they're just not orientalis (sp?). (Does anyone know what they *are*, BTW?)

The used-to-be red ones, however, I'm worried about. Do I need to add something to their diet? Is their lighting wrong? Is the temperature wrong? I want to fix the problem for them, and avoid it in the other tank, too. (The two were-red are in a separate tank than the others.)

Much thanks for any help.

Hi Mary.

My green FBT's change color as well. They seem to change back after water changes. Especially when I use AmQuel+ to treat the water. I usually do partial (80%) water changes twice weekly, although sometimes I only do one a week. Do you have deep water, or just a bowl?

I also saw an improvement in the toad's color when I started using damp coconut fiber on top of their dry land. Do you have a moist medium for them? This helps keep the humidity up. And they like it.

Mary- the belly colour changes according to their diet. It can fade over time to yellow or orange, this shouldn't cause any health problems.

It is possible to add dyes to their food (or feed them specific food) to deepen the colour, this has been discussed here several times (search the forum for 'carotene' to find out more).

The back colour can be green or brown in orientalis, it varies from animal to animal. There is also a 'golden' variety from Russia.

Thanks for the help!

Doug - I keep them in a half-land/half-water tank. They have stayed green, and I keep their water nice and clean with daily turkey-baster spot-cleans and with bi-weekly full changes. They get very active and "sing" when I do this.

Caleb - I think I'll lean away from dyes (though not discount them), but I will definitely try that "carotene" search. If the right food can make them brighter in color, I'd love to try it.

Thanks again for the help! It is much appreciated.

You can intensify the red color in the bellies through the use of astaxanthin which is found in some crustaceans.
In at least some anurans it appears that there is a "window" in which color deposition occurs an dcolor feeding after that point does not seem to have much effect.

Ed

Edward - which crustaceans is it found in? Would it be in Ghost Shrimp? That is the only kind that I can find anywhere. I hadn't heard about there being a window of opportunity...they were red before, and changed to this. Hopefully they can change back.


Since wild ones are red, and mine used to be but now aren't, I worry that they may not be getting what they need to stay healthy.

There is variability in anurans based on color feeding with dendrobatids (for example). E. tricolor can take up to a year or so to color up, while other species (such as D. pumilio) appear to not intensify in color after metamorphosis. I saw an incidence of a citronella tinct that metamorphed green after being reared on a total spirulina diet as a tadpole (it is two years out now and is still green).

I do not know if the ghost shrimp have it off the top of my head but there is a commercial product called Cyclopeeze that is available as a flake food that is high in astaxanthin (as one of the major components is a species of cyclops) that can be used as a cricket food. Feed it to the crickets for 24-48 hours before offering them as a food item to the toads. (I know spring tails fed on this turn pink).

Ed