Spadefoots don't Make Great Pets?

I have read somewhere (either in Porno for Pyro lyrics, or some or other field guide) that the various species of Spadefoot toads do not make good pets. One reason for this made sense to me in that, like certain salamander species, Spadefoots tend to be so strictly nocturnal that you rarely see them come out unless it's quite dark.
But are there any other reasons? Do they not do well in a terrarium for other known reasons, other than that?
Just wondering...if anybody should know anything about such an esoteric topic...

Spadefoots spend most of their time underground. You'd never see them.

Hello,
no, I don`t agree!I have three Scaphiopus couchi. I can see them in the active period, that means something like between May and September! Regularly I have seen them in the evening (dusk)and sometimes in the morning still after dawn. If they are awake you should not switch the light on, but you can open the door to the next room with a lamp and so create a "twilight", so you can watch them quite well.
I think to keep them you have to be fascinated by them, but they are fascinating! And it is unbelievable how powerful they catch and eat huge crickets. Next year I want to try to breed them.

I keep Pelobates fuscus, and have done for some years, although i don't see them too much, when i do it is a real treat. Most of my animals live in outdoor enclosures so i may see them 6-10 times every year!!!! I rear the youngsters in damp moss, so obviously see them. I agree with olaf that it is splendid watching them eat. They are also very hardy and resilient!!!
Vote pelobates!!!!!!

Spot on Adam! Mine love to dig in and are rarely seen but they are feisty little chaps when hunting - seriously charming beasts...

PS
"I have read somewhere (either in Porno for Pyro lyrics..." - eh, what???

Dear Olaf,
Can you please give me some details regarding keeping Couchs spadefoot,most of all I need to know the best temperature etc.
Best wishes
Siep Kromsigt

Hi Siep,
I have not found any informations concerning optimal temperature or other parameters for captive care of Couch´s spadefoot in the internet or literature. I have just read articles about their habitat and their lifecycle. In a film I have seen that the water temperature in their breeding ponds can be 30°C.
So I´m doing an experiment. My spadefoots are in a room with a maximum temperature of 25°C in summer. At the moment the room is unheated (11 - 12°C). I want to give them a cool period of two months in the winter, because i want to try to breed them.i think you should not imitate the extreme temperatures of the desert, because they escape extreme temperatures and drought by digging. So the lower layer of their substrate (sand and humus mixture) is always moist (not wet!!). The substrate is between 7 and 23 cm high, there`s a piece of bark and a cup filled with water when the animals are active.
I still don`t know how to imitate a thunderstorm to persuade them to breed.
Do you also keep them? Very few people seem to have them. I`d like to hear from you.
Olaf

Dear Olaf,
Thank you for the quick response!
Two months ago I bought three of them in a very bad shape, but it was love at first sight. So I want to give them a try. I also keep them at room temperature in a sandy soil substrate. I have difficulties regarding the feedingprocedure.
Because they are strictly nocturnal, I am very interested how you feed them (I presume the staple diet are crickets).Just put some crickets in the vivarium will not do the job I think.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Best wishes
Siep

Hi Siep,
as I said, I have not seen my spadefeet since september. So I think it is possible your animals don`t eat because they are in the rest or dormant time (don`t know the proper english word) - maybe they just want to sleep. Are they thin? Is it possible to cool them down? Then they would consume less energy.
It was very easy to watch my spadefeet feeding. They are not shy and in few weeks they ate many dozens of the big black crickets. If your spadefeet leave the soil in the night, they should feed. So are they active at the moment?
So I wish you and your spadefeet good luck.
("love at first sight" is also true for me)
Olaf

Hi,
can anybody of you "native" english speakers tell me if "spadefoots" is the right plural? and how do you call the period when an amphibian stays in its hiding place during the winter?
Thank you, Olaf

Actually the correct plural would be spadefoot toads not spadefoots or spadefeet...

Well, the term commonly used is hibernation but this maynot be correct as amphibians apparently may not truley hibernate and may enter into a hypoactive period not to avoid the cold but to avoid anaerobic cellular respiration. But if you use hibernation we will understand.....

Ed

(Message edited by Ed on January 15, 2006)

Dear Olaf,
Last night I put some buffaloworms in a small bowl and the next morning they were gone(impossible to escape),so at least one spadefoot toad was feeding.I will try the black crickets next.Good luck with the breeding attempt.
Best wishes
Siep

Well, I have never seen adult Spadefoots eat, but I can tell you, I have studied them in the tadpole stage (I'm an amateur, so I can say "tadpole"--come to think of it, I also get to say "polliwog," so there), and they are MEAN SUCKERS on other tadpoles. A few years back, when I was living in Southern California, I found a rain pool that filled up every Spring, but dried up by the Summer (note: this pool has since been paved over by So. Cal. condominiums...natch).
Anyway, these little Spadefoots, because they grow much faster and larger in the tadpole stage, they POUNDED on both California Toad and Pacific Treefrog tadpoles. It ate them. It devoured them like McDonald's hamburgers. It had much more luck catching the California Toad wigglers, of course, because they were slower, smaller, and more numerous. The Pac. Treefrogs were usually quick enough to get away. But any tadpole to get sick or slow or anything, the Spadefoots were like sharks...until the Spadefoots morphed and hopped off, of course, months in advance of the other species.

Has anyone succeeded in breeding these in captivity?