Fire Belly Toad diet

[denise]

What do you feed your fire belly toads and how much per toad do you feed. Do you feed them a varied diet of crickets as well as worms (what type do you feed).

Also, will these toads eat any type of fish such as feeder guppies?

 

[edward]

They will eat anything that moves that is small enough to subdue and swallow. I feed the ones at work a strict diet of crickets. I primarily feed them twice a week (they are kept at a maximum of 74 F) but will usually use them to clean up any other uneaten crickets I have left over.
They are so acclimated to my feeding them that they will jump at me with an open mouth as if I was a food item.

Ed

 

[a]

I feed mine bluebottle flies, crickets, white mealworms/betles, earthworms, waxworms or anything else which is avaliable. Flies are great, as they know that if they go in the water, they will drown (unlike crix)
Ed, are you sure its good for the toads to feed a diet of just crickets? Sorry if I have not understood you post, but with all my animals, i like to give them some variation.
I'm not sure whether they would eat guppies. ive never tried it.

AJfr0ggy

 

[edward]

Considering that they have been maintained on this diet for over 7 years now with multiple reproductions, I'm pretty confident that a diet of dusted crickets works. I have also bred a number of other anurans and caudates either on a diet of strictly crickets or one of primarily crickets. (as well as having some fairly nice longevities on the diet of crickets).
The deficiencies in the crickets need to be adjusted with a good vitamin-mineral supplementation.

Ed

 

[jessica]

Well I'd like to say that's good to know Ed. Three of my four toads will eat worms but one of them won't eat anything but crickets, it's also smaller than the others. I do use the calcium dust like a couple times a week, I guess I should do it more often. I only give worms to them occasionally because it's harder to clean up their tank from the worms they drop from their mouths. Thanks

 

[edward]

With crickets you want to use a vitamin-mineral supplement as opposed to a just a calcium dust. With anurans if you are feeding less than three times a week to dust at each feeding with the vitamin-mineral supplement. If you are feeding three times a week or more, I would suggest alternating between the vitamin-mineral supplement and a calcium carbonate dust to reduce any risks of hypervitaminosis.
Here is a link for a "MBD" article http://www.tracyhicks.com/FFAQ.htm just scroll down the left side until you see the button under health.

Ed

 

[denise]

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Edward Kowalski (Ed) wrote on Saturday, May 15, 2004 - 03:06 :</font>

"If you are feeding three times a week or more, I would suggest alternating between the vitamin-mineral supplement and a calcium carbonate dust to reduce any risks of hypervitaminosis. "<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

Ed, I'm confused, what is the vitamin-mineral supplement that we should be using to alternate with the calcium dust?

Also, I read the link you posted and in everything I have read up to now states that the firebelly toads do not require UVB lighting. Do you disagree with that?

 

[edward]

Lets handle the UVB first.
If you are using a vitamin-mineral mixture that is balanced with respect to vitamin A-D3 and adjusts the calcium to phosphorus ratio in the feeder insects then you do not need to use UVB for your toads. If you are unsure that the D3 is sufficient or one of these ratios is consistantly wrong then the use of UVB will prevent "MBD" as the toad will only synthesize as much D3 as is metabolically required. Basically I consider it a back up system. However an item to also consider: it is well documennted that anurans can see into the blue spectrum, and many insects have reflection patterns in the UVA part of spectrum (as do many birds) so these patterns may be important in recognizing prey items for poor feeding anurans.
The vitamin-mineral dust can be any one but it should have a ratio of 10-1-0.1 of vitamin A to D3 to E (although some bufonids appear to need more vitamin A or are unable to readily convert beta carotene to vitamin A(such as Bufo baxteri and to a lesser extent Atelopus zeteki) additionally it should change the calcium to phosphorus ratio of the insect to between 1.5 to 2. Additional levels of arginine and methionine may be required as the levels found in crickets are border line for carnivores and will not support good growth in poultry.
And finally it needs to ideally have a born on date as the minerals will catalyze degredation of the fat soluable vitamins in the mix and the dusting supplement should be kept in a cool dark place and replaced every six months.
Does that help?
Ed

 

[denise]

Okay Ed, you are a far ahead of me when it comes to understanding this stuff so bear with me. So are you saying that it is a good idea to have the UVB bulb for back up but I must watch to ensure that the toads are all able to find their prey?

I just asked you this in another post but can you give me some brand names of calcium dust that you feel are good.

 

[edward]

Hi Denise,
Sorry, I'm not trying to be confusing its just that this is in actuality a complex problem.
If you think your supplementation program is insufficient then the use of UVB can be of value. I would recommend feeding sufficient crickets that they are all consumed within 10-15 minutes as this will allow each toad to get some of the supplement.
The one we use at work can be ordered here http://www.herpnutrition.com/ under frog/toads section. And with daily feeding animals we alternate the vitamin-mineral mix with calcium carbonate.
At home I use Rep-Cal mixed in the proper proportions to HerptiVite mainly as its easier to get as needed. (and I alternate with calcium carbonate) I do replace my supplements at home every six months and store the excess in the fridge.
But there are other suitable supplements out there, you just need to look at the ratios to see if they are correct.

Hope this helps,

Ed

 

[denise]

Okay, I can get the rep-cal and the herptivite here at Petsmart but what do you mean when you say you alternate with calcium carbonate? Where do I get calcium carbonate?

Another question about feeding. Will firebelly toads eat feeder fish such as guppies or golfish?

(Message edited by Pugwinkle on May 16, 2004)

 

[edward]

Hi Denise,
Just remember that the herptivite needs to be mixed with the Rep-Cal for a balanced diet and you will need to figure out the ratio based on the vitamin A in the Herptivite.
How often do you feed your firebellied toads? If you are feeding them three times a week or more then you should alternate (the same company who makes Rep-Cal makes a 100% ultrafine caclium carbonate powder with no D3) with the calcium if you are feeding them less than three times a week you do not have to alternate the supplement.
I would not recommend the use of goldfish as a possible food item as they are very high in saturated fats and have been implicated in fatty liver deaths in marine fish maintained on this diet.
If they can catch them they will eat them.

Ed

 

[denise]

Hi Ed, I purchased Rep-Cal Phosphorous-Free Calcium with Vitamin D3 Ultrafine Powder and Rep-Cal Herptivite (with Beta Carotene). That is the only types they had at Petsmart. Is that okay?

Ed, I don't have any toads as yet. I'm just trying to gain as much knowledge as possible before I get them. I'm hoping I will be able to get them within the next few days but I'm just in the process of setting up their home.

I have another question for you. I was at Petsmart today and saw one of the toads upside down. I thought it was dead so I told one of the employees about it. He came over and was going to remove him but it moved. It continued to move around upside down, the poor thing. This employee didn't do anything about this poor critter so I called another employee. I also noticed that the eye appeared to be infected. This second employee said he would have to remove the toad and likely they would freeze it to death. I hate the thought of such a thing.

Anyway, what do you think could have possibly been wrong with this toad and what will happen to the other toads in the tank?? Will they also get the infection. The employee said he would change the water today. I certainly hope he does change the water.

 

[edward]

Hi Denise,
The honest answer about the toad is I don't know. There just isn't sufficient information.
But for future reference you might want to know that freezing is not a humane method of euthanasia (see http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/euthanasia.shtml ).

Those should be fine. Here is a link to the straight calcium supplement so you can see what it looks like. http://www.sugar-gliders.com/rep-cal-calcium.htm


Ed

 

[denise]

Ed, isn't it better to have the Calcium with the D3 rather than the one without the D3?

Thanks for that link on euthanasia. I didn't think freezing was humane.

In case it ever happens that I have the unfortunate job of ever having to put one of my toads down can you explain the following method a bit more for me.

Ethyl alcohol. By sedation in a bath of 5% ethyl alcohol (ethanol) followed by immersion into a stronger bath after the amphibian has been anesthetized.

The method above sounds like the only one I could bring myself to do if I had to. So is this just plain rubbing alcohol? Do I mix it with water so that it's 5% alcohol and 95% water?

 

[jennifer]

Denise - most rubbing alcohol is isopropol, not ethyl. You can buy ethyl rubbing alcohol at large pharmacy stores (Walgreens, Rexall, etc). It's available in various concentrations (70% and 95% usually). You can also use high-proof grain alcohol (the drinking kind). In either case, you can calculate the dilution by the formula:

initial concentration x initial volume = final concentration x final volume

 

[denise]

So which one do I buy? The 70% or the 95%. Again I'm a bit confused. So I would use 5% of the eythl and 95% water?

 

[summer]

I feed my 4 fire bellied toads crickets and worms, but mostly crickets. i keep my crickets in a 5 gal. cage. I feed them lettuce and sugar cubes. Want i have been doing now is putting my fire bellied toads in the crickets cage when i feed them because i have had 2 frogs die on me because they ate a rock. Now when their in the crickets cage there's no rocks so they can't eat one. put things the crickets can climb on in their cage. I hope I have help, if u have a different. ? email me at this add.
frogloverslt@aol.com