toads
John Carey
room in my house, about 50-60 degrees this time of year. So they have
recently dug themselves down into the dirt, and don't show any signs
of coming out very soon. In other words they are hibernating.
Should I let them hibernate, or should I move the terrarium to a warmer
part of the house? If I do let them hibernate, what is the proper method
of care? Should I just leave them alone? Should I keep the dirt moist,
or is it ok to let it dry out? When should they come out of hibernation?
--
John Carey
University of Illinois
Dept. of Computer Science
ca...@a.cs.uiuc.edu {uu-net,pur-ee,convex,...}!uiucdcs!carey
Michael R. Hall
>I have a couple of toads in a terrarium. The terrarium is in a cold
>room in my house, about 50-60 degrees this time of year. So they have
>recently dug themselves down into the dirt, and don't show any signs
>of coming out very soon. In other words they are hibernating.
>
>Should I let them hibernate, or should I move the terrarium to a warmer
>part of the house? If I do let them hibernate, what is the proper method
>of care? Should I just leave them alone? Should I keep the dirt moist,
>or is it ok to let it dry out? When should they come out of hibernation?
You probably have Bufo americanus, the American Toad.
You are correct that they are probably attempting to hibernate. Most
amphibians will become inactive at cool temperatures of 50-60 degrees
(though bronze/green frogs and some other species will remain active
until it's even cooler.)
Most books recommend hibernating species that are adapted to hibernating.
The recommended procedure is to place them in a container of moist mulch and
peat moss and put the container inside a refrigerator. 40 degrees is about
right. Do not let the temperature drop below freezing, or else they will
die (except for a very few species capable of superfreezing or having natural
anti-freeze). Do not let the mulch dry out, though it should not be too wet
either.
Now, personally I've always had the ibby-jibbies about putting my amphibians
in my refrigerator, for fear of killing them. I have never hibernated my
tiger salamander or my bronze frog (the rest of my amphibians are tropical),
and they have been fine.
For your toads, I'd recommend keeping them in a cooler portion of the house,
in the 40-50 degree range. At 50-60, my concern is that their metabolisms
may not slow down sufficiently, and they may starve or become sick. However,
if they have a short hibernation at 50-60, then that would probably be okay.
Don't forget to keep the soil moist.
Oh, yeah, in the spring, you will probably have some rather antsy toads in
breeding conditions. If you have a male (dark throat) and a female (large),
then they may go into amplexus in the terrarium, especially if they hear
choruses of other toads. If you take a pair in amplexus and place them in
a LARGE water-filled aquarium with some vegetation, they will probably
lay eggs. You could also try doing this outside in a drainage ditch or
something in a supervised fashion. Be warned that toads lay 10,000-30,000
eggs, so rearing all their toad tadpoles and toadlets isn't practical.
Toad tadpoles are normally small and black, and they thrive on a diet of
algae and boiled lettuce. Toadlets require tiny prey, such as baby crickets,
leaf hoppers, and so on.
Good luck.
--
Michael R. Hall | Shuffle-trackers do it with determinism.
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