Is an American Toad the Right Pet for You?

If you want an intelligent amphibian that can learn to run a maze, you may want an American Toad for a pet. The American Toad has a dry sometimes described as warty skin that allows it to be an away from water for a long period of time.

American Toads have good vision and are good at detecting the movement of other creatures from far away. This quality is not due to their good vision because of the shape of their heads they can only really see things two or three inches ahead of them. American Toads have a few teeth on the roof of their mouth, but no teeth on their jaws.

American Toads defend themselves in the wild by secreting a toxic white substance that does not give person warts, but is a skin irritant. They will also pee a great deal when picked up in the wild. American Toads usually stop the stress activated peeing once they are in captivity. American Toads are a long term commitment pet as they can live up to thirty years in captivity. These toads are intelligent and can be taught to run a maze and remember the route for several weeks.

American Toads can be housed in a woodland terrarium with a litter of leaves and moss and places to hide made of bark or rock. These toads do not require a lot of space as in the wild they usually live their whole lives in an area of less than a hundred square feet. American Toads can tolerate a dry climate, but to keep them comfortable you should mist their cage once a day.

These toads do not drink water but instead absorb it through their skin so you should provide your toad with a shallow dish of water to soak in. American Toads also like to dig and bury themselves so you can provide your toad with dirt or wet sand for him to take his mud bath in.

They do this to hibernate during the winter, but in captivity they stay active as long as the temperature in their home is kept around seventy degrees Fahrenheit. American Toads get along well with the Fowler Toad sometimes called the ''common toad" and they can be kept together.

American Toads are good eaters and you cannot really over feed them. They consume insects of all sorts including crickets and grass hoppers. American Toads have a fondness for earth worms so your local bait shop is a good place to find this toad treat. They tend to eat earth worms the way human children suck down spaghetti. Three or four different types of insects a day and worms every few days are a good diet for the American Toad.

You may want to use the worms to impress your friends and teach your American Toad to run a maze. Male toads breed in the spring and will try to attach themselves to anything toad like. Male's toads who attach themselves to other male's toads are warned away by a release call. Spring is probably not the best time to train your toad. If you breed your toads there are many considerations. The tadpoles will die or be deformed if the water they hatch in is too acidy. It takes about two months for American Toad tadpoles to emerge as toad lets and two years or more for them to reach maturity.

http://www.wikihow.com/Care-for-an-American-Toad

http://www.amphibiancare.com/frogs/caresheets/americantoad.html

http://www.instructables.com/id/Proper-care-of-american-toads-bufo-americanus/