Bufo bufo

The Common Toad

The Common, also called the European toad, is the largest toad, inhabiting Europe, North-western part of Africa, Caucasus, Korea, Japan, South-west China and South Siberia. Their bodies tend to be wider, that other toads’. They are terrestrial amphibians. The colour of their bodies varies greatly, depending on their sex, age, the time of the year and season. The most common colour is grey, though species with olive-coloured, dark-brown, terracotta and sand-coloured skin exist as well. The colour of the stomach is usually a kind of soiled-white or yellowy type of colour.The eye colour varies between different shades of yellow with a sharp black horizontal pupil.

Background information

These amphibians tend to inhabit moist areas and closed biotopes, such as forests, old gardens, parks, steep narrow valleys, trots and moist basements. 
The Common toad is a nocturnal animal, hiding in the burrows of moles and mice during daytime in its natural habitat. These toads are considered "big" in biology, as they grow up to 18-20 cm.

Terrarium

The size of the tank for a grown Common toad should not be smaller than 30*30*20 cm (W*D*H). A 200l tank would be enough for 4 or 5 grown Common toad species.
Do not forget to place a couple of hiding places, such as small caves, branches, bark or specialised hiding places for amphibians/reptiles per toad.
Place a bowl of water in the more cold and moist part of the tank and change the water regularly. 

Substrate

Very often toads dig holes in the ground. Therefore, you must ensure that the amount of substrate is enough for the toad to hide in. I would recommend you to either use one of the following or the combination of the following substrates: a mix of (disinfected) dry leaves, finely crushed turf, sphagnum moss, coconut flakes and coconut chips, decorative flower soil and (disinfected) sand (however sand must not be used as the main substrate, but only with the combination of another substrate type).
By now, if you have been following my latest post in the blog, it goes without saying, that the substrate for most amphibians should always be moist, though, NOT slushy or muddy. Oh, and make the substrate 3-5 cm deep for the juvenile and 5-10 cm deep for the grown toads.

Ventilation

For the prevention of stagnation of the moist in the terrarium, the tank should have good ventilation. I would recommend to place the ventilation holes in the front-bottom and top back corners of the tank. Or, if you are keeping your toad in a plastic tank with a ventilation lid, keep it like it is :)

Temperature, Light & Humidity

Luckily, the Common toad is a very ‘undemanding’ species of amphibians, as it does not require any special temperature, humidity or light conditions. It is, of course, recommended to keep the toad at the same conditions as the habitat is has previously been living in before your home. So if you have bought the toad from a person, who has kept it at a higher temperature, you would want to keep the temperature at the same level as it was with the previous keeper if you don't want to see your pet dead.

The temperature for keeping this toad species varies from 16 to 26 ºC, preferably 21 - 23 ºC. The humidity level lies in-between 45 and 85 % with the optimum of 55 - 60%. Needless to say, these toads can survive temperatures of 5 ºC and 40 ºC, though, I would not experiment with this data on your toad.The light does not play a significant role either. Even though these amphibians are nocturnal animals, you can easily train them to take their food during the day by shortening their nighttime. Once in a while spray the tank with lukewarm water from a pulveriser.

Feeding

The feeding process of amphibians has been the main reason for me to start collecting them, as each group of species has its own interesting distinctive features in hunting, attacking, fighting and swallowing their prey.
Bufo bufo might seem as a ‘boring’ choice of an exotic animal for keeping at home, though its hunting and swallowing method is very interesting to observe. Now I am writing this document as a separate file on my computer and hopefully I will remember to post a video of my Common toad attacking and eating a cricket in the end of this post.
What do you feed a Common toad? If you have a grown toad, feeding should be no problem: once in every 3-5 days you should feed your toad a couple of small crickets, a slug, bloodworms, flies, cockroaches, an earthworm, a mealworm (cut off its head before giving the it to the toad, as the larva can eat its way out of the stomach of your amphibian) (do not feed your toad the African Zophobas mealworms), a small goldfish or even a small mouse. Once in every 2-3 weeks you should cover the food/prey in a multivitamin+Calcium powder mix for better digestion and prevention of various diseases.

If you have a juvenile Common toad, you will need to feed it every 2 days. It is okay, if it doesn’t want to eat when you place the food in the tank. Sometimes, the toads (even juvenile) reject food for more than 8-9 days. Do not feed the juvenile species any prey with hard bodies/chitin, such as mealworms or some cockroaches. The length of the prey should not exceed the length of the distance between the two eyes of the juvenile toad. I would recommend to feed it small crickets, small grasshoppers, wingless morphs of flies and bloodworms. 
Now, it is VERY important to add Calcium and Vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, D (or just a reptile multivitamin mix, sold in your local pet shop) (you could also add Calcium glycerophosphate). All of the above should be given to your amphibian every second-third feeding session in the form of the prey, covered in the powder of the vitamins and minerals. Rickets is the most common disease among reptiles and amphibians, caused by hypovitaminosis, especially the lack of vitamin D.

Breeding

Males are ready for breeding at the age of three, while females need four years.

Extra information

• The common toad does secrete toxins thorough its dermal glands, however, they cause no harm to humans in any way, as they are only a weak type of poison. The most active glands are located behind the toad’s “ears” and are normally activated when the toad is being swallowed by a predator. Those predators are various types of snakes, such as corn snakes, grass snakes and European vipers, then hedgehogs, rats, dogs and raptorial birds which also feed on the Common toad. When attacked, the toad takes the “defence” form by standing up on all it’s four legs and puffing up it’s body.
• When moving around, the toad does not jump: instead the toad walks like most terrestrial animals, very similar to the walking style of Leopard geckos and crocodiles.
• There are eight sub-species of Bufo bufo.
• The toad lives up to 35 years in its natural habitat.
• During the breeding season, three of the male Common toad’s fingers turn jet-black.
• Oh, and they usually don’t bite (or at least it doesn’t hurt).

Here is the video of my toad:

Agalychnis callidryas

The red-eyed leaf tree frog

The red-eye leaf frog is one fo the most popular frogs in the terrariums worldwide and the most recognised one for its vibrant colours: the bright-green main body colour with light-blue wide stripes on the sides and the paper-white stomach. It is also one of those frogs, able of changing its body colour to match the environment! However, the main favoured feature for the collectors and keepers are the bright red eyes of the frogs and they earned the name through that aspect. Also, these frogs are know for their ability of really long jumps (up to 2-2.5 m!).

Background information

This frog species is not very difficult to keep at home, following the rules I discuss below. Agalychnises are nocturnal animals, meaning that you will not see them move during the daytime at all and only during the evening they will start waking up and hunt. These frogs are really interesting to observe during the evening as they change their main skin colour from the bright-green to a dark-vinous/maroon colour with tiny white spots on the back. This allows the frogs to stay less visible when attacking their prey. Red-eyed leaf tree frogs, originating from Honduras, are a great choice for both the advanced amphibian keeper and the beginner. The female frogs are usually larger (approximately 8 cm in length) than the male ones (6 cm). 

Terrarium

When keeping the tree frogs, one should consider purchasing a vertical tank as these frogs are not terrestrial and usually live in the tropical trees and other plants in Central America (obviously). If keeping juvenile species, not bigger than 2.5–3 cm long, you can have a 45*25*25 cm (minimum) (height*width*depth) terrarium. If your frogs are grown, you will need to change it to a 60*35*35 cm terrarium. 

When decorating the terrarium, remember, that your frogs will use all of the equipment you install as hiding and sleeping areas. Your Agalychnises will thank you, if you decide to plant them one of the following plants: Bromelia, Philodendron, Spathiphyllum and Epipremnum are the only ones I can name now. These plants have wide, lasting leaves, which are firm enough to hold the weight of your frogs. If you decide to plant something else, consult a zoologist, as some plants release toxic compounds onto their leaves, which will end lethally for your amphibian friends. 

If you decide to add smaller branches, the width of them should not be smaller, that the width of your frogs.

I just planted a small bromelia plant. I like it, because it matches the colours of the frogs and you can still see the frogs during the daytime, even though they are asleep.

Besides for the humid substrate, described in the next section, these amphibians should always have access to separate water source. I am talking about a small water bowl (ALWAYS REMEMBER: not smaller than the size of the frog). The water in it should be refreshed regularly and should always be fresh. Also, make sure it contains minimum Magnesium (as it causes loss of appetite and muscle weakness) and no Chlorine (Chlorine causes serious damage to their digestive system).

Try to refresh the water every 1-2 days and clean the water bowl every 4-5, as these frogs have the habit of defecate in the water. 

Humidity, Substrate & Ventilation

One of the main points, and one of the most challenging ones, in keeping these frogs is maintaining a stable humidity level. In order to keep the humidity at the needed 55 - 65% one must spray the substrate and the decorations with lukewarm water every second day and the substrate must not be dry at any point. On the other hand, you shall not allow the substrate to be soggy, otherwise you are risking the growth of bacteria and mould.

Do not allow the humidity level to cross 45% or 85%. The best way to control it is by installing a hydrometer (digital hydrometers are more accurate).

The most appropriate substrates are sphagnum moss and coconut flakes. However, if you rather prefer easy cleaning than decorations, wet kitchen towels will work, though they will need to be changed every third day.

Ventilation is a very significant aspect when keeping amphibians and the red-eyed tree frogs are no exception. Some people purchase the wrong terrariums or make an error when making the ventilation slots in the tanks, which makes it difficult to maintain the humidity and temperature at the appropriate levels. When considering to keep a frog, keep in mind that they all require good ventilation. 

Back to the red-eyes: if you are facing the problem of air stagnation or just low air circulation level in your frog’s terrarium, I would recommend you to install a small PC ventilator in the terrarium’s top ventilation slot, allowing new fresh air to flow in the tank. 

Temperature

Luckily, the temperature gradient is very easy to maintain as it is 24 – 30 ºC, so all you will need is a heating pad in one of the bottom corners of the terrarium. Though, if you decide to plant decorations and flowers, the heat will damage the plants, therefore, I would recommend to install a heating cable on the back of the of the walls of the terrarium. If you choose this option, you will also have to attach a thicker layer of glass, polished polyamide or styrofoam (you can decorate it) for the frogs to avoid burns from the glass wall they sit on. Otherwise, the average room temperature varies between 22–25, so basically, if your room if this warm, you do not need any external heating source.

Light

These frogs do not need any special light sources. What they do need is determined daytime and nighttime. This will help your frogs with their biorhythm and hunting abilities. Fluorescent lamps can serve as a good “daylight simulator”.

Feeding

Here it gets a little complicated, because these frogs (almost) never eat dead food. Also, they do not eat from the ground. Hence, their prey needs to be able to crawl on walls, plants and decorations. I would recommend to feed your red-eyed leaf frogs small crickets, when young, and roaches, when older, because roaches can literally “chew their way out” of the frog’s body, if not killed, but just swallowed. Grown frogs have quite powerful jaws, which allows them to kill the insect. The size of their food shall not exceed the size of their palm of their front legs (very specific, I know, but that it the perfect way to measure it!). Every second to third time you feed your green jumping amphibians, place and shake the insects in a small container with Calcium powder (needed for their bones and jumping) and either special multivitamins for reptiles and amphibians or just Vitamin D3.

Breeding

I do not know much about breeding and it is not much about keeping anymore, however, I have learned the basics about how to make them make babies! If you are interested, please email me or ask a question below.

Extra information

When buying your decorations, remember, that you will not be able to show off your pets to anyone (unless you pick the amphibian up), if your frog is hiding in a closed-for-view plant or ‘cave’. 

When planting the flowers, create a mixture of approximately 40% decorative flower soil and 60% coconut flakes for the substrate. Or, if to make it easier to keep and clean, plant them in a separate flowerpot.

When using tree cork and branches for decorations, make sure they have NO (!) sharp edges.

Keep in mind: the higher the temperature is, the better the ventilation should be and the lower the humidity is.

Lastly, do not make your frog try to bite you. It WILL bite you and you WILL regret it :)

Thank you

More pictures, as requested:

Ceratophrys cranwelli (Albino)

Cranwell's Horned Frog

Since the very beginning of my amphibian collection, this little aggressive chubby frog has immediately caught my attention. I have often taken it to various museums and reptile exhibitions and the bright colours have always attracted visitors.

Background information

One of the several species of mountainous tropical rain forest. They inhabit northern Argentina, Uruguay, Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. These frogs are terrestrial have are very similar to mix up with the Argentive horned frog, by their looks.
These frogs are more popular in the collections of terrariumists, than the Budget frogs. Grown Cranwell's horned frogs are 15-20 cm in length.
Due to the high production of somatropin, the growth hormone, in their bodies, there are often cases of gigantism. Frogs with this defect grow up to 30-35 cm.
The colours of this frog vary greatly as well and that is one of the main reasons why keepers choose the Cranwell's frog for their collections. The colour of the back of the frog varies from light-olive to dark-gray brown. The spots on the back also vary from pale pink to fulvous-brown. Albino mutations are common as well. In this case the frog's colour varies from pale-beige to neon-yellow with red or orange spots on the back.

Terrarium

If you chose to keep one of these frogs, you will require a tank with good ventilation and the dimensions of 30㎤. As these frogs are terrestrial, I would recommend to focus on a larger tank bottom, rather than height.

Substrate

As for substrate each keeper has his or her own preferences. You can chose between sphagnum moss, coconut flakes, coarse polished gravel with no sharp edges, soft sponges or paper towels with 1cm of water over it, as the frogs tend to inhabit swamps and marshes. However, I would recommend you to use the sphagnum.

Temperature

The temperature in the tank should be kept at 23-27ºC. It is desirable to use a heating pad or a thermal cable in one of the corners of the bottom of tank.

Light

These frogs do not require any special sources of light.
When keeping an albino Cranwell's frog you might want to consider keeping the brightness of the light low, as bright light may affect their hypersensitive eyes.

Feeding

The Cranwelli frogs ear basically the same food, as Argentine horned frogs and Budget frogs: crickets, roaches, mealworms and rainworms, mice and small rats, goldfish and small frogs. An interesting fact is  that these frog species is that they lack certain muscles in their throat, the pharynx, so when hunting, the frogs strangle their prey with their powerful jaws and then swallow it not with swallowing muscles, but with the bottom of their eyeballs.
Pet stores usually sell special powders, which are the necessary minerals and vitamins for amphibians and reptiles. Frogs should be regularly fed these triturations in order to provide a better metabolism and growth.

And some information from myself

The substrate is supposed to hold the moisture, but at the same time prevent the stagnation of the water, which is supposed to hold the humidity at 80-90%. The humidity can also be kept contant by spraying the tank 2 times a day or installing a special frog humidifier. You should also place a bowl with water. It should be big enough for the frog to fit in and even for hunting when feeding the frog fish.
An interesting fact is that the Ceratophrys and Lepidobatrachus frog species lack certain muscles in their throat, the pharynx, so when hunting, the frogs first strangle their prey with their powerful jaws and then swallow it, not with swallowing muscles, but with the bottom of their eyeballs.
The Cranwell's horned frogs should be kept alone in the tank, as cannibalism is very common. Like most frogs, Cranwell's frogs sleep with open eyes.
When buying a Cranwell's frog you should look at the colour of it's skin and purchase the one with brighter colours. The colour determines the well-being of the frog. Also a good method of testing the health of the frog before buying is to check it's reflexes by moving your hand in front of it's head: the frog will either bury itself in the substrate, or attack the hand. Either result shows that the animal is healthy.

Feeding a cricket to my Cranwell's albino frog 

Lepidobatrachus laevis

Budget frogs

The budget frog is a very unusual and unique species and, yet, a very rare frog in the collections of amphibia-keepers.

Background information

The budget frog was the first amphibian I have even had the opportunity to keep at home. I considered it very "cool", as not only was the animal exotic and people, visiting me and looking at my animal collection, were impressed, but also among experienced amphibian keepers this animal in my collection made my terrariumist status rise.

The budget frog originates from the savannahs of Paraguay and Argentina where the average annual temperature is 23-26 ºC. These frogs are aquatic and rarely leave the water. The full-grown Budget frogs are approximately 15-16 cm long. The widest part of the body, as all of the Leptodactylus species have, is the mouth.
The colour of the frog depends on the light brightness. At night, when it is usually dark, the coulour of the frog is dark-fern with randomly spread small yellow spots on the back. In the daytime, the frog becomes light swamp-green coloured with the spots almost invisible. Albinism is very rare.

Terrarium

In order to keep the frog at home, you will need an aquarium or a paludarium with the bottom area not smaller than 30 cm2. The height of the tank does not matter, as the frogs do not leave the water and do not crawl on the vertical glass surfaces due to the structure of their feet and body. However, I would recommend the container be no smaller than 25 cm as for the height as when hunting, the frogs may jump out.
The water level should not exceed 10 cm. Even though, these frogs are water inhabitants, they still require air to breather and oddly, the budget frogs are poor swimmers. The water should not be tap water; instead, I would recommend you to filter it in order to make is softer and getting rid of unneeded metal ions.

Substrate

The substrate is not necessary even for exuviating. Substrate will only make it difficult for you to clean the tank, however, if you wish to customise the bottom and the design of the terrarium, I would recommend you to use polished gravel without any sharp edges, as the frog's skin is extremely sensitive and fragile, making it easy for the substrate to harm the animal.

In order to ease the cleaning of the terrarium I would recommend you to install a small fish-aquarium filter on the bottom of the tank. This will not only absorb the dirt and make your regular cleanings less frequent, but will also aerate the water, preventing it's stagnations.

Temperature

In order to keep the animal at home you will need to maintain the temperature of the water, in which your frog lives/will live. 

Luckily, the frog is quite "unpretentious", and the temperature may vary from 18ºC-30ºC,  though the optimal would be 24ºC.

Light

The budget frog should not have any special lighting (incl. UV and heating lamps). Daylight lamps are not required either, however, I would recommend you to add one to your terrarium set to establish certain day- and nighttime.

Feeding

This frog species should be fed live crickets, roaches, various fish species, rainworms and mealworms, mice and frogs at least once a week, depending on the size of the frog. The younger the frog is, the more often it should be fed.
The size of the food should not be bigger, than the width of the mouth of the frog. Even though, when the frog is hungry, it might eat an animal almost the same size as itself.

Hibernation

This is one of the main reasons why beginners are not recommended to keep budget frogs as for first animals. Experts consider the creation of hibernation environment complicated and difficult, however, I disagree.
Even though the hibernation is only needed in order to breed most of the reptiles and amphibians, the budget frog's life depends on the hibernation.
In order to start hibernation, the water level should be gradually reduced and substrate should be added over two weeks either in the usual original tank, where the frog is kept, or a smaller container with good ventilation. As for the substrate, sphagnum moss or coconut flakes can be used: they both absorb much water and hold it for a long time as well. When the water level exceeds the surface of the substrate by approximately 1cm, the container should be moved to a darker and colder place. I would recommend to place the tank on the balcony or the windowsill (if you are living in Northern Europe), where cold wind contacts with the glass of the container, creating a colder environment with the temperature about 17-21 ºC. By the time the water layer evaporates and the substrates will start drying, the frog will form a cocoon from the mucus, released from the frog's skiing in order to prevent excessive moisture loss from the body. However, the substrate should not be completely dry and to keep it at the right humidity level, the tank should be sprayed with warm water twice a week.
The hibernation should begin in October or November and should last from 3 to 6 weeks.
In the wild the frog's life lasts about 12 years. When kept in a tank at home- up to 11 years, however, if hibernation conditions are not provided, the number drops down to 4 years.

Some extra information

First of all, these frogs bite!
And they will try to bite anything, that moves. You should also know, that the Leptodactylus frogs have a pair of razor-sharp teeth on the bottom jaw. Also, when biting, they have a locked jaw and they will not let go. Hence, you will not be able to have your hand released without hurting it. IF (!) it happens, place the frog under a cold water stream out of the tap.
Also, try not to hold your frog (or any amphibian) with your hands! Their skin is too sensitive and our warm hands burn their skin. If you absolutely need to hold your animal to show off to your friends or place it in a different container while cleaning, place your hands under cold water in order to lower the temperature of your hands.

Feeding my juvenile budget frog.