Sonoran Desert Toad

[C.m.pyrrhus]

Big fat toads. I am not much into keeping them, as they take up snake room. But thats Okay, concidering i have one of these fellers hangin 'round. I keep him in a smaller Sterilite with Forest-Bed substrate. I only keep him up and about a few months of the year, as they naturally do here. When he is up and awake, he can pound down a ton of inverts. I usually feed him some store bought crickets, along with wild beetles, crickets and other inverts. I was concidering havinf a nice set-up for em, but seems to be a bit of a waste for my needs.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3526alvar_002-med.jpg http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3526alvar_001-med.jpg

[Mike177]

wow he looks great! were did you get him? i have been thinking about getting a toad and i really like that one. but cant find them.

[C.m.pyrrhus]

I collected this guy..he is a wild caught. These guys are very common durring the monsoon seasons when it brings heavy rains. One place I lived, out in the desert, would have these guys surrounding our home. Just littered the desert floor wherever there was standing water.

They only come out a few weeks to a couple months. I even found one of these guys while repairing a wall in a mexican stucco home. Who knows how long it was in the dried mud wall...just very impressive.

[Dani33]

That's crazy, it's nice to see pics with some sort of reference for size. I've seen pics but never realized that they got so big!!!! Thanks for sharing!

[chamitch]

cool. apperantly that toad has 5meoDMT in it. a potent hallucenagen. im sure you knwo that though. :) alvarius correct??

later and that is a very nice toad indeed. just dotn kiss it.

[C.m.pyrrhus]

Yes, Bufo alvarius (Colorado River toad, Sonoran Desert toad) are known for their high concentration of 5MeO-DMT. They are the only species of roughly 200 Bufo ssp that carry it within their load of chemically active compounds, or toxins if you will. Like other Bufo ssp, they also carry Bufotenine within their toxin compound.

Somewhere along the lines though, folks think they will "get all high" if they lick the toads. Gives me a healthy chuckle, as a few folks ends up in the ER each year by doing so. We do have many household pets that die or get severely sick from trying to eat/play/bite or lick these toads. I actually believe there are more problems for pets with them than the rattlesnakes to be honest. Many folks get sick too, shows their magnificent intelligence. I assume it ain’t to fun.

The Sonoran Desert toad is the largest of the western toads. They certainly are cool. They get to an average size of 7” from snout to vent. Pretty large toad. I was 'planning' on using this fella for possible future educational purposes. I do believe they are a lacking part of most educational classes on our native fauna. You here a lot about the rattlesnakes and Heloderms, but these guys do have the potential for serious harm. You just have to love the Sonoran Desert!

(note: Bufotenine is illegal to possess in the United States because it is a Schedule I drug, even though it is not psychoactive; 5-MeO-DMT is unscheduled and legal to possess, even though it is psychoactive.) Soon enough, it may just be illegal or a civil violation to own/collect any given species of the Bufo genus in the US for this reason alone. A bit backwards legislation I would add, and due to the misunderstanding and incomplete research on these awesome animals. To bad laws are passed upon the common standards of society from folks that do not use a bit of common sense and awareness.

[naja]

you know, crotalus, it IS indeed illegal to keep Bufo alvarius in california, and possibly arizona and new mexico, but they are definetly protected and do require a permit to legally keep them (if thats is even aloud, i am not sure). just stuff i learned online while trying to track 'em down for myself, though none of that really matters to me, as i live in canada. i would say i have slim to no chance of ever finding them for sale up here. anyhow, just thought i would fill you in as best i could. i'm sure you could find out more without much difficulty... ciao

[C.m.pyrrhus]

As per AZ Game and Fish regulations, B. alvarius is legal for take in Arizona. I believe it is a legal bag limit of 10 or 20 per day, not sure of what the household limit is currently. I need to recheck my regulations to know exactly what it is. The only legal means to obtain them is to obtain an AZ fishing licence (for all aquatic herps) or by having one gifted out to you. This one was gifted from a friend. I currently only carry a hunting licence for this year, as I do not have plans as of yet to collect any aquatic specimens. Although, I can always add it to my current hunting licence.