new to fire belly toads

[Pookie]

I just got 5 new fire belly toads. I'm new to the amphibian world but i've had snakes and reptiles for years. My major question is how can i tell the gender of these toads? What does it take to breed them? And how much should i feed the 5 of them at a time and how often? Any sort of information would be great, i keep hearing different answers! Thanks!

[thunder]

i personally am not able to tell their gender. mine bred without any interference on my part, other than to provide them with a large water area and to remove the eggs so that they would not be eaten. i fed mine every 2 or 3 days.

[Pookie]

Thanks thunder!
so if i see some eggs (in the water or on land?) i should remove them and do what w/ them?

[thunder]

the eggs would be in the water. remove them and put them in some other tank, and dont mess with them at all until they hatch. rearing tadpoles can be difficult, so you may lose your first batch, but if you do get eggs, i can try and talk you thru the rearing process. if the eggs are infertile (infertile eggs dont have the black dot in the middle), just leave them there for the frogs to eat.

[Pookie]

Thanks for the helpful information. When i got my toads i had 5 total. Now i only have 3. I have them in a very high 20 gal hexagon aquarium w/o a cover. Could they be jumping out? I'm working on a cover right now but it's taking a bit longer than i expected. I never imagined them to jump so high. The tank is about 3 feet high! So confused.

[thunder]

they definately need a cover, as they can climb and jump very well. i have actually seen them climb glass a few times.

[Pookie]

Ha, oh good! Damn things! :) I'll work on that cover....the stupid ppl at the pet store told me they wouldn't get out! Erg!

[Will]

I used to have a few when I was younger, they can climb(I lost 2 before I figured out how they could get out. I thought my sister kept letting them out, but caught one climbing the corner of the tank just after the 2nd one got out. Both the escapees died. :(

Mine always just ate crickets and bloodworms, but I don't know if that was good enough(they did last quite a few years though), but I was a kid and didn't pay much attention to the important stuff. If they were alive, back then, that was good enough for me. There are probably a ton of caresheets out there though.

As for telling them apart, I think just the males have a call. I can't remember how accurate that info was(whether or not just the males call), but it sounds like a fainting honking noise if I recall.

[thunder]

as for food, mine ate crickets, mealworms, and fruit flies. calcium supplementing is neccessary. i never heard mine call, so i dont know what it sounds like or if only the males do it.

[Will]

Lucky...

Ugh, mine would keep me up at night...