Fire Belly Toad........

[sleddergirl]

One of my customers at work was asking me if the way she keeps her toad is proper. She says she has potting soil in the whole enclosure with a large dish of water for him to go in. She said the water is deep enough for him to submerge himself. I told her I was not entirely sure but would see if I could find out for her.

Do you all think this is appropriate or should there be changes made?

Thanks
Sue

[Double J]

Sounds alright... tell her to make sure the potting soil has no vermiculite or perlite in it. We still need a better picture about other aspects of the tank.
How large is the tank? What are the temps like? Are there any live plants in their, or any sort of cover?
The tank should be at least 5 gallons.. though bigger is better. Temps should be in low 70's, though dips into the high 60s and up to low 80s are tolerable. She does not need to have any sort of heater or basking lamps on it... they will overheat the frog. A fcheap 18 inch flurescent light from Canadain Tire should be enough of to provide light for the plants and a nice mild warmth. Stay away from incandescent lights as they dry things out too much. The water dish should be big..... enough to swim around in. Live plants are greeat too. Pothos or philodendrons work best.
How many crickets is she feeding it? They should get around three or four every other day. The crickets should be dusted with Calcium and D3 powder every feeding.
That should cover just about everything. If your customer wants to keep other species in with it... tell her not to as something will die. Otherwise... setup sounds alright... but get back to us about the questions I asked.
Feel free to ask anymore questions.
Double J

[Oliverian]

tell her to make sure the potting soil has no vermiculite or perlite in it

What's wrong with vermiculite and perlite for fire bellies? Is it bad for all anurans? (Just asking, I've never kept FB's before so I wouldn't know)

-TammyR

["Red-eye"_Matt]

Vermiculite and perlite are both bad for fire bellies because they are such aggressive eaters (mine will actually bite my fingers if I wiggle them in from of them) that they ofter mistake it for food and ingest it. This can lead to impaction.

Matt

[sleddergirl]

Thanks for the info, I will pass all of it along.

Sue