# Spadefoot toads



## liam3012 (Sep 22, 2010)

Hi all,

Ive noticed there are _Pelobates Fuscus_ (European / Common Spadefoot toads available on Pollywog.

a few years back i snapped up a dozen of their american cousins the Couch's Spadefoot toad from cadbury garden centre. they are not the most of appealing of toads as they spend most of their life underground and basically i never saw them unless it was the dead of night, none the less they are still very interesting.
i got rid of my spadefoots as a lack of interest due to my more colorful and visible amphibians but now the europeans are available as i wanted these when i had the couchs and would like them again as i regret getting rid of phibs i can probably no longer get.......

will these require similiar setups but lower temps ?


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## colinm (Sep 20, 2008)

Years ago I kept Western Spadefoots.They are similar to the Common Spadefoots.I kept them at room temperature in a sandy vivarium.But as you said I never saw them, only when I dampened the sand.
They are not a very good show animal at all.


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## pollywog (Oct 6, 2005)

Yes the care is very similar: Care Sheet. They are lovely frogs and very interesting if you get enjoyment from keeping frogs rather than just looking at them, but I'll be honest if you got bored with your Scaphiopus then you won't find these much different.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

You could always try using a slightly more shallow substrate, combined with open-faced hides (half plant pots for example). I've used this in the past with various toads with a tendancy to burrow- they seemed happy enough, while still being visible.


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## Alex M (May 28, 2008)

Have always had a softspot for the Pelobates and have kept in the past cultripes/fuscus/syriacus - the syriacus being my favourites but all of them are very similar. I keep just 3 young fuscus now, i would recommend them only to those who tend to be up late at night as this is the only time you're likely to see them although in outdoor enclosures during warm rainy weather you may see them during the day. I would agree with Andrew - they're a lovely genus, and their burrowing behaviour adds to their charm i feel. Interestingly, they're an excellent species to breed if you only have a single pair, you do not need male heavy groups to encourage breeding with any of the European Pelobates (which makes perfect sense given the relatively short period of time in which they have to breed, certainly those originating from S and SE Europe). Anyway, in a nutshell, Pelobates actually have a lot of interesting things going for them if people care to look further into their biology - Shame they're so underated, or rather unknown, and therefore overlooked - a really fascinating genus. Cheers Al


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