# british common toad care?



## FelixM (Jun 26, 2012)

hi,
my dad once brought home a common toad for me and I set up a small rub with spagnum moss and water bowl etc but someone told me u couldn't keep them. So back went the toad but now I have found out that you can, and I've always wanted an amphibian so I was wondering what was needed for their care? I.e. temps, humidity etc.
thanks:2thumb:


----------



## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Temps; ere on the cooler side- ideally not over 75F. Humidity; not too dependent, so long as they have a water bowl, but 70 or so is usually fine. Substrate; Moister-retentative but damp, not wet. Food; pretty much anything you would give to an equivalant exotic Bufonoid, allowing for toad size.


----------



## morg (Jul 20, 2007)

Toad Basics - Keeping ground-dwelling Toads. A care sheet for Bufo, Anaxyrus, Spea, Scaphiopus, Ollotis, Alytes, Pelobates


----------



## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

morg said:


> Toad Basics - Keeping ground-dwelling Toads. A care sheet for Bufo, Anaxyrus, Spea, Scaphiopus, Ollotis, Alytes, Pelobates


That's a pretty good sheet! :2thumb:

I disagree on the earthworm, bit, all mine take them very readily, but good, basic advice, om the whole.


----------



## morg (Jul 20, 2007)

The people around here know me as the newt and toad man, and I get injured bufo bufo brought to me countless times through the year, mainly ones injured by people while gardening.
If they survive[and all but 1 that was burned in a bonfire have] they are always released, but while with me I find them to be very interesting and friendly , readily learning to feed from hand.
After keeping for a day or so on damp plenty kitchen paper while keping an eye on injuries etc, I move to a tank with a substrate of composted bark soil improver which I keep dry at one end, to damp and with a water bowl at the other.
corkbark and ready bought hides are placxed both ends, along with dead leaves at the dry end.
Food wise I use crickets, waxmoth larvae, earthworms, and woodlice.:2thumb:


----------



## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

It's been years since I kept commons, but I find all Bufonoid toads responsive, easy to feed and straightforward to keep. They are quite bright, as frogs go, and don't take long to figure out feeding routines and so on. I only have the cane and my three Asian spiny toads at the moment.


----------



## FelixM (Jun 26, 2012)

so care seems simple enough, I have frozen cubes of bloodworm for my fish, would some of them heated up be a suitable diet?


----------



## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

FelixM said:


> so care seems simple enough, I have frozen cubes of bloodworm for my fish, would some of them heated up be a suitable diet?


No. With some exceptions, toads only recognise food *as* food if it moves.


----------



## k985721 (Aug 9, 2012)

you really shouldnt keep british common toads


----------



## FelixM (Jun 26, 2012)

so would mealworms be ok? what I want to do is get a couple from my dad's work and release any if I can breed them. If I can't then I'll let them be. There aren't loads in the area and I would rather take two and give back many more than watch their numbers decrease.


----------



## mrkeda (Nov 6, 2012)

If you were that concerned about the numbers you'd leave them be, no?


----------



## FelixM (Jun 26, 2012)

It's on an industrial estate so constant building and heavy machinery and I see a few squished.


----------



## mrkeda (Nov 6, 2012)

FelixM said:


> It's on an industrial estate so constant building and heavy machinery and I see a few squished.


Oh fair play, i see where you're coming from then.


----------



## FelixM (Jun 26, 2012)

around the estate is a small forest with a little pond but trees'll be chopped and habitat damaged so I would like to help them if possible. Of course, I'm not saying I will be able to! I have never kept one before but I have multiple aquariums which I hope would be helpful in raising babies.


----------



## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

What you *could* do, if you have space in your garden, is make or adapt a pond for their use. On the whole, they prefer deeper water for spawning, but they aren't as fussy as people like to think. Having said that, toads have a very strong instinct to return to the pond of their emergence, so my advice would be if yours actually produce spawn, release it into your pond. They are more likely to grow up on a varied diet that way, and there is a good chance they'll return for years to come. Years ago, a pond I built in what was actually a very built-up area had toad spawn in the first year- my theory is that there must have been a breeding pond in a garden close by. Best to avoid fish in these ponds, though.


----------



## FelixM (Jun 26, 2012)

thanks
well, we have a patio which I'm trying to convince mum to let us have a pond there but she's saying no. so, if i take them from the forest, chances are they will have come from the small pond there right? so i could release the eggs in the pond or would that kill them?


----------



## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

FelixM said:


> thanks
> well, we have a patio which I'm trying to convince mum to let us have a pond there but she's saying no. so, if i take them from the forest, chances are they will have come from the small pond there right? so i could release the eggs in the pond or would that kill them?


Check that the pond isn't polluted or chock-full of leaves- and, if you are there at the right season, that toads are using it. Then, yes.


----------



## FelixM (Jun 26, 2012)

well, it's an abandoned flight pond and isn't polluted. It has a small island but is mainly full of this water plant that is similar to lilly but the leaves are a bit different. My dad is planning to help me make it larger at some point as it is very small, about 5X5 circular (metres)


----------



## morg (Jul 20, 2007)

FelixM said:


> so would mealworms be ok? what I want to do is get a couple from my dad's work and release any if I can breed them. If I can't then I'll let them be. There aren't loads in the area and I would rather take two and give back many more than watch their numbers decrease.


Bufo bufo are very hard to breed in captivity, but the article here has some good tips
True Toads (Bufonidae)


----------

