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| Front view of Eastern American Toad. Photographed in Berks County, Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Think about witches casting a spell on someone, what do they often turn a person into, a toad. They are not the prettiest of all the creatures for sure, all bumpy and warty, and to call someone a toad is not meant to be anything nice, but whenever I am called a toad, I feel as happy as can be, and take it as a compliment.
So you're interested in having a toad as a pet, and I think you have made a great choice. Everyone has cats, dogs, fish and some people even have mice, gerbils, and birds as pets, but who do you know that has a pet toad? Now, some toads are poisonous to people and other animals, so I am talking about the common American Toad, in this article, and his scientific name is; 'Bufo americanus.' Before you find yourself a toad, the first thing you will need is a home for him or her. A 10-gallon aquarium that is not being used for fish, makes a perfect dwelling place for your toad to live. Make sure you have a secured, screen lid, or your toad may hop out and escape.
The first thing you will need is the ground cover or stuff for your toad to dig in when it wishes to do so. One of the best bedding or ground cover you can fill a couple inches of the bottom of the aquarium with is called; ' Eco Earth '. It is made from coconut fiber, and it makes a perfect bedding for your toad to dig into and hop around on. Also when the toad urinates and poops, the Eco Earth absorbs and destroys odor and waste products. Although toads don't live in water like frogs mostly do, toads do love water. Your toad will need a water dish that he can climb into and sit if he feels dry, and he will also drink out of this container, just make sure your water dish is not so deep that the toad can fall in and not get out, or he will drown, and you will end up with a pet ghost toad. Some pet stores and places online have water dishes that have both a shallow and deep end, which is perfect for your toad.
You do not really need a separate dish for your toad's food unless you want to place one in its home. Your toad can eat any live insects such as house flies, small crickets, and grasshoppers, some people even like dropping a live worm or mealworms in the aquarium for their toad. You will need a supply of live insects or worms through the cold, winter season, and most live fish bait shops and pet shops have all the insects and worms you need.
Your toad will like a little place to hide in where he can comfortably seek shelter, or sit in silence while he meditates or takes a nap. Some great shelters are made by using a piece of a log that's been hollowed out and turned over, which resembles a cave. Also, you can even use a ceramic flower pot that is turned over, with a hole or piece knocked out of it, for your toad to enter easily. Again, if you cannot make a shelter for your toad, you can purchase them at pet stores and online. You can decorate your toads home with some plastic plants, or even some real ones, and add a couple nice size rocks for him to climb and set on if he wishes. In other words, make your toads home, as close as you can to resemble the natural world where he would live.
Now to find yourself a toad to use a pet, get a smaller size one, not one of the little babies that you often see, but a medium-sized toad. You want one that's big enough to eat the live insects and other things that you will feed it. One of the easiest methods to find a toad, is right after a rainstorm, go outside at night, with a flashlight and walk around near the house. Toads also love to hang around the front door at night, or someplace where there is a light, that attracts insects. Raising a toad as a pet can give you such great joy, you will wonder why you didn't have one year before, anyway it will give you something to do during the long, cold winter months, and it will help you to fight the winter blues.
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