# Frogs & Toads > Toads >  How much to feed American toad?

## ToadMama4

Hi! We need assistance determining how much to feed our American toad. We call him Ted and assume its a "he".


He currently lives in a 10 gallon aquarium with a screen lid. He has an under the tank heater appropriate for the aquarium, as well as a heat lamp on a timer over the warm end which brings the temp to about 78F in the day and about 65-70F at night. We came to this arrangement after he had been going dormant for long stretches (weeks), only coming out when disturbed, and we were unsure how to manage a hibernation if he was planning to try that. His current pattern is to unburrow himself in the morning when his light turns the on, and sits directly beneath it. Most days, we feed him 6-8 meal worms (dusted with vitamin/mineral powder). We dump in a few flightless fruit flies every few days as they are ready from the culture. When available, he gets 2 dozen dusted crickets every 3 days instead of the meal worms. Regardless of how much we feed him, he always eats it all and continues to wait for more. After he eats, he hops in his water dish for a couple hrs, then basks the day away. He burrows when the light goes out in the evening and the temp drops. He seems to be exceedingly happy now and even hops over to the hole he gets fed near whenever he sees us and sits upright expectantly. His aquarium is also misted daily and his dirt moistened every few days for humidity. He has grown enormously since joining our family in late June. 


SO here's the question... How much should we be feeding him? How often? Can we overfeed him?


TIA  :Smile:

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## AAron

Hi, I have been keeping toads for a long time and have a pair right now actually and I can say if you drill holes in plexiglass and put it over your lid it keeps humidity and I think you will see a huge difference in the activity of the toad. The temp is good but in the winter if you keep them a bit warmer they will bypass dormancy unless you want to hibernate it. So if you feed the crickets honey cereal or fruits and then feed them to the toad that's the best it can eat along with earthworms. Waxworms are good to fatten them up and for a treat. Feed the crickets more to the toad and it will be healthier. 2-3 times a week and about 4-6 large or medium crickets should do it with some waxworms. I believe it looks like a female but I have to look more at the pictures and you should invest in a 20 gallon at least for the toad. They like to explore and will enjoy more room. You can use the 10 Gallon for another animal or temporary housing so you can keep it safe when you clean the tank. 

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Edit * It is a female I'm certain

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daybr4ke

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## ToadMama4

Thanks, AAron!

So am I overfeeding it? or is it ok?

We can't get crickets right now locally because of the outdoor temperatures. We switched to the worms out of necessity, but Ted seems to have grown tons since starting them. I prefer the crickets since they are more affordable. And I do gut load them with fruit and veggie scraps for 24-48 hrs before feeding them to Ted when I have them. If I don't have crickets, how many meal worms and how often? 

If I do have crickets (just crickets), how many and how often? 

If I have both meal worms and crickets, how many of each and how often?

Yes, I agree about humidity. We spray the whole inside of the aquarium daily, and moisten the soil every other day or so, and Ted is more active since we began doing this. Ted even comes out when we spray to get misted. 

How do you know its a she? Just curious...my seven yr old son will be devastated. Might not tell him. But it makes no difference to my husband and I, we are thoroughly enjoying this pet regardless.

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Larry Wardog

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## AAron

> Thanks, AAron!
> 
> So am I overfeeding it? or is it ok?
> 
> We can't get crickets right now locally because of the outdoor temperatures. We switched to the worms out of necessity, but Ted seems to have grown tons since starting them. I prefer the crickets since they are more affordable. And I do gut load them with fruit and veggie scraps for 24-48 hrs before feeding them to Ted when I have them. If I don't have crickets, how many meal worms and how often? 
> 
> If I do have crickets (just crickets), how many and how often? 
> 
> If I have both meal worms and crickets, how many of each and how often?
> ...


You might have to buy crickets online for the toad because the toad will have problems after a while just eating mealworms. Earthworms and Roaches that you could buy online also are great to feed it. Walmart sells earthworms even though they aren't nightcrawlers the toad may still take them. Try Walmart for works by the fishing gear but as for feeding crickets around 4-8 for the toad if they are bigger crickets but what you can do is throw the insects in the tank and when the toad slows down take out what it doesn't eat. I am glad you are happy with the toad! It seems in good hands! The way the toad looks like physical features your toad has is of a female toad. They get bigger then males but don't croak. 

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## ToadMama4

Thanks! That's what I need to know. 

At this point, the toad eats everything we put in there very rapidly, even the 2 doz crickets when they had been available, which is why I wondered if it was possible to overfeed it. I have purchased crickets online, from Josh's Frogs but they always die  :Frown:  I probably need to invest in an official cricket keeper of some kind. I will look for earthworms at walmart. We also have a bait store locally that probably has them, too. I will look today when out.
Thanks, again!  :Smile:

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## AAron

Yes you need to try to feed the crickets some bananas or apples or bird or fish food. If you feed the crickets they will become better for the toad to eat. I'd say at the most just 10 would be enough because you could make the toad really fat and it could become a health problem if it's too heavy. If you would feed it worms that would be healthier for the toad anyway and they are easier to keep but you do need the worms and or crickets to give the toad a balanced and healthy diet. The more I see the toad the more it looks like a female

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If you run your hand gently down it's back and it makes a chirping noise it's a male but if it's silent it's a female.

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## AAron

I have a video coming out soon about my Toads and I will post it here so you can see them eating and it has care requirements so it could be beneficial

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## AAron

> I have a video coming out soon about my Toads and I will post it here so you can see them eating and it has care requirements so it could be beneficial
> 
> Sent from my BLN-L24 using Tapatalk


Here is my video I talked about!
https://youtu.be/IdxfbLiIB4U

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## ToadMama4

One more question...When you say earthworm, what do you mean? We find nightcrawlers and redworms available at the bait shop. The nightcrawlers seem huge, even for Ted. In th summer, my children will readily attain wild earthworms, but that isn't applicable right now. Which of the worms from the bait store should i get Ted?

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## Bryce

Hi! This is a good question. Redworms(also called compost worms or red wigglers) are smaller than nightcrawlers and seem like a good option, but they have a foul taste that (most) amphibians dislike. Many frogs will not eat ANY earthworms after trying to eat red wigglers. The nightcrawlers are great food for frogs(if a bit hard to eat sometimes). Some stores also carry mini nightcrawlers. If a worm is too big, you can cut it in half and feed half to the toad at a time. The one major thing is to get natural earthworms. Bait shops sometimes dye them, which you don't want your frog eating.

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## AAron

> Hi! This is a good question. Redworms(also called compost worms or red wigglers) are smaller than nightcrawlers and seem like a good option, but they have a foul taste that (most) amphibians dislike. Many frogs will not eat ANY earthworms after trying to eat red wigglers. The nightcrawlers are great food for frogs(if a bit hard to eat sometimes). Some stores also carry mini nightcrawlers. If a worm is too big, you can cut it in half and feed half to the toad at a time. The one major thing is to get natural earthworms. Bait shops sometimes dye them, which you don't want your frog eating.


This is very interesting because I talk about this in the video above and my toad eats a red wriggler on the video. From keeping leopard frogs and toads I know it's depending on the personality of the toad and frog. Some of mine would take them like a regular work and some would not. My toads now take them no problem. I had a leopard frog not take them but take nightcrawlers somehow the frogs and toads know the difference among them. The smell I'm guessing. But it's not exactly a terrible food if their toad will take it. You can see in my video the toad runs to the work and doesn't lose interest in it after it eats it. I agree you have to watch where you get them that's why Walmart isn't a bad choice. 

Here is the video I think I talk about two or three minutes in
https://youtu.be/IdxfbLiIB4U

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daybr4ke

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## Bryce

That's very true! My woodhouse toads like them better than nightcrawlers, but none of my other frogs like them.

Also, those are some cute pictures. They didnt load on my phone the other day, so I missed them.

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Larry Wardog

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## ToadMama4

Thank you AAron and Bryce! Our semi-local walmart had nightcrawlers. The bait store here in our tiny town has nightcrawlers and redworms. I waited to see what walmart had before I bought anything. This afternoon I got Ted the nightcrawlers. I will cut them in half. 

My husband also corrected me that what Ted has been eating are actually wax worms, not meal worms, and those were purchased out of necessity as crickets are not available locally when the temps drop too low (and they ones I've ordered online have also died). I always gut load them on veggie scraps prior to feeding. I am very glad to learn of the earthworm option. We will continue to try to make crickets Ted's dietary stable. 

How often should I give him a whole nightcrawler?

Thanks again!!!

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## Bryce

No problem! Nightcrawlers are actually healthy enough to use as a staple. Wax worms are very high in fat, but make an okay treat. Also, just a though: based on your pictures your toad may be a Woodhouse's toad like mine. The stripe down the back made me think about it. The partoid glands(the long bumps behind the eyes) in Woodhouse's toads point slightly inward. Ill find pictures/diagrams later and link them in another post. If you live somewhere in it's range(a large chunk of the Middle of the US extending to Las Vegas. It also has a subspecies that extends into lower California called the Rocky Mountain Toad.

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## ToadMama4

Fascinating about possibly being a wooodhouse toad! I will look into it. Yes, we live within that range. 

Even as a staple food, we are unsure how much nightcrawler Ted ought to be getting. Ted would never be satisfied, is perpetually hungry, so I fear overfeeding. Ted's rate of growth rapidly increased with the wax worms...so I knew there was a problem.

Do you concur with AAron that Ted is a female, even if a woodhouse toad. My husband thinks its "grunted" a couple times, but has never squeeked or peeped.

Thanks again!

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## ToadMama4

> Fascinating about possibly being a wooodhouse toad! I will look into it. Yes, we live within that range. 
> 
> Even as a staple food, we are unsure how much nightcrawler Ted ought to be getting. Ted would never be satisfied, is perpetually hungry, so I fear overfeeding. Ted's rate of growth rapidly increased with the wax worms...so I knew there was a problem.
> 
> Do you concur with AAron that Ted is a female, even if a woodhouse toad. My husband thinks its "grunted" a couple times, but has never squeeked or peeped.
> 
> Thanks again!


Some more photos of Ted.

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## ToadMama4

Strike that...upon careful viewing of the Woodhouse's toad's range, I think that we are just easterly of its range.

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## elymanator

Everyone has had some good tips so far, but I thought I might throw out a suggestion for your terrarium. It looks pretty barebones, he might appreciate having more plants, moss, and more obstacles to give him more hiding places and to make him feel less exposed.

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