# Frogs & Toads > Other Frogs & Toads >  Couch's Spadefoot Toad help

## Nick02

Hello, noob here with 10 or so Couch's Spadefoot Toads.
I found these little guys as tadpoles in an irrigation canal one day, there were THOUSANDS of them, I didn’t really need to catch the little guys, I just stuck a water bottle inside the ditch and about 10 plopped in. I returned three days later, and the ditch was dried up. The rest of the tadpoles coagulated into a big black bio mass dried up and died, it was one sad site to see. 

I took them home an put them in a 10 gal tank with a large rock in the center, I fed them frog/tadpole bites which they ate furiously and made lots of poo! in about three weeks all the tadpoles turned into little toads and climbed onto the rock.

I couldn't find anything for them to eat! so I went down to the petstore and found fruit-flies, now I breed them in order to save money, the still toads love the flies!
 Now their about 3/4 of an inch long and they enjoy regular to small sized meal worms, which makes feeding time much easier. I've had them for about five months and haven’t lost a single one!

Anyways I need help with the terrarium, it's currently a 10 gallon tank with gravel as substrate. a "stream" flows through the middle fed by a pump. I have a dirt "section" of local soil for them, but they don’t burrow into it even though it's loose and sandy, instead they burrow in the gravel on the side of it! They love to spend time in the water and then they mostly sit on top of the gravel or many rocks some burrow and "hibernate" between rocks and some never burrow. When they go into  into the "hibernation" thing their eyes close and a film develops over them, if I start feeding they usually wake up and go to town. 

I’m thinking of converting the terrarium to full dirt/substrate as I think a humid "water based" terrarium is not for these guys. I just don't know what to use for the substrate? I would like for them to burrow and be happy. Their kept inside at room temperature. I’ll have some pictures up later today or tomorrow.

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## Nick02

some pics of the current set-up

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## Kurt

Cute, little guys! Couch's are cool, wouldn't mind having some myself.

I would switch them over to a ground coconut substrate and provide them with a shallow water bowl. Also do not use mealworms as a staple diet. They are too high in chitin and chitin can possibly cause bowel impactions. Keep the diet as varied as possible. Since most feeder insects are not nutritionally complete, you must dust their dinner with vitamin/calcium supplements.

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## Nick02

Thank you! That was so helpful!

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## Kurt

You're welcome.

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## John Clare

Welcome to the site Nick.  You could consider culturing _Drosophila hydei_ - they are large fruitflies and will make an easier food to provide for the toads until they are more than twice their current size.  Just make sure you get a good fruitfly medium because hydei aren't as forgiving of cheap medium as _Drosophila melanogaster_.  

Kurt's advice is sound.  Make sure you use a vitamin/mineral supplement regularly, and also a calcium supplement occasionally.

And finally, if you ever want to find homes for some of these, I would give my right arm for a couple  :Wink: .

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## Ebony

Hi Nick, welcome. Your toads are so cute. Its so good you grabbed these little Guys, You saved their lives :Big Applause: .

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## AlienDecendants

how do i get one? i caught one almost 3 yrs ago kept it for a month and then let it go.ever since then i wished i never let it go...could u help me find a site that sells these little guys pl thanks ^^ :Cool:

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## John Clare

If you caught one then you probably live in a region where they breed.  These toads spend most of the year underground.  They only come out during big rain storms during warm weather - that's when to look for them.  In my experience they make poor captives and rarely do well for long.

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## 4wheelingmom

Hello Nick02.  My son and I caught some small tadpoles in a puddle at his school.  They were a copper or bronze color.  They are now starting to change into frogs or toads that are still a copper or bronze color.  What you discribed sounds alot like what our tadpoles did so I was wondering if they looked that copper or bronze color when they first changed into a frog/toad?  We are trying to fugure out what they are so we can really good care of them.  Thanks.

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## crazy

> Hello, noob here with 10 or so Couch's Spadefoot Toads.
> I found these little guys as tadpoles in an irrigation canal one day, there were THOUSANDS of them, I didnt really need to catch the little guys, I just stuck a water bottle inside the ditch and about 10 plopped in. I returned three days later, and the ditch was dried up. The rest of the tadpoles coagulated into a big black bio mass dried up and died, it was one sad site to see. 
> 
> I took them home an put them in a 10 gal tank with a large rock in the center, I fed them frog/tadpole bites which they ate furiously and made lots of poo! in about three weeks all the tadpoles turned into little toads and climbed onto the rock.
> 
> I couldn't find anything for them to eat! so I went down to the petstore and found fruit-flies, now I breed them in order to save money, the still toads love the flies!
>  Now their about 3/4 of an inch long and they enjoy regular to small sized meal worms, which makes feeding time much easier. I've had them for about five months and havent lost a single one!
> 
> Anyways I need help with the terrarium, it's currently a 10 gallon tank with gravel as substrate. a "stream" flows through the middle fed by a pump. I have a dirt "section" of local soil for them, but they dont burrow into it even though it's loose and sandy, instead they burrow in the gravel on the side of it! They love to spend time in the water and then they mostly sit on top of the gravel or many rocks some burrow and "hibernate" between rocks and some never burrow. When they go into  into the "hibernation" thing their eyes close and a film develops over them, if I start feeding they usually wake up and go to town. 
> ...


Its good that you saved these little guys.  I have about 200 eastern spade foot toads ready to hatch.  For my set up with a spadefoot I usually get a couple bricks of compacted dirt from the pet store and let the brick sit in the water for about 30 mins then break it apart in the aquarium with a small water bowl at one end and plenty of places to hide.  Even though the spadefoot tends to burrow and isn't seen for weeks on end.  I spray my tank every night with water to keep it moist for the toad.

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## MsBlueRose

> Hello Nick02.  My son and I caught some small tadpoles in a puddle at his school.  They were a copper or bronze color.  They are now starting to change into frogs or toads that are still a copper or bronze color.  What you discribed sounds alot like what our tadpoles did so I was wondering if they looked that copper or bronze color when they first changed into a frog/toad?  We are trying to fugure out what they are so we can really good care of them.  Thanks.



Hello. I have a pair of tadpoles right now that are a golden/brondz color. I know that mine are Leopard Frog tadpoles, your may be too. Here id a pic of mine. It might help you figure out what yours are. I hope it helps!?  :Frog Smile: 

Sincerely; MsBlueRose

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## MsBlueRose

Sorry, I just realized that the post I responded to is a few years old... lol. Sorry about that.  :Big Grin:

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