# Frogs & Toads > Toads >  Southern toad

## frogmandan

i got a southern toad and need info on habbitat i will soon plan on addin g a few fire belly,s in there with the lil girl  so i need it so be able to suport them both  ps...




she is rescued so dont hate the lack of stuff in  the tank

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## Gail

Good for you on the rescue, but you won't be able to house the toad & FB.  #1 it will kill them, #2 totally different habitats.  For the best info check out the care sheets  Frog Forum - Care Articles  for healthy, happy toads.

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## Poly

A toad like that requires a vivarium with substrate to burrow in, and only a small amount of water. FBT's have very different care requirments, and as Gail stated, you cannot house different species of amphibians together.

You'll want a 10 gallon (or larger) vivarium with 3-4" or loose substrate, such as coco-fibre, eco earth or organic soil (the soil cannot contain fertilizers, this is why it must be organic soil).

No small odjects on the substrate, such as aquarium garvel as the toad could ingest them when lunging for an insect, and this could cause impaction which would kill the toad. 

For a toad of that size, a small water dish, roughly 3 toads long x 3 toads wide x 1 toad deep is the perfect size.

As for feeding, a varying diet of crickets, nightcrawlers and mealworms dusted with a calicum & vitamin podwer works well (though, out of crickets and nightcrawlers, you should decide which one you will be feeding the toad as it's "staple" food, and on that topic, mealworms, like pinky mice should only be fed occasionally, they cannot be fed as a staple food like nightcrawlers or crickets.), try to give the toad as much variety as you can. Also, the occasional "pinky" mouse is great for a treat for them, but don't expect the toad to eat for upwards of 1 week after, as it takes them quite a while to digest such a large "treat".

Other than that, just make sure to give it plenty food items, lots hiding spaces, a few live plants (the hold humidity well), fresh water everyday and you'll have a happy healthy toad!

Here's my two american toad's vivarium:

Top view:


Inside view:


Front view:


Do you have a light for your toad's vivarium?

~Royce  :Smile:

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## LazyEyedFroggie

Just like Poly and Kueluck said, it's certainly not a good idea to house them together, especially taking into consideration the habitat differences. Southern toads are terrestrial, and naturally burrow, whereas Fire Bellies are semi-aquatic and sit in the water a lot of the time. They aren't from the same environment either and would probably be terrified of each other, and bufotoxins may cause serious damage to the other. Fire bellies are excellent pets though, so if you want some, go for it! Just separate the tanks  :Smile:

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## frogmandan

> A toad like that requires a vivarium with substrate to burrow in, and only a small amount of water. FBT's have very different care requirments, and as Gail stated, you cannot house different species of amphibians together.
> 
> You'll want a 10 gallon (or larger) vivarium with 3-4" or loose substrate, such as coco-fibre, eco earth or organic soil (the soil cannot contain fertilizers, this is why it must be organic soil).
> 
> No small odjects on the substrate, such as aquarium garvel as the toad could ingest them when lunging for an insect, and this could cause impaction which would kill the toad. 
> 
> For a toad of that size, a small water dish, roughly 3 toads long x 3 toads wide x 1 toad deep is the perfect size.
> 
> As for feeding, a varying diet of crickets, nightcrawlers and mealworms dusted with a calicum & vitamin podwer works well (though, out of crickets and nightcrawlers, you should decide which one you will be feeding the toad as it's "staple" food, and on that topic, mealworms, like pinky mice should only be fed occasionally, they cannot be fed as a staple food like nightcrawlers or crickets.), try to give the toad as much variety as you can. Also, the occasional "pinky" mouse is great for a treat for them, but don't expect the toad to eat for upwards of 1 week after, as it takes them quite a while to digest such a large "treat".
> ...


a basic uv light for the tank its a 29 gal fish aqarium it has graval but has been coverd with dirt from where i got her at i got a filters water pond with a larg rock waterfall on the other end making the  lan water ratio 3/1 3 parts land 1 part water

when my cam is charged ill post pics

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## Poly

> a basic uv light for the tank its a 29 gal fish aqarium it has graval but has been coverd with dirt from where i got her at i got a filters water pond with a larg rock waterfall on the other end making the  lan water ratio 3/1 3 parts land 1 part water
> 
> when my cam is charged ill post pics


A UV light is not required with amphibians. If you want a light, use a "Repti-Glo 2.0" CFL bulb or similar 2.0 bulb, this is all you need, otherwise most other bulbs arn't good for the toad.

Yes, make sure you cover the gravel, with at the very least 3" of substrate.  

The ratio of land to water sounds good, but how deep is the water? Southern toads are not like FBT's, there abilty to swim in comparison is poor, all it needs, is again, a maximum of 1 toad's depth of water. If you have deep water, it could easily drown.

Looking foward to the photos!

~Royce  :Smile:

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## frogmandan

well i think ill need to add rocks to the water end  becase the filter its acully just deep enough to use the filter and aDD a lil bit more sand to the cage for digging in too about 1 more inch

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## frogmandan

pics of progress with tank so far (i will add rocks to water to make it more shallow and sand to land to give a lil more digging space)



      sand added 1 more inch to add on top of that (rocks or under shallow water)

depth of sand ontop of rock pebble and gravle



  water and waterfal section  block gose back pritty far. not(like i said ill be addingrocks or blocks to make water a lil more shallow  

  i also whould like to know what king of plants   fake/real? if real which kind for this lil guy

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## Wormwood

My advice would be to get a clear plastic tub about four inches high and section off half of the tank with this, put the water fall in it. Fill it up with rocks so the pump intake in covered and so the toad can climb out easily.  I've never had a toad drown on me in 3-4 inches of water, not even southern/texas toads.  As long as you provide a way out they will find it.   

I make this suggestion because Toads often like dry soil and will often advoid sopping wet sand/soil (which is what yours will probally be since the water runs under the entire tank).

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## Poly

It looks alright, but you difinatly need to give it more substrate, and more of an area to burrow. Also, I'd recommend going to your local pet store and 1. buying it a "Coco-hut" (it's a hallowed out coco-nut half shell that works great for a hiding place for them) 2. replacing the sand with coco-fibre/eco earth, as in that set-up with so much water & humidity, the sand will be stuck to the toad almost all the time.

You definitely need to add more rocks to the bottom, it's far to deep for that toad.

If I may offer you a suggestion;

The terrarium set-up you have now is okay, but for it to be 100% suitable for your toad, it will require many changes.

If you plan on keeping the toad, and you want it to be happy and healthy, I'd take the time (maximum if you have all the materials, 1 hour) and clean out the tank, remove all the aquarium gravel, glass stones, etc, add fresh substrate to the entire tank (no water section this time, just a water bowl), give it at least 4 hiding places, add some live plants (most vines such as ivy or creeping fig work well as ground cover, then some taller leafy plants can be purchased at most chain stores), and give it an appropriate sized water dish.

It's not that there's anything wrong with the water section you have, but toads arn't normally found by large flowing bodies of water, so this could be stressing it,  toads do not "swim" like a bullfrog or FBT would, they simply sit in water to absorb it through their skin (they also to prefer calm water), it's their way of "drinking", and a water section takes up a lot of space and I know you said it was a 3:1 ratio, but that water section looks to be close to 50% (if not more) of the tank, so a large water section, with flowing water, is not necessarily benifical/needed to/for the toad.

To completly re-arrange your aquarium/terrarium you'd be looking at less that 20$ (10$ for substarte, 4$ max for two coco-huts and 5$ for a water dish), and once done, the toad would then be in an enviroment closer to it's natural habitat. 

May I also ask, why did this toad need to be rescued? In most cases, they don't have to be rescued unless they are injured, if it's fine, again, why did it need rescuing? 

If you do not want to care for it, you can release it back into the wild now, and it will survive, but if you keep it, THEN decide to release it, it will die because it has become used to the temperate range of indoors, being fed, etc.

Just some suggestions,

~Royce  :Smile: 

P.S. If you do decide to rearrange it's terrarium, and plant live plants, make sure, before you plant them, throughly rinse off the entire plant, right down to it's bare roots so there are no pesticides/fertilizers left (if there were any on it, better be safe than sorry!) on the plant that could harm your toad.

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## frogmandan

he was lemping when i found him...bairly hoping at all  the vet said he should do fine and was most likly due to dehidration or a big fall of some sort 

 anyway i want to keep him i love frogs /toads and i will change the substrate in the cage and such
 then post pics of it then 

i asked the ?'s because i have never had this kind before so thanks for the help with this

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## Poly

Oh, well, congrats on the rescue!  :Smile:  Toads make great pets! 

As I spend quite a bit of time on this website, I try to answer new threads in the toad section, because as it stands, the only amphibian I know well right now, is the toad!  :Big Grin: 

~Royce

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## frogmandan

ok so first step of new encloser is complete i still need to get moss ,coco covering plus planst for it but this is a good start







this is a hide house for him its sturdy although i will be getting a few others

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## Poly

Nice work! That hide looks great!  :Smile: 

can't wait to see the finished product!  :Big Grin: 

~Royce

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## LazyEyedFroggie

That's an excellent start! The hide looks awesome, just as long as there aren't any really sharp edges  :Smile:  Keep us updated!!

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## frogmandan

i feel like he need a water sorce though 
 what choud i use for a water dish for the time being

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## Poly

A tupperware dish, 3 toads long x 3 toads wide x 1 toad deep, or of similar size. Just make sure it is not too deep. If you want him to feel more comfortable and use it, burry the dish so that the it is even with the soil line, to provide more of a natural "pool".

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frogmandan

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## LazyEyedFroggie

a shallow tupperware container, a waterproof tin cat dish, a partially buried plastic bowl, anything really, as long as it's non-abrasive and he's able to get in and out with ease  :Smile:  oh, and nothing metallic, unless it's fully rust proof!

^^ perfect dimensions, Royce!

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frogmandan

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## Poly

> a shallow tupperware container, a waterproof tin cat dish, a partially buried plastic bowl, anything really, as long as it's non-abrasive and he's able to get in and out with ease  oh, and nothing metallic, unless it's fully rust proof!
> 
> ^^ perfect dimensions, Royce!


Hehe... Thanks  :Wink:

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## frogmandan

thanks for the help you two i want him to be happy in his new home and with your help im shure he will be one of the happest toad ever

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## LazyEyedFroggie

No problem  :Smile:  and you're doing an excellent job! You should be proud of your accomplishments  :Smile:

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## Poly

> thanks for the help you two i want him to be happy in his new home and with your help im shure he will be one of the happest toad ever


Glad to help!  :Smile:  Haha, and that's exactly what we are aiming for "one of the happest toads ever"  :Big Grin: 

~Royce

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## Wormwood

Now that looks like a toad tank!  Good work mate.  A water dish, a few fake or real plants and you got your little guy a perfect home.

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## frogmandan

almost finished with it i need to find coco covering or moss or both









there he is  hiding in the ferns and yes there real ones too...

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## Gail

Now that's a toad abode!  Good job.

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## frogmandan

yah i think he will be happy in there i still need a few things though once i get the money to get them

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## Gail

Well ya can't give him everything right away or he won't appreicate it! ;o)

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## Poly

Looks great! A definite improvment!  :Smile:

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## frogmandan

thanks

 this is my first vivarium

 i ushualy use fake plants but i figured id give it a shot

 i guess misting the ferns will keep them alive  so i dont mess up the substrate?

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## LazyEyedFroggie

They should do alright with misting, although ferns need a fairly good amount of moisture. This is absolutely amazing for your first viv!!! Good work! He's going to be yet another spoiled toad  :Smile:

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## frogmandan

well i have to say im proud ofmyself with this emergency task that was laid infront of me and he will be happy digging and hidein and hoping all over the cage


 next is a name for the guy

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## Poly

Bruce, name him Bruce! It's a tough name! 

~Royce  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## frogmandan

bruce it is then  sounds macho

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## Poly

> bruce it is then  sounds macho


Yaay!  :Stick Out Tongue:  Yup, it does!

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## frogmandan

quick ? 

  could i use some spanish moss

 its local here and i will clean it realy good and stuff


it dose grow closer to the ground and on roots down here too

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## Poly

Go ahead and use it, remember, your toad in NOT Captive Bred, it is a wild animal, so it comes from an area where there are mites in moss, etc. so they will not bother it if they are in the moss.

~Royce  :Smile:

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## frogmandan

ok sounds good

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## frogmandan

ordered moss and coco covering today and should come soon i hope!?!?!?!?!?!

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## LazyEyedFroggie

Excellent  :Smile:  it should probably come in just a couple of days, depending

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