# Frogs & Toads > Other Frogs & Toads >  Bumblebee toad or fire belly toad?

## missmissy

I am new to the whole frog ownership, and called my local petshop and they carry these two types of frogs. What is a better choice? I have a two year old that has just become facinated with frogs, she wont touch them she just likes to wach them so i thought it would be nice to get one for our living room for her to watch. However which one is easier to care for, or safer?

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## clownonfire

> I am new to the whole frog ownership, and called my local petshop and they carry these two types of frogs. What is a better choice? I have a two year old that has just become facinated with frogs, she wont touch them she just likes to wach them so i thought it would be nice to get one for our living room for her to watch. However which one is easier to care for, or safer?


First off, welcome to the forum! As for which one would be a better choice... I have both bumblebee walking toad and fire-bellied toad. And I find both are just wonderful. 

Quite frankly, if it is to share frog moments with your daughter, the fire-bellied toads might be the better choice. They are bold, very active during daytime, and their bright colors make them really stand-out. You should know though that they do secrete toxins and you have to be careful if you touch them, and when you change their water (they need an enclosure that is 2/3 water and 1/3 land). The toxin is enough to give you stomach ache.

Here's a link to the FBT's care sheet: http://www.frogforum.net/toad-care-a...relatives.html

As for bumblebee toads, they are less active, although diurnal, but they are not shy. They are far from being as bold and active as the FBT. Their striking colors and small size make them a wonderful frog to own. These toads will eat small insects such as pinhead crickets and fruit flies. That should be taken in consideration (I often suggest that if you decide to feed fruit flies to your frogs, you should culture them - unless you have a place that sells them close to you). In the wild, the BBWT also secrete poisonous toxins, but lose their toxicity in captivity. 
Here's a link to the Bumblebee Walking Toad's care sheet: http://www.frogforum.net/toad-care-a...-breeding.html

If you have any question about either, please don't hesitate. I love them both. I am though very fond of my bumblebee toad.

Eric

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## bshmerlie

All frogs secrete something that we shouldn't put in our mouthes and we should always wash our hands before and after we touch them.  The firebelly toads would be my first choice when it comes to small children.  Young kids get bored real quick especially when something doesn't move.  Get a couple of firebellies and they will provide hours of entertainment.  My daughter was four when we started off with firebellies.

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## fruitloop

I'm new here as well and just got some FBT. I love them but they are still transitioning and not overly active yet. They still hide quite a bit in the water along my rocks. I think they refer to FBT as a good starter frog, they're fairly easy to care for.

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## Socrates

> All frogs secrete something that we shouldn't put in our mouthes and we should always wash our hands before and after we touch them.  The firebelly toads would be my first choice when it comes to small children.  Young kids get bored real quick especially when something doesn't move.  Get a couple of firebellies and they will provide hours of entertainment.  My daughter was four when we started off with firebellies.



Wait so we are not suppose to lick toads?  haha :Big Grin:

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## fruitloop

> Wait so we are not suppose to lick toads? haha


Ha ha ha ha...too funny! Damn it... and here I thought I was buying some cheap drugs that replenish themselves...aren't you suppose to get some cool hallucinations from licking toads? ...lol  :Wink:

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## Bumbleluv

I just purchased 2 Bumble Bee Walking Toads and received conflicting info on care. First, do they require an undertank heater or is room temp ok? Second, I'm providing UVB light but was told not really necessary (I was told to put tank by window but I don't think you can get UVB light through glass). I mist the tank twice a day to keep humidity between 60 -80.  Help, I want to make sure I'm providing proper care. They are so cute.

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## milky85

> I just purchased 2 Bumble Bee Walking Toads and received conflicting info on care. First, do they require an undertank heater or is room temp ok? Second, I'm providing UVB light but was told not really necessary (I was told to put tank by window but I don't think you can get UVB light through glass). I mist the tank twice a day to keep humidity between 60 -80.  Help, I want to make sure I'm providing proper care. They are so cute.


sorry i can't help with all your questions but, having a uvb light is ok, even if they may not require it, it can only help. firstly in the wild they would naturally be exposed to it and it can only help to synthesis vitamin d3.

And you are right uvb can not penetrate glass, plus it is also very dangerous for the frogs and it can seriously heat up the tank and even kill your toads.

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## Christine

There is a wonderful care sheet for these toads on this site. I have 2 of these yellow spotted walking toads and they are awesome.

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## df92484

I'm a new member to this forum, but I've kept a group of five bumble bee toads at room temperature under a standard florescent light. They are hardy, as long as you don't experience an extreme range of temperatures in your home they should do fine without any special heat source. These toads don't require UVB light, and I don't think it is proven whether or not UVB improves health or life in captivity.

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## Bumbleluv

df92484 - I am having a problem finding small food.  I have 2 toads but they don't eat a lot.  I bought a jar of flightless fruitflies but it produced so many, so fast my toads wasn't eating them fast enough and I noticed they developed wings so I couldn't use them. I can't find pinhead crickets and small crickets are too big for them (they back away from the small crickets).  Do you have other feeding suggestions?

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## df92484

If you only have a few toads, a fruit fly colony will always outproduce what your animals can eat. I cull my fly cultures by feeding the fruit flies to my fish (tetras love them). My suggestion would be to purchase some supplies to create your own cultures from a specialty dealer, I like Joshsfrogs.com. In my experience fruit flies are the most successful food item for bumblebee toads, and they are easily reproduced. If your culture begins to grow mold, or if your flies grow wings you may have to start a new culture with fresh flies.

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## Poly

Most fruit fly cultures (and medium) come with mold inhibitors, so that shouldn't be an issue.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> sorry i can't help with all your questions but, having a uvb light is ok, even if they may not require it, it can only help. firstly in the wild they would naturally be exposed to it and it can only help to synthesis vitamin d3.
> 
> And you are right uvb can not penetrate glass, plus it is also very dangerous for the frogs and it can seriously heat up the tank and even kill your toads.


Don't forget it can also cause damage to their eyes. Especially bright UVB lights.

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## badkelpie

> df92484 - I am having a problem finding small food.  I have 2 toads but they don't eat a lot.  I bought a jar of flightless fruitflies but it produced so many, so fast my toads wasn't eating them fast enough and I noticed they developed wings so I couldn't use them. I can't find pinhead crickets and small crickets are too big for them (they back away from the small crickets).  Do you have other feeding suggestions?


if you go to Welcome to Gulf Coast Crickets -, you can buy 1000 baby lateralis roaches for $10 (plus $10 for shipping). They are the size of pinheads.  I've had mine for about a month, and still have many that are itty bitty.  The biggest ones are probably 1/4 inch, or slightly bigger.  I'm waiting for them to get big enough for my fire bellies

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