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Anonymous
So, /an/, fire-bellied toads.

My fish-keeping habit has gotten to the point where the fish I want now require tanks that I don't have room for, so I've switched to other avenues of animal-keeping. These guys seem to be exactly what I'm after(I'm not squeamish handling bugs, btw). Most sites say 2-3 toads in a 10 gallon tank, so that's what I'm planning.

Does anyone have experience with these guys? Also, any recommendations as to the habitat? I've got conflicting claims that a 1/3 land 2/3 water layout is better than an all land+water dish layout and vice versa. Also, heating. My room gets pretty cold in the winter(sometimes down to 50 degrees F/10 celsius), but a lot of sites say that no heating should be used.
>> Anonymous
They're fairly aquatic for toads and if you go with a water bowl it should be deep enough for them to swim, so you might as well just go with a paludarium unless you want to have 5 inches of substrate in your 10 gallon. Just make sure to do regular water changes as their toxins will build-up in the water even with a filter.

They're okay at 'room temperature' but 'room temperature' typically means 'from the low to mid 70's'. They should be kept at least around 73 degrees during the day so yeah, you're going to need either a heating pad or ceramic heater.
>> Anonymous
>>323547

OP again, with two more questions:

The local pet-store that stocks FBT sells "10-gallon equivalent" reptile tanks, but sells 10-gallon fish tanks with the same dimensions an aisle over for 2/3 the price. Is there any appreciative difference? They also have these out on the shelves, but the only problem I see with it is the lamp for head instead of pad:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752696


Lastly, of the two toads I saw in the store today, one had the typical green-black-orange colours, but the other was kinda bigger and had a brown back(with black bits and orange stomach). Would this just be stress discolouration, or is it a typical petstore species-mixup?
>> Anonymous
>>324087
I've never heard of 'equivalent' reptile tanks. Did it come with a screen top? Either way you might as well just go with the standard aquarium if its cheaper.

If you decide to go with a partial water setup instead of just a huge dish you'll want a lamp instead of a pad anyhow, just use a ceramic heat emitter or a nocturnal bulb. That being said you don't need a filter that big for a 10-gallon toad setup. You might as well just buy one of those little $10 filters that suction-cup on the inside of the tank. They don't produce quite that much waste and you'll need to do a lot of water changes anyway.

Pet stores occassionally mix species of Bombina but it sounds more like it was stress coloration. They also tend to go brown just before shedding or during a growth spurt.
>> Anonymous
>>324104

They might've had screens, I couldn't tell. They have a contiguous piece of cardboard wrapped around the top, bottom, and two sides, and a sticker on the front says "equivalent to ten gallons of water" or somesuch.
>> Anonymous
Well, being amphibians, you probably already know they shouldn't be handled. Fire Bellies are a poor man's dart frogs in my opinion, just as pretty to look at, and maybe a little less active.

As other anons said, change the water every week to keep the toxins from building up and killing the frogs(They're actually frogs, not toads)
>> Anonymous
Despite the fact that nearly all members of the family Bufonidae are referred to as 'toads', the use of the common terms 'frog' and 'toad', like 'whale' and 'dolphin' and 'crow' and 'raven', were assigned based on physical characteristics prior to and without consideration of any taxonomic basis so correcting people on their usage isn't just anal and obnoxious, it's technically incorrect.
>> Anonymous
Two last questions from the OP:

Using one of those red lamp bulbs or ceramic heat-emitting thingies, is regulating temperature just a matter of moving the lamp closer or farther away? Secondly, I saw a nice "reptitat" next to the glorified fish tanks, but it's only 5.5 gallons. I considered getting that and just getting two toads, but I'm worried about how much flow the filter from the turtle pack(linked above) would create; Maybe just carefully position the filter outflow? Also, I don't want the poor guys cramped in a too-small tank, but they don't seem to do too much moving around(and are kinda small).
>> Anonymous
This is why Oregon is awesome. I can just go catch (or buy if I'm a lazy nigger) anything and just keep it in my room, assuming I don't go on vacation and leave the heater off, but in that case i suppose I could just put an electric blanket under the tank on very low :3

This sounds like a good idea... i'll ask teh other people in mah house if they have a problem wit froggies. i'll need to do it soon if i want to catch a northwest choir frog though b/c they go away for the winter or something, idk... i only see them when it's warm.