This care sheet is a rough draft at this point. I plan on adding pictures and more details later. Please let me know if there is something I forgot, or ask questions. I'll do my best to get it all into the final draft. Fire Bellied Toad Care Sheet Tank Size The rule of thumb for FBT tank sizes is, 10 gallons for the first toad, and another 4 or 5 gallons for each additional toad. Basic Set Up Fire Bellied Toads tend to prefer water, but also need some land to rest on. A set up with two thirds water to one third land is a good way to go. This can be achieved with tank dividers or a false bottom for the land area. Some people put substrate in a dish and place the dish in the water to create an island. The water can range from 2 to 6 inches. Fire Bellied Toads are not the best swimmers and it is a good idea to provide lots of places for them to rest in the water, such as large rocks or branches. Make sure your lid is secure! Fire Bellied Toads can and will climb up the glass. If your lid is not secure they WILL find a way to escape eventually. Your toad should have plenty of places to hide. You can buy hides at a pet store, or use plants and other natural items. These will be covered in the next section. Substrate and Decor Cocofiber substrates are ideal. Eco Earth is recomended, but brands like Bed-A-Beast can also be used. Avoid any subsrate with small rocks or other indigestible objects, such as most potting soils. Do not use small gravel in your toad cage. If it can fit into a toad's mouth, they can ingest it and become impacted. This will kill your toad. Larger stones and river rock can be used and make good resting spots or hiding places. Live plants are a very good addition to your tank. They will help clean the substrate to a point, and provide hiding places for your toad. Some hardy plants for beginners are Pothos, Heartleaf Philodendron, and Arrowhead Vine. Before putting a new plant into your toad cage, rinse it thoroughly with water and let it drip dry to remove chemicals. This can be repeated a few times if necessary. Remove any loose soil from the roots, then plant it in the substrate in your cage. The plants listed here tolerate low light, but you may have better results with a plant light. Light and Heat Ideal daytime temperatures range between 70° and 75°F. They should not reach temperatures above 85°. They can handle cooler temperatures, but avoid dropping the temperature below 60°. If your toads require extra heat, you can use a low wattage incandecent bulb durring the day. Remember, your toads need a sleep cycle too, so turn the light off every night. If your tank is warm enough, but you want a viewing light, use a fluorescent light. Feeding The main diet of FBTs is crickets. Small roaches are a good variation. Avoid using feeder insects with hard shells, such as mealworms. If fed in excess, hard shelled feeders will cause impactions, which could kill your toad. A good rule of thumb is that the feeder insects should be no longer than the space between your toads' eyes. This usually is about half an inch. For most cricket breeders, this equals 3 week sized crickets, or medium sized crickets from your pet store. Feed half a dozen crickets per toad every two or three days. If they do not eat all the food in that time, feed them a bit less next time. Protect your local reptile and amphibian population, and your local environment, from the dangers of introduced diseases, parasites, or invasive species. NEVER release a captive reptile or amphibian into the wild. That statement applies to any animal that's been in captivity, even if you just caught something and kept it for a few day. Even the smallest exposure to whatever your pets might carry could be carried back to the wild population that way. Reptiles are really good at hiding symptoms. You may think your pets are totally parasite and disease free, but they could be harboring something that's totally harmless to you and them, but devastating to other species. It is also illegal to release captive animals, in many areas this includes wild caught animals that have only been in your possession for a very short period of time.
