I have decided to begin the process of very casually sneaking a small amphibous friend into my apartment situation - this will not be a spur of the moment decision, and I am going to let the project progress slowly
This is a 78quart bin, with 6 inches or so of a topcoil/coir/sand mix, and several high humidity, low light plants - if I change my mind on adding a friend, it can stay as a humid plant bin easy peasy
It has a large (8 inch) water bowl and several planter hides.
Looking at frog or toad species that basically like to be adorable pet rocks that dig, eat, and zen.
Thinking a young pac-man frog, or young tomato frog. I would consider a young American toad as well, but few are available CBB right now.
I still need to add:
leaf litter
clean up crew
heat mat attached to an outer side
I am looking for:
specific species recommendations (small, mostly quiet, fed on earthworms, crickets, etc)
specific additions to the enclosure that would benefit a species like described above
I will probably be rearranging this tub a bit. But I wanted her to have some room to hop around. I may add some leaves and a few more things here and there. I’m hoping the remnant of the pothos plant takes hold!
I will give you the name of her breeder/seller by DM if you wish. He has more I believe……
I wish CBB Gulf-Coast toads were readily available
I have my chonky dude Forg that I raised as a fresh from water toadlet (WC rescue) and I absolutely love his personality. Despite being wild-hatched he is super comfortable with people and he eats like a monster, absolutely loving earthworms and dubia nymphs with the occasional waxworm snack.
Surprisingly he loves to climb more than he does staying on the ground and I often find him at the higher points of his enclosure at night after misting. He does croak but its not super obnoxious, rather its endearing.
Edit: I will say that if you get a female of any species that will get heavier bodied, or just end up with a larger male, they might flatten down delicate-leafed plants. I only use Pothos with my toad since they grow more sturdy.
I feed him alternating Nightcrawler Earthworms and dubias 3x a week (if he isn’t burrowed), but he usually lets me know when he’s ready to eat. He has a spot he sits at and presumably waits for food so I take him out to feed. When he was a toadlet he got Red Wigglers and fruit flies for 5 days out of the week.
I lightly mist 2x a day, he has his water spot that basically looks just like the ones in the photos already shared. Its just a large plastic shipping cup I repurposed and filled with river pebbles.
I keep his enclosure around 80°F at its warmest spot but he usually hangs around the cooler areas anyway. Again my little guy strangely loves to climb and is very good at it I gave him some spare driftwood pieces left over from my Mourning Gecko terrarium build, I have no clue if thats just a special case or that GC Toads just like to climb
He does go periods where he will bury himself and not come out for a while, assuming thats his brumation period and the longest stretch I’ve seen him go is 4 months.
His stomach is bigger than his eyes and he thinks anything that moves is food. I love feeding him because of how he pinpoints his meals before eating, it just looks so funny.
There are lots of wild eastern toads in my area that I could adopt into my care, but I would feel badly if that experience would stress them, even if the living conditions are safer and ‘better’ than in the wild
So I think I should probably stick with CBB if possible? I do love catching toads but maybe it should stay catch and release - what are your thoughts?
So I for one would not take an animal out of the wild, its original habitat, as I don’t think it would be fair to the animal.
Another downside is that a wild animal may be carrying internal/external parasites that imho should be treated by a vet if it’s going to be kept in captivity as a pet. Gravid Females should not be extracted from the wild either….
My situation with Forg (at least I felt at the time) was under special circumstances. A bit before I found him and took him under my care our landlord had come out to spray poison over anthills.
I found Forg by himself near an anthill and wasn’t entirely sure if he was going to make it. He was very tiny, still had a tail, and knowing amphibians have very sensitive and absorbing skin I assumed he had already been poisoned so I went ahead and took him in so nothing else could eat him and subsequently poison themselves. I monitored him for a while expecting him to pass but he showed no signs of illness.
I admittedly should have released him once I knew he was ok but I stupidly got attached and kept him… thankfully pathogen tests exist for amphibians. I still look out for CBB GC toads occasionally since they are so wonderful and relatively easy to keep but no luck so far.
You all know you’re killing me, right? How could anyone not be charmed here? I am totally charmed. Know what happens when I’m charmed by a creature? I want one!!
Hence why I am setting up a secret bin to hide a little friend! I can’t resist! And with the main meal being earthworms or mealworms, how easy to feed too.
I know my apartment complex has multiple secret cats in it (I ain’t no snitch!), and my secret frog or toad has way less capacity for damage, and way more awwwww factor (in my opinion)
Ah yes sweet Claire child! We are a duo!
I gave him some spare driftwood pieces left over from my Mourning Gecko terrarium build, I have no clue if thats just a special case or that GC Toads just like to climb 
