This image is Copyright 1994 Mike Russel (mgr@aggroup.aggroup.com):
Permission is granted to distribute this image provided that this
notice is included.

The toad pictures are of California Toads, a sub species of American
Toads, captured in late July 1993 at age approx 1 week near Lake
Berryessa. This is a resort area about an hour north of the California
bay area.

The toads in the picture are 8 months old, with weight varying from 50
to 90 grams. Full size should be 125 to 200 grams. They were fed on
commercially purchased crickets.

They were first raised in a small (2 gallon) indoor terrarium
containing soil and house plants. Clean water was provided daily in a
small pot containing a rock - when small the toads can drown easily,
not to mention the crickets. After a month they were moved to a larger
(10 gallon) terrarium. At age 7 months they were moved to an outdoor,
2 by 3 foot enclosure with a wire mesh top.

I have raised and released many native amphibians, including Pacific
Coast Treefrogs and toads. I keep the animals until full grown, but
kept one batch for an extra two years to avoid releasing them during
the drought. I hope to raise my next batch of toads from eggs.

It is unusual, and normally unadvisable, to use soil in a herp cage.
For toads, burrowing behavior is very important and for this reason I
recomment some sort of material that they can dig into. Sand is
probably not suitable. For native species, local soil is probably the
best medium. Watch for growth spurts when the toads can become
ravenous and eat 2 or 3 times the normal amount.