Keeping Marine Toads and Green Toads

Marine Toads and Green Toads make striking terrarium pets but for entirely different reasons – the former for its size and the latter for its intricately patterned appearance. Both are members of the true toads (the Bufonidae) and relatives of Britain’s own two native species the Common Toad (Bufo bufo) and the endangered Natterjack Toad (Bufo calamita).

Marine Toads

One of the largest of all frogs and toads in the world, the Marine or Cane Toad (Bufo marinus) originally came from the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Central America, but has been introduced into a number of other regions of the world. Their arrival in “foreign” lands has not always worked out well – introducing them into Australia in the 1930s supposedly to control pests has ended up with them multiplying so quickly and harming indigenous wildlife to such an extent that they are themselves now classed as a pest.

Despite their tarnished reputations as artificial introductions, these massive, brown toads – females can approach 10 inches (25cm) long – make good pets, being surprisingly intelligent and each one seeming to have something of its own personality.

If you do decide to keep these magnificent giants, it’s important to realise that one of the reasons they have proved so damaging to Australian native fauna is the potent toxin they naturally produce. Like other amphibian species, it’s a defensive poison, intended to stop anything making a meal of them, but it is very strong and is produced in large quantities if the animal feels threatened. Never handle Marine Toads bare handed if you have any cuts or scratches – and be sure to wash your hands thoroughly whenever you do touch them.

Housing Marine Toads

Anyone intending to keep these big chaps is going to have to provide them with a suitably spacious terrarium! A tank 24 x 18 x 18 inches (60x45x45cm) or more will accommodate a single adult – and if you want to keep more, you’ll obviously need something bigger.

The tank itself will need a floor of bark chips or deep sphagnum, coupled with some logs or cork bark to provide them with hiding places and a water bowl large enough to let your pets get in, but no deeper than the animal’s height.

Marine Toads call for a temperature of around 26 degrees C (79F) in their tank during the day, with a night-time drop to 22C (72F).

Green Toads

There are two types of Green Toad often sold as pets – the European Bufo viridis and the American Bufo debilis – but fortunately both of these 2 or 3 inch (5-7.5cm) long animals require fairly similar care.

Despite their small size, these toads are quite active and require a proportionally large terrarium; a tank measuring 2ft x 1ft x 1ft (60x30x30cm) being about right for a pair. The same sort of general furnishings and set-up as needed for Marine Toads will do for these animals, although if their tank is kept in a warm room, they will not require any additional heating.

Food and Feeding

Providing both kinds of toads with a suitably mixed diet is an important part of keeping them healthy – so any appropriately sized live food can be offered, including the usual standbys and any wild-caught insects, grubs and worms you can find. The young will take small crickets and mealworms, while adult Green Toads will eat larger crickets and mealworms, along with earthworms, insects and their larvae, slugs and woodlice. In addition, locusts and “pinkie” mice can also be useful items to boost the diet of adult Marine Toads.

Both varieties of toad are impressive in their own way, and whichever appeals, you’ll find yourself with an inquisitive and intelligent pet – well, at least for an amphibian!