Today while I was looking at the cat adoptions section of our pet store, I noticed a little tank of frogs over in the corner. walking over I found one scaling his way to the absolute top of the large enclosure, working his way around the massive corner, struggling to get onto the roof, and starting all over again when he fell. Amused by his determination I plopped down to watch him, and after watching him for fifteen more minutes I managed to talk my mother into letting me take him home. ^-^ too my dismay when we /got/ home however, my father informed us he had recently thrown my old hermit crab’s home out, along with all the unused rock bedding we’d had for our fish when we were younger. needing to get him out of the carrier I found another plastic container of similar build, made the proper ajustments to ensure he could breathe, checked it for safety hazards, cleaned it thoroughly with ( non chlorine ) water, and found some smooth rocks, tested them for lime stone, boiled them in non chlorine water,, distributed them throughout the new enclosure, filled it with some room temperature bottled water, and released him into it. I caught one cricket for him outside from our garden ( no chemicals/pesticides etc. ), and bought a few more from the pet store as it was getting too dark to continue and I wanted to make sure he was well-fed for the night. We will be getting some vegetation and shelter from the pet store soon, but in the mean time all he has are the rocks. we live in the north carolina mountains and I’m worried he’ll get cold tonight,
is there any way to insulate his tank with some sort of lining outside or something while we wait, and are there ways I can also insulate a little shelter for him in the future with plants or something to provide him some warmth if he wants it?
Also if you know the area you’re catching your crickets from is free of chemicals, is it safe to catch the crickets yourself? and are plastic items safe to be placed in the enclosure and if so is there any way to steralize them just to be safe since boiling could melt them and or release chemicals?
and someone said a 10% bleach/90% water solution should be used for cleaning the enclosure and it’s rocks ever so often. but I know chemicals are very dangerous to them, so is this safe or should I stick to really hot non chlorine water and boiling rocks?….
any extra tips would be greatly appreciated as I want him to live a long time with the best comfort possible <3 , thankyou so much ^-^
is there any way to insulate his tank with some sort of lining outside or something while we wait, and are there ways I can also insulate a little shelter for him in the future with plants or something to provide him some warmth if he wants it?
Also if you know the area you’re catching your crickets from is free of chemicals, is it safe to catch the crickets yourself? and are plastic items safe to be placed in the enclosure and if so is there any way to steralize them just to be safe since boiling could melt them and or release chemicals?
and someone said a 10% bleach/90% water solution should be used for cleaning the enclosure and it’s rocks ever so often. but I know chemicals are very dangerous to them, so is this safe or should I stick to really hot non chlorine water and boiling rocks?….
any extra tips would be greatly appreciated as I want him to live a long time with the best comfort possible <3 , thankyou so much ^-^
I'm really worried he'll get cold tonight, or even tomorrow, so this is my most urgent concern right now, though if you can help with any of the others or have any advice please help there too,
By: Ayme
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2 Users Responded in " FIRE BELLY ( BELLIED ) TOAD ENCLOSURE QUESTIONS; PLEASE HELP? ( esp. with tank insulation tips TONIGHT! )? "
Fire Belly toads don’t like warm water. They like it cold so no worries. Your dear will be fine. They need to have land and water, too.
Here’s a care sheet if you would like to read aboute]Fire Belly toads don’t like warm water. They like it cold so no worries. Your dear will be fine. They need to have land and water, too.
Here’s a care sheet if you would like to read about them.
]
Standard house temps are normally fine for fire bellied toads. As long as he is inside he should be fine. If you’re extremely worried just put a desk lamp over it, not too close, but on one side of the new cage. You can put a piece of Styrofoam insulating under the cage as well to help it retain some of that heat. You do not want him to get too warm though.
Any plastic that is food safe should be safe for the toad, ie glad ware or Ziploc food containers and the like. Plastic with the number 5 on the bottom with PP under the recycle symbol is generally food safe, and should be find for your toad. Don’t worry so much about sterilizing as much as avoiding chemicals. I have not in 7 years bleached any of my reptile cages or decor. I wash it in hot tap water and dry it before returning it to the cage. The cages are emptied and sprayed down with water, wiped and refilled with new bedding. If I’d had an animal with a communicable disease I likely would have bleached, but so far I’ve had no problems.
I personally prefer to not catch food outside as you never know where it’s been. It’s also very hard to find in the winter.
As to caging. Fire belly toads do not have to have half land half water. They can easily be maintained in a damp tank with a large removable water bowl. It is easier to keep this water clean compared to the half cages. Especially since I prefer to change their water at least once a day, I always went to bowl route.
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