[SIZE=7]Hi! I am completely new here. I have no idea how this forum works, but I will figure it out!

The back ground and question is:
We recently (recently as in earlier today) found dozens of tiny, TINY toads in a planter in our back yard. We decided to keep a few and watch them grow into adulthood. This has raised many questions. The most pressing is; How in the world did they get where they were??!! They were found in a very small rose bush plant. There is no water in the area other than what gets caught in the bottom of the planter. It has also been VERY dry weather here until last week. So, we see no place that the tadpoles could have grown. Could they really live in the bottom of the planter??? It is only about 6 to 8 inches across, full span... can tad poles live in such little water?

I have already read what the web site author recommended for food. I will have to see if I can find a place to buy food for them. If I can't find food for them tomorrow, we will let them go. But I would LOVE to raise them! We had frogs before. Just not such tiny ones. Finding tiny food is going to be hard.

Now when I say tiny, I mean that you could EASILY fit 2 of these on the eraser of a pencil. Maybe even 3.

Anyway, even if I don't figure out how they came to be there, I am amazed by them and we already adore them!

Sandy

P.S. I originally posted on the aquariums list, then saw this one. Probably a better fit! Hey, I'm learning.... :rolleyes:

Those are tiny toads! American toads are usually a quarter inch or more when they change to adults. You may have a smaller species. They will only eat really tiny live foods which means wingless fruitflies, blackworms, pinhead crickets, baby mealworms (newborns, you can't buy those), etc. You can also collect tiny insects and worms from your yard as long as there's no chance of them having been exposed to pesticides, etc.

A pot of 8" across is highly unlikely to attract most adult toads to spawn. The tadpoles themselves are small enough to fit in there though, at least a few of them. Here are some possible scenerios of how the toads got there:

1. For some reason, toads did lay eggs in the tiny pot. Did it at some point contain more water?

2. Some animal drug some toad eggs (or tadpoles) from someplace else and deposited them into the planter where they hatched.

3. The toads hatched elsewhere and have hopped to the planter to drink water. This is the most likely scenerio. If there's not much food around, the toad may be slow growing and could actually be a few months old. There may be a water source nearby of which you are not aware from whence they hatched and ventured.

I know this is probably too late, but you can order flightless fruit flies from Big Apple Herp- Which is a pretty good place, it's always recommended to me. I just raised some tadpoles and their 'D. melanogaster Complete Fruit Fly Culture Kit' worked great, I just needed a few extra tubes to supplement the fly breeding time. It's also something that they only overnight. So it would get to you quickly. I would say call them to order it so they are sure to get it out same day- if you do order. And since they're soooo tiny, maybe just get one tube to see if they're not too big still

I'm having a hard time finding pictures that show their size...
http://www.openscience.it/droscarta.jpg
This is about the best I could do.

I really don't know why they're there- but I do know that Toads can lay in some amazingly shallow and scarce water.

...this is a totally uneducated guess, but can some toad species lay eggs in mosit soil? I know some frogs do some pretty crazy things. What part of the country are you in?

We are in Alabama... and it has been terribly hot and dry this year. I am surprised they are alive at all.
Thanks for the tip about the food. We are working on catching knats and such, but haven't had any luck yet. They will be going back outside if we don't find them food tomorrow. They seem to be pretty happy on the wet papertowel in the jar. :D .

Sandy G

Yes, I think there are toads that lay eggs on land in little water cases. Some tropical species even raise the tadpoles on their backs. Because they found dozens of tadpoles, they are probably not those types of toads. I'm not sure if any of those species live in the US. More research would be required and I'm already 30 minutes past my bedtime. Good night!