I pulled about 70 tadpoles from a very prolific pond. They ended up being toads. Most all have now become toads and eating pinheads regularly. I was concerned about the smaller ones being pushed out by the larger ones so I started feeding lots of fruit flies. I figured that the smaller flie and many of them would be beneficial for the smallest and most timid of the new toads. I thought it was working, Now about 2 weeks later i have many smallest toads dying each day. They dont look like there starving, in fact they look to be pretty plump. I checked and replace water regularly and am on well water.
Any Ideas? HELP email me at heepfan@aol.com

How many toads do you have? How big is the tank? How deep is the water? What is the setup like? Is there filtration? How often do you change the water? As adults, toads should have a mostly terrestrial setup with some shallow water to drink. For a few weeks, the little toads may spend some time in the water but after that, they rarely need it.

Have you tested the well and tank water for pH, hardness, ammonia, and nitrite?

I suggest releasing the remaining toads near where they were found as tadpoles. A pair of adult toads needs at least a 40 gallon tank to thrive. If you have 70 of them, I doubt your tank will be large enough in the future and perhaps not now.

The younger toads may appear fat but they could also have bloat (gas). If they are in fact not starving, then they might be suffering from a nutritional defiency, improper lighting (do you have lights) or heat, fungal diseases (not always obvious), or other problems. Just pinheads and fruitflies may not be enough for their nutrition. The bugs should at least should be coated in reptile vitamins a few times a week. As the toads get larger, you can try other live foods like mealworms, waxworms, earthworms, blackworms, etc. Variety is one of the keys to healthy eating.

Now only 50 or so if that

20 gallon

About 5 inches

1/2 water and 1/2 gravely land lots of plants in the water and some on land

Under gravel filter in the water with power head

As often as needed. I check it regularly

The only issue I have is hardness. Extreemly hard water

I have no plans on keeping them past mabey 3/4 of an inch and do plan on releasing them at our 20 acre property with stream and ponds. right now the smaller ones are barly 1 to 1 1/2 centimeters and the larger ones are 2 centimeters and very healthy looking and act very healthy

That sounds like what is happening.

Lots of light, heat lamp and natural light

They were doing just fine on pinheads only. the issue started soon after feeding fruitflies. It is my understanding that crickets are as close to a total nutrition as can be.

The older toads that got to a certain size befor i started feeding flies are doing fine and still growing. So I honestly dont think its something wrong with my tank set up or water. It seems to be the smaller ones that are having issues. I am going to stop feeding flies and feed lots of pinheads and some other stuff now.
I have several tanks with similar setups with local salamanders and bull froggs and other toads and no other tank is having issues. I also put several toads in another new tank and was only feeding fruit flies and had one small toad die there.
Is it possible thatthe fruit flies are causing the bloat.

Thank you very much for the info. Albert



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I don't know enough about the intricacies of fruit flies, toads, and nutrition to tell you if they're causing a problem. If you suspect them, stop feeding those and see if things get better.

Are the baby toads using the land area, or are they in that water? Five inches is a bit deep for baby toads once they're no longer tadpoles. Are there still some tadpoles? Once they're all in the adult form, I suggest reducing the water area and providing more land.

I hope the remaining toads do well!