Two new Fire Bellied toads - Already engaged in an amplexus

[Manion]

I bought two Fire Bellied Toads from my local Petco store today, and the tank that they were in was rather cold. They only had a small water dish, and one of the toads looked underweight. The tank I have them in now is warm, and it is quite humid. I put them in the tank, gave them some meal-worms, and left for five minutes. When I get back they're already engaged in an amplexus. I didn't want to post anything since I didn't have a camera with me, but they were at it again tonight. The first time there was no release call. The second time, there was one for about ten seconds. They remained latched together for about eight minutes. I'm guessing it was a surprised female, since there was no call the first time. And now, pictures!

I originally had tadpoles in this tank, but I moved them because of the FBT's poisonous secretions.

 

[Joost]

Looking good, they're not underweight at all. You can leave tadpoles in the same tank with the parents, they aren't that sensitive to the secretions, although you should move them before morphing, or they could be eaten by the adults.

 

[Azhael]

I don´t think he meant the tadpoles were of B.orientalis.
If they were wild tadpoles you really should have cleaned and sterilized the tank...you have taken a very unnecessary risk.
Mealworms are a very poor food item, i know they are handy, but nutritionally they are rubbish, plus they are hard to digest and can cause impaction. Try earthworms, crickets, waxworms, isopods, roaches...

 

[Manion]

If they were wild tadpoles you really should have cleaned and sterilized the tank...you have taken a very unnecessary risk.

None of the tadpoles are wild. I had two bullfrog tadpoles, and one green frog tadpole. All of them were captive bred. I replaced about 25% of the water, and did a bit of scrubbing.

Mealworms are a very poor food item, i know they are handy, but nutritionally they are rubbish, plus they are hard to digest and can cause impaction. Try earthworms, crickets, waxworms, isopods, roaches...

I did have crickets recently, but I ran out about two days ago. The pet stores here only sell crickets, and the bait stores sell giant earthworms. I'll have to look into finding stores that stock waxworms.

 

[Azhael]

The giant earthworms will work well, just cut them up. Mine LOVE earthworms and they are the perfect food. If you supplement a worm-based diet with crickets, waxworms and other invertebrates, your toads will be perfectly well fed.