Common Toad
Bufo bufo
The classic European common toad. Rugged, terrestrial, and incredibly long-lived. A staple of folklore, requiring cool vivariums and dark hiding spots.
Umgebung
Terrestrisch
Luftfeuchtigkeit
50 - 70 %
Tagestemperatur
18 - 24 °C
Nachttemperatur
12 - 16 °C
Umgebungstemperatur
18 - 24 °C
Mindestgehäuse
>= 80 L
UVB
Ferguson 1
UVI
0 - 0,7 UVI
Artbeschreibung
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Widespread across most of Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. Inhabits woodlands, gardens, agricultural fields, and damp rural areas, returning to ponds and lakes mainly during the spring breeding season.
Taxonomy and Genetics: Robust amphibian with heavily warty brown or grayish skin. Features large, prominent parotoid glands behind the eyes and copper-colored eyes with horizontal pupils. Females can exceed 15 cm in length and weigh over 500g.
Behavior and Habits: Strictly terrestrial, nocturnal, and slow-moving (walks rather than hops). Spends the day hidden under logs, stones, or buried in damp leaf litter. Hibernates underground during the winter.
Morphology: Females are significantly larger and heavier than males. During the breeding season, males develop thicker forelimbs and dark nuptial pads on their inner three fingers.
Pflege, Zucht und Mitbewohner
Terrarium Setup: Requires a spacious terrestrial enclosure (minimum 100x50x40 cm for large adults). Use a deep substrate of soil, peat moss, and leaf litter to allow burrowing. Provide cork bark hides, dark caves, and a shallow water dish that is easy to enter and exit.
Lighting and Heating: Cool temperate climate. Optimal daytime temperatures are 18-22°C; avoid exceeding 25°C, which causes severe heat stress. A winter brumation at 5-10°C is highly recommended for health and reproductive cycling. Keep lighting low.
Humidity and Hydration: Moderate humidity (60-70%), maintained with evening misting. The substrate should be damp but never soggy. Always provide clean, dechlorinated water in the bowl, as toads absorb moisture through their skin.
Feeding and Supplementation: Highly voracious insectivore. Feeds on earthworms, crickets, roaches, snails, and other invertebrates. Dust food items with calcium and multivitamin supplements (containing Vitamin D3) 2-3 times a week.
Compatibility: Peaceful and gregarious with conspecifics if space is sufficient. Do not cohabitate with smaller amphibians or reptiles, as they will be eaten. Avoid mixing with other species due to toxic skin secretions.
Health and Common Diseases: Extremely hardy and long-lived (often exceeding 20-30 years in captivity). Susceptible to heat stroke, bacterial skin infections (Red Leg) from stagnant water, and respiratory issues. Avoid handling with bare hands.
Geografische Herkunft und Verbreitung
Widespread across most of Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. Inhabits woodlands, gardens, agricultural fields, and damp rural areas, returning to ponds and lakes mainly during the spring breeding season.
Ursprung
Kosmopolitisch oder eingeführtAfrika und MadagaskarEuropa, Mittelmeerraum und Westasien
Amphibienprofil
- Diät
- Insectivore
- The common toad is an indiscriminate predator that will consume almost any terrestrial invertebrate it can fit into its mouth. Its diet heavily features slugs, earthworms, woodlice, beetles, and caterpillars, making it a highly beneficial ally for gardeners. In a captive environment, they happily accept crickets, locusts, earthworms, and occasional mealworms as part of a varied diet.
- Lebenserwartung
- 10-40 years
- Erwachsenengröße
- 15 cm
- Lebensstil/Mikrohabitat
- Terrestrial
- Highly terrestrial, they only return to water to breed in the early spring. They prefer damp, shaded terrestrial habitats with plenty of leaf litter and logs to hide under.
- Aktivitätszyklus
- Crepuscular
- Common Toads are primarily crepuscular and nocturnal. They are slow, deliberate walkers that spend the twilight hours hunting for beetles, slugs, and worms.
- Sozialität
- Solitary
- They are predominantly nocturnal and heavily terrestrial, spending the day resting in shallow dugouts under stones, logs, or leaf litter. Unlike frogs, common toads do not leap; instead, they walk with a slow, clumsy, crawling motion. When confronted by a predator, they inflate their bodies with air and stand tall on stiff legs to appear much larger and more intimidating.
- Reproduktion
- Oviparous
- Every spring, common toads undertake a massive, instinctual migration back to the exact pond where they were born. Males often intercept females along the route, clinging to their backs in an embrace called amplexus. The female eventually lays long, double strings of black eggs wrapped around aquatic vegetation, which can contain thousands of individual embryos.
- Toxizität
- Toxic
- Common toads possess prominent parotoid glands behind their eyes that secrete bufagin, a potent defensive toxin. This milky substance is foul-tasting and irritating, deterring most predators like dogs and foxes from biting them. While not dangerous to human skin, handling should be followed by handwashing to avoid transferring the irritant to the eyes or mouth.
- Lebensphase
- Metamorphosis
- Toad eggs hatch into small, black tadpoles that often shoal together in shallow, warm water to deter predators and speed up development. Over a few months, they develop legs and absorb their tails before emerging en masse as tiny, perfectly formed toadlets. These terrestrial juveniles disperse into the surrounding habitat and take several years to reach breeding maturity.
- Handhabungstoleranz
- With caution
- While calm, they should not be handled casually. When threatened, they secrete bufotoxin from their large parotoid glands behind the head, which is highly irritating to mucous membranes.
- Brumation
- They undergo an extensive winter hibernation period, digging deep into loose soil or taking over abandoned burrows to survive freezing European temperatures.
- Häutung
- Regular
- Shedding happens on land. The toad humps its back and uses its limbs to pull the dead skin forward, ultimately eating it. Access to a shallow water dish assists this process.
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