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AmphibianTerrestrialEasy
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American Toad
Anaxyrus americanus
The iconic American Toad is a robust, cold-hardy amphibian perfectly suited for beginners. It features warty skin, requires loose soil for burrowing, and possesses a loud, musical trilling call.
Class:Amphibia
Order:Anura
Family:Bufonidae
Genus:Anaxyrus
Species:Anaxyrus americanus
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
50 - 70 %
Day temperature
20 - 25 °C
Night temperature
15 - 18 °C
Ambient temperature
20 - 25 °C
Minimum enclosure
>= 45 L
UVB
Low
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Widely distributed across eastern North America, from southern Canada to the central and eastern United States. It is a terrestrial species commonly found in gardens, deciduous forests, meadows, and agricultural areas.
Taxonomy and Genetics: Family Bufonidae. Formerly classified under the genus *Bufo*, it is now placed in *Anaxyrus*. It is a robust, hardy toad that is highly popular in the terrarium hobby.
Behavior and Habits: Mostly nocturnal, spending the daytime buried in loose soil, under leaf litter, or beneath logs. During spring evenings, males migrate to breeding pools and produce a loud, musical, high-pitched trill that can last up to 30 seconds.
Morphology: Stocky, warty body reaching 6-11 cm in length. Coloration varies from brown, grey, to reddish, with dark spots containing one or two warts. Features large, oval parotoid glands behind the eyes. Females are much larger than males.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: Requires a terrestrial terrarium of at least 60x45x30 cm. Provide a deep, loose substrate (such as coco-fiber and organic soil) to allow burrowing. Include a large, shallow water dish, cork bark hides, and hollow logs.
Lighting and Heating: Keep temperatures between 20-25°C during the day, dropping to 15-18°C at night. Avoid overheating above 28°C. In winter, they require a cool brumation period. Provide 5% UVB lighting.
Humidity and Hydration: Maintain moderate humidity (50-60%) with good ventilation. Keep the lower layers of the substrate moist, and mist the terrarium occasionally. Never use pure reverse osmosis water; dechlorinated tap water is preferred.
Feeding and Supplementation: Voracious insectivore. Feed a variety of insects, including crickets, earthworms, dubia roaches, and mealworms. Dust prey with calcium and vitamin D3 supplements twice a week.
Compatibility: Peaceful and gregarious. Can be kept in small groups of similar size. Avoid housing with smaller frogs or toads, as they will be eaten.
Health and Common Diseases: Possesses parotoid glands that secrete bufotoxins when stressed, which are toxic to domestic pets. Wash hands thoroughly after handling. Prone to skin infections if substrate is allowed to become waterlogged and dirty.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Widely distributed across eastern North America, from southern Canada to the central and eastern United States. It is a terrestrial species commonly found in gardens, deciduous forests, meadows, and agricultural areas.
Origin
Selective breeding and cultivarsNorth America
Amphibian profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 11.1 cm
- Lifestyle/Microhabitat
- No verified data available
- Activity cycle
- No verified data available
- Sociality
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Toxicity
- No verified data available
- Life stage
- No verified data available
- Handling tolerance
- No verified data available
- Brumation
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
The catalog's scalar value is 11.1 cm. The AmphiBIO v1 source reports a maximum adult measurement of 11.1 cm for this species, recorded as snout–vent length (SVL). These figures are not interchangeable: the first is the profile's editorial reference, whereas the second is a published maximum under a specific measurement convention; differences among sources can reflect sex, population, life stage and measuring method.
Image gallery
Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.
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