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AmphibianTerrestrialEasy
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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.
Class:Amphibia
Order:Anura
Family:Bufonidae
Genus:Bufo
Species:Bufo bufo
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
50 - 70 %
Day temperature
18 - 24 °C
Night temperature
12 - 16 °C
Ambient temperature
18 - 24 °C
Minimum enclosure
>= 80 L
UVB
None
Species description
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.
Care, breeding and tankmates
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.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
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.
Origin
Cosmopolitan or introducedAfrica and MadagascarEurope, Mediterranean, and West Asia
Amphibian profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 15 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 15 cm. The AmphiBIO v1 source reports a maximum adult measurement of 15 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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