What Do Toads Eat?

-by Abhrajita Mondal

–Reading Time – 7 min Approx

–Edited by – Srishti Bhattacharyya

Are you wondering which animal we are talking about?

Toads are specific types of frogs, which have spotted and warty skin. Their legs are shorter and they crawl to move. You can clearly distinguish toads from frogs. Toads tend to lay a string of spawns and help to maintain the balance in the garden’s ecosystem. You do not need to use pesticides, as they eat pests. The most common types of toads are American, Fowler’s, and Cane. Toads are carnivorous creatures. And, they need to have a balanced life. The next question is what do toads eat? You will be amazed to know that wild toads eat a variety of foods.

They eat reptiles, insects, rodents, and amphibians. They mostly prefer living prey. Toads can eat anything and everything alive. It includes crickets, worms, spiders, mice, rats, locusts, and other smaller toads and frogs. They eat a variety of foods in their lifetime as their diet changes as they grow from tadpoles to young ones. There are several varieties of toads and their diet differs according to that. There are Cane toads, American toads, Common toads, and there are Natterjacks. Let us now talk about what do toads eat.

Guide To What Do Toads Eat from Birth:

Tadpoles are the immature form of frogs. They hatch after about ten days on average. After that, they gradually change into baby toads over two to three months. This is the first stage of life when they are not carnivores. Tadpoles are aquatic and eat plants that are available in their habitat. Moreover, they do not have lungs. They are equipped to exchange gases in a watery environment through gills. After they hatch from their eggs, they feed on their own egg yolk. After that, they start feeding on algae and aquatic plants. However, there are exceptions here as well. Few tadpoles may be cannibals. They feed on other tadpoles.

So, what do baby toads eat? In the next stage of life, tadpoles lose their tails and develop legs. They start feeding on smaller insects. However, at this point, they are still unable to chew their food. You will find them feeding on grain moths, small earthworms, or mealworms daily. Juvenile toads swallow their food whole. Thus, they might choke if their prey is too large. Their appetite grows along with them.

Adult toads are not too choosy either. They will feed on everything that they lay their tongues on. Toads eat anything that they can swallow. They tend to eat beneficial and harmful insects. Have you wondered, ‘what do toads eat in the wild’? Well, they eat according to their size. Larger ones have a bigger appetite. Adult toads eat bugs, centipedes, worms, mealworms, grasshoppers, and snails. They have more food options than younger ones. Therefore, their risk of choking is less.

You might ask ‘what do cane toads eat’? Well, cane toads mostly eat insects. However, they will consume anything that fits inside their mouth, including spiders, snails, other cane toads, small frogs, reptiles, and small mammals. Unlike frogs, toads also eat rubbish like cigarette butts and animal feces. They are opportunistic feeders. You will find them in a vast range of habitats like rainforests, sand dunes, mangroves, open clearings, woodland, grassland, and urban areas. Toads are nocturnal creatures and they mostly feed at night. How often they feed depends on weather conditions. During winters their metabolism decreasing along with their desire to eat.

Where Do Toads Live?

Toads spend more time on land than frogs. They stay in one area all summer. By mid-October, toads move to dry banks, holes inhabited by other small animals, compost heaps, and logwood. They hide under all sorts of bushy and marshy places during the winter. You will find common toads creating a burrow. They return to their burrow after catching their prey. Common toads do not love water. They hibernate during the winter. Common toads are spotted in the daytime.

Toads are found on every continent. You will find numerous toads in the USA. The only place, where you will not find them is in Antarctica. They are most common in tropical places. Many gardeners love toads in their garden. Toads in the garden are beneficial as they reduce pests by devouring them. Now, you know, ‘where do toads live’? Some of you may now be wondering, how they breed.

In the springtime, the males come out of their winter hibernation and make their way to the breeding ponds. Toads get really wild around this time. No obstacle can stop them from reaching the breeding site. Some of the females carry their mates along with them to the breeding pond. The males hop onto the backs of the females as quickly as they can. If there is a shortage of females, one male is swamped by multiple males. It can lead to a situation called ‘toad hall’. The female often drowns in the melee. Toad eggs are laid in a string form. A string of over 7 m can contain about 4,000 eggs. The jelly-like substance covering the eggs disintegrates after fourteen days. And, the tadpoles swim free. They stay in the pond for around eighty-five days.

What Do Toads Drink?

Toads are amphibians. So, you might think, that they are always gulping down water. However, it doesn’t work like that. Toads love water but they don’t drink it. Instead, they soak it into their bodies through the skin on their bellies. Now, isn’t that interesting? If you have a pet toad, ensure to change the water bowl every week. You would not want your pet toad to fall sick. The water bowl should be deep. However, you have to ensure that they can come out safely without help, too. You should also ensure to keep your toad hydrated. Try misting inside their enclosure.

A clean water source is what toads love. Toads lay their eggs in shallow ponds, and without water, they can’t produce eggs. You can build a small water garden which is a foot or deeper. They should be able to submerge their bellies. However, they are susceptible to environmental toxins. Their skin absorbs fertilizers and pesticides. Try to keep them away from such chemicals. Your toad will live long and will be a happy one.

What Can’t Toads Eat?

Sometimes, toad-keepers tend to make mistakes. There are three very common mistakes that they make. They are feeding wild, large insects, dead prey, which is wrong. Wild insects are not healthy and can cause parasitic infections. If any such thing happens you need to take the toad to a vet. However, you can bypass this issue, by feeding your toad only store-bought food. There are other mistakes that most keepers make. They tend to underfeed or overfeed the toads. If a toad becomes obese, its lifespan decreases.

So, let us find out, ‘what can’t toads eat’? Few foods are not suitable for them. The list includes rice, bread, stored meat, salt, sugar, pesticides, and expired food. Toads are carnivores and they feed on living prey. Feeding them dead prey is injurious to their health. They might eat fruits and vegetables too. However, the experience may not be specifically nice. Furthermore, you should not feed expired supplements to toads. These can affect their gut health.

We have talked about what toads eat, how they breed, and where they live. But there is more to know about them. What preys on toads? Yes, like other animals in the ecosystem, toads too have predators. Some animals and birds love to feed on toads. Have you seen those carnivorous water rats, scouring for prey at night? Well, they can rip off the heart of a cane toad in a matter of a few seconds. The liver is also not spared. The rats do this to avoid the poison glands at the back of the head. Cane toads produce bufotoxins and bufogenins.

Estuarine crocodiles also love to feast on cane toads. However, freshwater crocodiles die from ingesting toad toxins. A lot of spiders feast on toads. They are surprisingly not affected by the poison. The Keelback snake is another predator, which has evolved alongside toads. Crows and kookaburras also feed on all types of toads. They know how to flip them, and eat the hearts and liver. However, if they eat the entire toad, they die soon after. The clever otter nearly skins the toads before eating. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the poor creature.

The humble common toad or Bufo Bufo is a topic of discussion for most science students. Till a few years back, they were an object of sacrifice for students studying the biological sciences. Now it is not that rampant. Save the toad for they lent some love to the garden. You might just reduce the maintenance costs.

-by Abhrajita Mondal

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