Fire-Bellied Toad – Fun Facts

  

FUN FACTS ABOUT FIRE-BELLIED TOADS:

Fire-bellied toad eggs hatch in about seven days, and tadpoles metamorphose within 45 days of hatching.

In the wild a fire-bellied toad’s diet may consist of worms, snails, beetles, ants and bugs. Tadpoles eat plants, fungus, and small invertebrates.  Pets should only be fed pesticide free bugs.  Before taking a bug from outside and feeding it to your pet be sure no pesticide has been used in the area the bug came from.  If you are not sure–DON’T feed it to your pet. 

To restore the bright color in a toad’s fire-belly that has faded you can feed your crickets baby carrots chopped up.  The orange color passes through the crickets to the toad and helps maintain a bright reddish-orange belly.  You should use organic carrots to avoid any pesticides passing through to the toad and making it sick or worse.

Male fire-bellied toads have nuptial pads, enlarged bumps on their first and second fingers.  These nuptial pads help aquatic frogs hold on to females during breeding.

There are two genera of fire-bellied toads — Barbourula and Bombina.  We are in the genera Bombina.  We are sometimes called oriental fire-bellied toads and are found in China, Russia, Korea and Tsushima and Kyushu islands of Japan.  There are other genera of Bombina that look similar to us found in Europe, the Philippines and Borneo.

Fire-bellied toads have heart-shaped pupils. 

Releasing fire-bellied toads or any other non-native wildlife into the wild poses a very serious threat to the native wildlife population.  One should never release a fire-bellied toad into the wild.  Find a proper home for your fire-bellied toad if you no longer can care for it.  Many pet stores like Petco will take it in and find a good home for it.

   When a fire-bellied toad senses danger it arches its body, flashing the brilliant warning spots on its belly.  This reaction is called the unkenreflex and is derived from the German name for fire-bellied toads (unken).

Adult fire-bellied toads reach a length of 1.5 to 2.5 inches long.  They weight approximately 1-2 ounces.

         Fire-bellied toads (and fire-bellied newts) love to cuddle together.  Sometimes they even make a hog pile.   

  Fire-Bellied Toads come in a variety of colors.  Here we have Limey (lime green), Brownie (brownish) and Greenie (dark green).  Their color will vary during the day also.  Greenie will be almost as brown as Brownie sometimes and then later he may be a bright green almost as green as Limey.

Fire-bellied toads can be found in parts of China, Eastern Russia and Korea living in mountain lakes and ponds from 5,300 to 10,000 feet above sea level.

Males usually have rougher backs and their forearms are thicker than the females. They almost look identical except during the breeding season, when males have black horny nuptial pads on their fingers and forearms.  The best way to tell which toads are male is to observe them.  Whenever a toad tries to jump on the back of another toad and use its arms to grasp it, it’s definitely a male.

    Greenie is definitely a male.

 Male fire-bellied toads make a barking noise when they want to mate.  Here is Greenie barking for Brownie. 

Fired-bellied toads shed their skin.  They rip it off with their mouth and eat it as it sheds.

Fire-bellied toads are EXOTHERMIC AMPHIBIANS.  This means they are cold-blooded (exothermic) and they live both in water and on land (amphibians).

Fire-bellied toads do NOT cause warts.  Warts are caused by human viruses, not toads.  They do have glands which secrete toxins.  This can cause skin irritations and may be poisonous to some animals.  Do NOT handle your fire-bellied toads unless you absolutely have to and after touching them wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.