Toadily Toads About Us

We got the idea for this site from browsing the web and finding so few sites devoted to toads. We love frogs and toads but are partial to toads, though we have lot of experience keeping horned frogs (pacmans), pyxies and an African dwarf (not to mention snakes, snails, betta fish and hermit crabs). There are tons of sites out there that focus on frogs but there was a very obvious shortage of toad specific sites. Toads always seem to take a back seat to frogs and we wanted to do something about that. We are tired of hearing toads described as "ugly" and "warty".

Frogs are more colorful and visually interesting to most people. Not to take anything away from them or their beauty, but having kept both, I’ve always felt that it is somewhat harder to keep frogs and most frog species tend not to make for good “handling” pets, although I must stress, no amphibian should be overhandled due to their delicate skin and the ease at which it can be injured.

For one thing, frog skin is very delicate. Most frogs have smooth skin that needs to be kept moist. Its almost impossible to stroke their backs without wetting your finger first. The delicate slime layer on a frog’s body is easily damaged with improper handling and contrary to what it sounds like, when you pet a frog, they feel almost dry and sticky rather than slimy. Frogs tend to need much more water and more humid conditions and because their long legs can propel them very far, very fast, they are good escape artists.

Toads on the other hand are dry to the touch. They can be gently BUT BRIEFLY petted and stroked and most toads actually seem to enjoy this in small doses, (although, if a male toad begins making noises while you pet him, he is NOT singing to you in enjoyment. He is chirping a release call and telling you to back off; see the toad care section for FAQ page with more info). Toads have short legs and can’t hop far in one leap. Most toads walk more than they hop. Toads also tend to be gluttons who will eat pretty much anything put in their path and do not usually become finiky about their diet, like pacman frogs do, for example. For most toads, some soft dirt, clean water and food is enough to make them happy and they adapt to tank life quickly. Frogs vary. Some eat like toads, but many do not. They sometimes eat less frequently and are sometimes pickier about what they eat. Quite often, they need many more specific conditions than toads do.

I’ve been keeping toads since I was a kid. My first toad, Fleegle, is pictured in the first photo gallery on our gallery pages. Fleegle was with me for 6 years. When you consider that she was very big and fully grown when I found her, she might have been as old as toads get when she died. Toads can live 10 years or longer depending on the individiual toad, what species they are and overall conditions.

From the beginning, I was in love with Fleegle. She was fun and relaxed. She ate almost immediately from my hand and she enjoyed being petted. She was always ready for the camera, too. While we do have some very nice pictures of our now deceased White’s treefrogs, tomato frog, pacman frogs and others, it has always been the toads who take the best pictures for me. They actually pose and give you lots of personality. Fleegle was quite a ham and so was Kisco, the site mascot, as you can see by her pictures on this site.

This site’s mission is simply to bring our love of toads to others. However, we have other goals, as well. For one thing, we want to make people aware of the amphibian crisis. Populations of all amphibians have been globally declining and many species are being found deformed. In fact, back in the early 1980’s, Fleegle got a mate who was deformed. He had no feet. Ironically, I had already decided to name him “Flipper” before I even met him. My grandparents had phoned my mother from their relative’s house in Connecticut to let her know they found a toad for me. I was on pins and needles waiting for them to arrive. I sat with Fleegle trying to come up with a good name. I liked the sound of “Fleegle and Flipper” (I still do) and was set on it. When I met Flipper, I couldn’t believe my eyes. He had no flippers on his back legs, just stumps. It didn’t matter. I loved him anyway, and apparently, so did Fleegle.

The use of pesticides and other pollution is taking its toll. Also, there seems to be an increase in the number of ponds infested with flatworms and many scientists feel the worms are responsible for many of the leg deformities found in frogs and toads. Please see our links page for links to sites that deal with these crisises. It is important to be educated on this subject because frogs and toads are the beacons of the earth and warn when we're in trouble.

We also hope to help people decide on whether keeping toads (and frogs for that matter) is right for them. I firmly believe that WILD CAUGHT animals are best off in nature, unless they are injured or in some way compromised and thus, better off in a tank. CAPTIVE BRED animals are another story. I also feel that lack of experience is often the enemy in being kept successfully in tanks, whether the animals be wild caught or captive bred. Most pet stores that sell frogs and toads do not care who they sell to and often employ people who know little about specific frog species. Many chain stores employ people with little experience with any exotic pets.

We do not profess to be experts, however, our success with keeping frogs and toads make us feel it is essential to share this knowledge and experience with others. Of course, we are always learning too. Even after 27 years of keeping toads, there are still new things I've never seen before. This site has brought many subjects to my attention.

Aside from education, information and fun, we also have a shopping page. I think its safe to say that nobody is going to get rich doing this, but we hope to create an online gift store with unique and special toad merchandise that might at least help support the site. For now, we do not have merchandise being offered by us through this site, but we do have a growing store at Cafepress.com which has some fun items in it already. That store can be found at: http://www.cafeshops.com/toadilytoads

We encourage you to explore this site often as we will be adding to it and updating it frequently.

We have lots of fun ideas and ambitions to make this site great. Please feel free to contact us if there is anything you want to see on this site.

We also invite you to join our Yahoo group (you can do this via the contact page). The more toad lovers we have on the group, the better. Information exchange is important.

Please direct all inquiries and other questions to us here: toadilytoads.com contact info

So click around and enjoy!

Regards,
Toadily Toads