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- The best places to find and adopt a fire-bellied toad
- The gear you need to create the best environment for your toad
- Feeding and healthcare tips to prolong your toad’s life
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Meet the Fire-Bellied Toad
The term fire-bellied toad applies to a few species of small, mostly aquatic toads with warty skin and brightly colored bellies. There are six species in this group, each with its own name and appearance. The toad most often found in pet stores is the Oriental fire-bellied toad (Bombina orientalis). This is by far the most common fire-bellied toad in the pet trade, but two other Bombina are sometimes available: the common or European fire-bellied toad (Bombina bombina) and the yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata).
The fire-bellied toad is named for the warning colors on its underside that serve to warn predators that the toad is toxic. When a fire-bellied toad feels threatened, it arches its back and pulls its legs up so that the bright orange underside is visible. Fire-bellied toads acquire these bright colors from the pigments in the small crustaceans they eat.
Appearance
Fire-bellied toads have different colors depending on their species, but are all about the same size, ranging from 1.5–2.75" (3.8–7 cm) in length.
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Oriental fire-bellied toads: The most common Oriental fire-bellies have green and sometimes brown or bronze backs with black markings and bright red or orange bellies with black blotches. Bronze-colored fire-bellies tend to have fewer black marks. They have warty skin and prominent eyes.
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European fire-bellied toads: These toads have brown backs, pale red-orange bellies, and brown toes. Their skin is slightly bumpy, and their eyes are prominent.
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Yellow-bellied toads: These toads have brown backs, black and yellow bellies, and yellow toes. They also have warty skin and tend to be smaller than other
fire-bellied toads.
Temperament
Fire-bellies are active during the day and provide owners with hours of entertainment watching them hop about, hunt, swim, and squabble. Over time, your toad will become accustomed to your presence and will stop trying to hop away from your hand when you feed it or perform maintenance on the terrarium. It even may become tame enough to eat out of your hand.
Though they’re not social in the same sense that mammals and birds are, fire-bellies do well in small groups. So if you’re considering purchasing a fire-bellied toad, you may want to get a group of them. They won’t take up much more room than one would and will exhibit more natural behaviors because you will be more closely mimicking the toads’ situation in the wild.
Natural History
Fire-bellied toads can be found in the Balkan Mountains of Europe as well as in China, Korea, Russia, and Thailand. They live in and near permanent shallow bodies of water in fairly mountainous areas, so the water they live in is usually quite cool. They are active during the day and bask in patches of sunlight both on land and when floating on the surface of the water, where they spend much of their time. During the winter months, they become inactive but don’t truly hibernate.
Is Your Home Right for a Fire-Bellied Toad?
Fire-bellied toads make excellent pet amphibians. They are undemanding, quiet, odorless (provided you perform regular cleaning of their enclosure), and inexpensive. They are also among the hardiest and long-lived of amphibians and can live as long as 10 years when properly cared for.
However, fire-bellies and most amphibians are not pets in the same way that cats or dogs are. They are too small to really handle, and their skin secretions—which protect them from predators in the wild—may irritate human skin. They are best thought of as interesting animals to observe and care for rather than as pets that you can cuddle or
play with.
Toxic Toads
Fire-bellied toads (and almost all toads, to one extent or another) produce toxic chemicals in their skin. These chemicals are irritating and sometimes even lethal to predators that consume the toad. The bright colors of a fire-bellied toad serve as a warning to potential predators that it is dangerous to eat.
This doesn’t mean that fire-bellies are dangerous to keep as pets. In general, the toad’s venom can affect you only if you ingest it. However, some people can be sensitive to the chemicals that amphibians produce, and contact with them may cause a rash or irritation. If you or someone in your home has this sensitivity, use gloves when handling the toad or performing tank maintenance.
| Text & Photos Copyright © 2007 TFH Publications, Inc. | Acknowledgments & Disclaimer |
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