I am moving. My toads are used to a messy Money garden with patches of moisture and lots of lunches. When the house is rented/sold..it will go to lovely grass:(
I am concerned about relocating, but more concerned about letting them fend for themselves with fertilizer and weed-killer.
I can set up a great area..but don't know if I will do more harm.
Any imput appreciated.
Toads..to relocate or not
I'd definitely take them with me, and set up an area where they will be protected. It's simple
to set up a shallow pool of sorts for them to soak in overnight (toads and frogs do that to cleanse their systems)
and you're obviously a concerned person who will see to it they get some shelter. As long as they are indigenous
and know to either hibernate in lower zone, or can handle a higher one, I think you're a very considerate person to
nature to even have this concern, it seems so few would have even thought of their welfare.
Well, maybe we gardeners would, but you don't hear of this everyday-what a kind soul. :)
Thank you :) I found a couple of wonderful books that give very good information on how to set up a home. I need to find a place that has the most run-off water. I have used a paint roller pan liner for a toad spa before, so will make certain to get one of those. So neat to see the "big guy" sitting in the mud on a hot day.
I need to get going on it as, Oct is a flip flop month for us in terms of weather.
Lol, a 'Toad spa!!!' I love it! :)
Move him. We had a toad that went from Rode Island to Michigan and two moves in Michigan. It always showed up just before winter or just as we were packing. It spent the winter in a terrerium in the house several times. That would be my suggestion this late in the year. Many here have already gone to ground for the winter. They are pretty easy (and entertaining) to keep inside. All you need is an old aquairium, a dish for water, dirt and moss or leaf litter. A few plants are nice, but they like to dig them up occasionally. I had the cover light (full spectrum) to give a little extra "sunlight", some nights it was a nightlight. I feed them crickets and mealworms a couple times a week (actually if the cover is tight, you can throw the whole box of crickets in at once and it will last all week). I loved listening to them at night. In the spring, back outside they go.
Believe it or not as a rehabber, I frequently end up with toads just before the winter or after they go to ground, someone digs them up and doesn't know what to do with them. They get really big and fat as house pets and if you are really lucky, you will get to see one shed his skin. It's facinating!
Thanks for the feedback. We have had a cold flash, but are due for warm again next week. I am hoping they come closer to surface. Lots of setbacks with house, but I am going to get that toad area done...just in a different place in the yard..where lots of unplanned work will be done.
OMG, this is so cute! We have about a billion pacific tree frogs because of our two ponds and we definitely plan to transplant some pollywogs when we move. But I never heard of having pet toads that moved all over the country. I just love it.
Now if I just can find them, I could pack their little toad totes. I have watered some areas in attempt to bring them to the service.
I don't know if you are an early riser, but they are most likely going to be seen by you the last hour before sunrise. If you know the vicinity they
like to hunt in, and can set up a chair (and a nice strong cup of coffee for the wait) you could sit out and watch a sunrise and find them coming
back to their regular day hiding spots. I sit out in my side garden every morning and do this, and watch 6 or 7 toads hop out of the garden
they've been hunting in all night, returning to their 'dens'...if you will, that are just outside the garden and up against the cool, damp walls
of the house. They do this while still dark but becoming light, and in a period of about 20 minutes apart from one another.
This message was edited Oct 12, 2011 5:14 AM
HI, I think that they are all tucked in for the season as temps are getting down into the 30s.;
Will have another chance next season, as I have just about run out of garden moving time..even though "new" place isn't anywhere near done, have to concentrate on tidying up here, so that renters or buyers will not run screaming down the road. Any contact will include my gathering of plants in tidy/timely fashion..will just tuck the little darlings in the pot.