Care and Raising of Oriental Firebellied Toads

Lighting and heating are both important if you wish to keep your animals healthy. They are essential if you wish to breed them. Firebelly toads prefer a summer temperature of around 78 degrees Fahrenheit. In the winter, you may wish to drop the temperature to the lower 70's or so, while avoiding anything below 68 degrees. You will also want to control the photo period (amount of light per day). Summer months should have the longest photo period (12 hours of light, 12 of darkness). As you move into Autumn and Winter, drop the number down to 8 or 9 hours of light. As spring approaches, begin to increase the day length back to 12 hours. You should make day length changes in 5 minute increments per day. If you keep your toads in a terrestrial tank, you must mist them. The frequency should alternate from three to four times per week in the summer to once or twice per week in the winter. Be sure to only use dechlorinated water.

You have two options for light bulbs - namely incandescent and fluorescent. I don't think that the use of ceramic "basking" lights is warranted for this species. Incandescent bulbs put out a great deal of heat, and that increases with the wattage. I have found that a 15 to 25 watt bulb will do fine for both heating and lighting purposes. If you keep the room where the cages are kept warm enough, you may simply want to use a fluorescent light bulb as a source of relatively heatless light. Be sure you pick a "plant grow light" or a similar model that will emit UV light-waves. Fluorescent bulbs are also a more "natural" kind of light, and in my opinion are just better for this setup. Both types come in "black Light" forms that emit heat and UV, but little or no visible light. I have one that simulates the full moon's light for nocturnal viewing. When selecting a night lamp, you should consider how low the temperature goes down at night. This is especially important if the tank is kept at a location away from your home (such as a classroom) where the heat is turned off at night. Commercial timers are available at very low prices at hardware stores; they will automatically handle the turning on and off of the lights for you.

In any case, avoid the use of heat rocks altogether. That goes ditto for undertank heaters, unless absolutely necessary. If temperatures go extremely high (like in a summer power outage), I have heard that glass jars of ice cubes can be used for short term cooling needs. Likewise, in the winter, a submersible heater in a jar of water can be used to warm the tank, so long as the toads cannot come into direct contact with the heater. Warm window sills are to be avoided, as glass aquariums tend to act as greenhouses, boiling your amphibious friends. I once left an empty aquarium out in the sun to dry, and within five minutes, the temperature inside had exceeded 110 degrees Fahrenheit! As a final note, it is always good to have a thermometer in your tank, preferably in both the water and land sections.