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GIANT
TOAD
Bufo
marinus
IDENTIFICATION: This
huge toad can sometimes grow up to nine inches long. They
are either brown or gray in color, and some will
have lighter spots. They are covered with “warty”
looking skin. They however, will not give you
warts.
RANGE
AND
HABITAT: The Giant Toad is native to South America. It was brought
to south
Florida in 1955 to control insects in the sugar cane fields. It has spread
and
can be found throughout Southeast Florida and now even in the Ft. Myers area. They
are often found under streetlights in the suburbs catching flying insects.
REPRODUCTION: These
toads lay their eggs in small pools and ditches during
the late spring and
summer. They are laid on the surface or wrapped around things in the water. The
eggs hatch about three days later. Between 45-60 days later the tadpole
metamorphosis’s into adult toads.
DIET: Giant
Toads will eat many bugs every night. They
will also eat cat and dog food. Occasionally
people that feed their pets outside will see these
toads eating out
of the same dish. The Giant Toad is the only frog or toad that will eat
food
that is not alive.
FUTURE: Giant
Toads have done very well adapting to south Florida. They
out-compete most other toads for food because of
their large size.
Marine
Toad
The
Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium has three
Marine Toads. In December of 2002, a visitor donated
the Giant Toad that you have adopted. It was
found in her backyard in the Fort Myers area and
brought to the Nature Center. Giant Toads are
an invasive exotic species with no natural predators
in this area. By law it cannot be released
back into the wild, so this Giant Toad has a home
here at
the Nature Center.
Here
at the Nature Center we feed crickets to our Giant
Toads every morning. Crickets are by far their
favorite food and watching them eat is quite an exciting
experience. They also have the option of eating
cat food whenever they choose; we leave a bowl of
it in their tank at all times. For a special
treat our Giant Toads are given an occasional small
live mouse. Which they might find and eat in the
wild.
Our
Giant Toads are some of our most popular program
animals. Their large size makes them an outstanding
tool for teaching adults and children as well,
about the parts of a toad, the differences between
frogs
and toads, and what part toads play in the balance
of nature.
All
of our giant toads live in a large sandy enclosure
with half barrels for them to hide under, and large
pools of clean water in which to drink and play.
You
may visit your adopted Giant Toad during regular
business hours.
Anne
Grace
Adopt
an Animal Program
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