TOADally awesome update...
I have some good news for the toads that are going to live inside a 240 gallon enclosure next year. They are all holding steady in weight! Just like last time I only weighed Ace, Navi, and Wellsboro, but not Pious because he is not active. Ace is 110 grams so she lost two, but Wellsboro went from 82 to 87 grams. He is catching up to you Ace!
As I said before these two are doing well and are the largest two toads I have. I think they both are doing better and soon we will have another fecal exam. Wellsboro is being picky again and isn't taking crickets so I am going to get other feeders for him. I only have mealworms and crickets and I'm not feeding him only mealworms. Ace has no type because she eats whatever moves.
Navi made the most improvement going from 59 to 71 grams. She's eating very well and you would think she would want to go dormant but she's very alert and eating. She's just a very lazy toad also. I can't wait to see these toads together.
I wanted to touch on something not necessary but I am doing this for the ethics and hopefully to silence more critics of the attempt to breed and release the offspring. I am going to purchase a very high grade air purifier that will keep the air clean of bacteria, smoke, dust, and everything else. I already have a humidifier on to make sure the humidity stays stable and now I will be focused on the air quality. I feel if the room is actually very kept up with then the animals will be very happy also. It's totally unnecessary but if I were not doing this project I probably wouldn't have a WiFi compatible humidifier and security camera to check in on the tank [emoji23]
I also am going to purchase a 5 filter reverse osmosis water system to provide pure water for all of my animals, but especially the toads and gray tree frogs since they have a very important task. The filter will remove all chlorine, minerals, metals, led, and anything else that can be harmful. The 5 stage filtration system will make for some of the purest water one can use even for human use. I really want to have the top of the line for all of my animals and these two devices I feel are very necessary for helping in some of the smaller ways with my animals lives.
Not only do I wish for clean water and air for the animals, but I also am locked in on the soil for The Woods enclosure. I wanted to use something that absorbs moisture well. I will use the ABG Mix once again but it will have more of a role and I will use it as more of a 60-40 role opposed to 80-20 as to what I have now. I will combine the ABG Mix with Exo Terra Plantation Soil, Exo Terra Forest Moss, Exo Terra Riverbed Sand, Charcoal, and maybe more. Having this soil should make for loamy soil that amphibians love to live in. The ABG/Plantation Soil will be the base soil that I will mix together. I wanted to have a more natural looking forest or "woods" looking floor and I just like this combination.
Another thing I want to elaborate on is the supplements and gutloads the toads and gray tree frogs will be on. This might be one of the most important sections that I include in my timely updates of my animals because if they do not get the right supplements and gutload then it actually can kill them. I will lay out all of the supplements and then explain them.
Supplements:
Mazuri Better Bug Gutload
Reptocal by Tetrafauna
Repashy Crested Gecko Diet
Repashy Superpig
Tetra Pond Color Sticks
Yummy Chummies Grain Free Wild Alaska Salmon Dog Treat
Flukers Cricket Quencher
Oxbow Carnivore Care
Repashy Vitamin A
The only got load I use is the Mazuri Better Bug Gutload because this was found in a research study as the most effective feeder to offer crickets and other insects before native eastern toads and tree frogs are them. This gutload has helped my toads and all of my pets. Due to the fact it was proven for native toads and it works for mine I will use it.
The Reptocal by Tetrafauna was also used in the study and found to be very successful with the Mazuri Better Bug Gutload. The Reptocal is put in the gutload to include more vitamin D3 and calcium which is what it does. The calcium is not in high levels but just enough with the gutload to create an even better feed.
My third ingredient is the Crested Gecko Diet by Repashy. This smells nice and the feeders love the little powder right out of the bottle. I do not add water I just use the powder and put a decent amount of this in with the Reptocal on the Mazuri Better Bug Gutload. I don't really think there is much of an added benefit using this except it works for attracting the feeders.
Repashy Superpig is just something to enhance color and it's really not necessary. I really have not noticed a change in the color for any of my animals but I do not have colorful animals only green, gray, and brown so to speak but it also adds into the smell for the feeders. This is not necessary for anyone to use for toads or gray tree frogs.
Tetra Pond Color Sticks or something very similar to the Superpig but I did learn there are extra ingredients in this fish food that are beneficial to include. This fish food has many different ingredients off the top of my head I do not recall which ingredients are important but I can get back to you if you are that interested about this one. It seems to be relished by the feeders I have seen crickets, roaches, mealworms, isopods and others eat this.
Next is the Yummy Chummies Grain Free Wild Alaska Salmon Dog Treat and this was also included in the same study as the Reptocal and Mazuri. There are three things this treat does. This treat helps with the heart and has Omega 3 in it. Also it has glucosamine which is beneficial for joints. I'm not sure if it helps with aging toads but it might. The dog treat is actually made of salmon which is very good for protein as well. I have not used this product yet but it is something I am working on getting. It is very pricey.
Flukers Cricket Quencher is just my preferred offering of a water substance. This is more made like Jell-O but it offers calcium which is like a combination giving the crickets or any type of feeder insect water, but also calcium. So my crickets and mealworms especially get more calcium in their diets.
Oxbow Carnivore Care was recommended to me as an emergency diet in case one of my animals refuses to eat but it is starving. I have not had to use this yet and hopefully I won't but if I need to I at least have it ready to go. You can look up the reviews and read what it is about, but basically if you have an animal that refuses to eat you would mix this stuff up and force feed the animal. It has really good reviews and ratings. My vet also recommended this so it already has the ok for me.
Repashy Calcium A is something I am not using yet very similar to the dog treat, but I really believe after my Superpig supplement runs out that I will get this in its place. I don't really offer any vitamin A except for what is found in the gut load. The Reptocal doesn't offer it, I don't believe the fish food does and the superpig doesn't. The crested gecko diet might, but I just feel tagteaming the Reptocal with the Repashy Calcium A could really make a tremendous difference with my supplements. This along with the dog treat are on the list for 2020.
So now that you have read about the soil which I will have to get more in-depth in for the next update on, and you also have read about the supplements and a little description as to what I am using them for. I am really looking forward to building the 240 gallon enclosure and I am looking forward to sharing the updates as they come along. This is more about the busy work for me how I feed my animals and the soil, so it's not necessarily as interesting as talking about artificial weather or the different kinds of feeder insects I want to include in the diets of the animals. I have a lot of really exciting surprises and hopefully even more good news to come your way soon. If you have any comments about the soil, the devices, or the supplements feel free to comment below or message me.


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