Will a wild caught American Toad eat crickets? And will a firebelly toad die/become ill if it eats one?

Question

I have 2 firebelly toads in a 55 gallon terrarium with about a 10 gallon area of it filled with water. I've caught some of the little black tadpoles (here in Tennessee) which grow to be American toads. When the tadpoles become toads and move to the land, I plan to feed them small bugs and then crickets when they are large enough. My only concern is that they will become a nice little snack for my firebellies. (althought my FBT's are very slow hunters). Would the toxins in the American toads' skin kill the FBT when eaten? I know this is an odd situation, and I welcome any thoughts or suggestions! Thanks!

Answer 1

Dont mix species esspecially species from diffrent geological locations

Reasons:

Fighting: pretty self explanatory

eating one another, many phibs and alot of reps will eat anything they think will fit in there mouths (and sometimes things that wont but they give it a d**n good go) in this case i would say its likely

Incompatible toxins/bacteria: different animals from different locations are more/less resistant to different things. exotics, especially phibs (who absorb everything through there skin) are very susceptible to this and it can make your phibs ill lower there imune system or kill them out right.

the final point is please dont keep your toads that u grew from tadpoles i would say they would be better off in the wild

oh and ignore the guy above most frogs and toads feed by movement making live food a much better option

Answer 2

Speaking out of experience, you probably do not want to feed your frogs bugs/ crickets as long as they are in the same aquarium as your newts. The newts may partake from time to time, this is fine. However when I did this the frogs (though they were of an African species) developed a taste for live food and began eating my fish and newts.

I would suggest going to your local pet store and buying an amphibian food, you may even want to check the label to your newt food as it may be sufficient.  You could even ask the staff at the store for advice, they probably have a food they feed their frogs/ toads.

EDIT: You can choose to ignore me if you want (per advice of the person below me). However, domesticated animals do not behave as wild animals. This is why you can have a pet dog around a newborn child. Since you caught the toads as tadpoles they are domesticated and can be retrained on their diets. The problem is once they begin eating live food, they will want to continue. My toads and newts lived in harmony until I began feeding them crickets and bugs. At any rate I would varify anything with the specialist at the pet store.