Try the link below. It is the only one I know of. You can also browse the diffeent HERPs stores online.

Here is a link that might be useful: Carolina Biological Supply House

Please get local toads. Maybe enlist some kids to find some.

Terrestrial many thanks for the help have placed an order.
Peter

Hey folks, just a FYI for anybody who's interested. Please be careful that your pets don't have access to toads. They do have a poisonous effect if mouthed or bitten. Can be fatal. Anyone who has a dog should be aware of this and know what to do if your pet mouths or eats a toad. :)

You do realize that Carolina Biological Supply sells these critters for research and to high school science classes, usually to cut up. If you are going to release them to the wild, you are actually saving their lives. PETA would be proud. It reminds me of the scene in the original E.T. movie. Seriously, don't use Round-Up near them or where they will be living as they asorb the chemicals through their skin and will probably die. Don't know about other chemicals, as I only learned about Round-Up the hard way.

We have a dog kennel as well as 9 house dogs if any are that dumb good luck to them.

Peter, someone should have mentioned that if you have the right habitat for toads you won't have to bring them in they will come on their own. I hope you aren't wasting your money on purchasing toads because if you don't have the right habitat the ones you buy will die or leave for greener pastures so to speak.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I have a question about toads. I moved some wood today from a damp area near the house, and found a huge toad looking at me. I need to move the wood, but want to maintain or create a habitat for the little critter. Is a 'toad house' of any use? Any suggestions?

wrong forum, see below

Here is a link that might be useful: reptiles & anphibians

Sorry!

Peter (gamekeeper):

Did you really order the toads?!?!?!?!?

Do you know what species they are? Are they native to your area?

From the picture they really look a lot like Bufo marinus (Giant/ Cane Toad)- one of the blights on native species in both the southern US and Australia.

A few other things to think about even if they are not Cane Toads:
1) Animals kept in captivity are exposed to high stress levels, fungus, bacteria, and disease that they would not encounter in the wild. A stressed animal, much like a stressed person, gets sick easier. There is a good chance that the animals you ordered are going to carry some pathogen- what happens when you release these animals into you yard and they come into contact with native frogs and toads? Pathogen transmission that can wipe out local populations. (http://www.esa.org/education/edupdfs/invasion.pdf)

2) Invasive/non-native species are the 2nd greatest threat to wildlife and plants globally. Please don't intentionally release a non-native.

Perhaps a high school biology program in your area can use the toads you bought. To attract your own, native toads, out in toad houses and plant natives.

I have successfully 'stocked' toads in my yard by building a small pond - mine is really a kids' wading pool sunk in the ground - and moving toad eggs into the pond in the spring. The kids and I then feed the tadpoles fish food to make sure there is enough food for the large number of tadpoles, cover the pond with a fence to keep out birds, make sure it stays full of water, and we raise a couple hundred toads each summer. If you have at least a few acres of woods, fields, or even large gardens in a place without too much traffic, I'd say you have proper toad habitat. I think excessive traffic or a preponderance of lawn probably makes an area less than ideal for toads, since they are often killed by cars and lawn mowers must kill a lot also. if you have a suitable area and no toads it is probably because there is not a good place for them to breed nearby. MOst amphibians, american toads included, need ponds or puddles that last at least a couple of months and don't have fish (and aren't ruts in a path that ATVs use). I happen to live perhaps 1/4 mile from the nearest ponds (which are full of toad eggs each spring) and used to have only a few toads. We now see lots of toads in the yard. I think the majority of toads, like many other amphibians, stay pretty close to their breeding ponds throughout the year. A few probably wander far, but you see far more toads near the pond than away from it. I try to collect only those toad eggs that are in a spot where they are unlikely to survive. I know of a couple of large puddles that each spring see hundred of toad tadpoles, but tend to dry up leaving masses of sunbaked tadpoles. Knowing that their chances aren't great in the puddle, I don't mind collecting a bunch and taking them home. If I am early enough, I may also collect some eggs, which are easier to catch. I think this method is the best way to stock toads in your garden, since you are sure to get a local species of toad and perhaps a few types of frogs as well. I am sure that I occasionally get a few spring peepers and wood frogs mixed in with the toads. I think it probably takes a couple of years to get full sized adult toads. Each summer we see masses of extremely small toads which seem a year or two from full size. Right now they are small enough to fit on a quarter.

Have I ruined a frog and toad home? My children collected about 20 frogs and toads that were in a window well of my house. They kept them for a night and then released them all (not back into the well, but just generally). I know the little frogs had the capability to scale the wall and get out of the well, but the toads never seemed to get far off the ground, so I was thinking this was a kind thing to do, but now I wonder if we really just evicted them and left them homeless. Was this good/bad/neutral?

I vote "good".

It was probably a nice cool place. They'll find their way back there if they want or to some other spot.

My siblings and I used to call the window wells at my grandmother's house "toad catchers". There was ample evidence that they were too deep for the toads to escape. First thing we'd do when we visited was to check the toad catchers and liberate the little fellers.

No need to say sorry, cotehele. What you said relates to all the rest of this.

I have plenty of toads in the yard as well as those wandering frogs. There are a lot of places for them to stay. Some people develop their creature habitat to attract them. Toads and frogs are sensitive to toxins too, so it is a good idea to have a pesticide free lawn. Frogs and toads are among the first creatures to go from poison. People also put up little toad houses so they have some shelter and protection as well. If they have no place to stay, they get eaten by the air traffic. Some water areas or wet areas in the yard also are nice places that attract toads. You can put some up in the darker places in the yard.

I cannot tell if that is a cane toad or not at the link. There are so many color variations for cane toads. The company lists very little information on the toads at all, simply listing them as bufo. I suspect that they just send what they have at the time? If it is a cane toad, that would be a very sad introduction into the area. I saw the film about how they wipe out native species.

As far as I know, all toads carry a toxin that can kill a pet dog. Some exposures are more toxic than others-- the cane toad for instance. If your dog is unlucky enough to come in contact with a toad, you need to respond quickly. Don't let them play with the toad if you see them toying around. Make the dog drop the toad right away and then rinse out the dogs mouth with a garden hose. It is my understanding that you have to keep the dogs nose pointing down so that the dog does not also swallow the toxins that you are attempting to wash out. Apparently, you have to use caution as well so as not to drown the dog. Then, chances are, it is off to the vet.

The dog may just pick up the toad and spit it right out due to the bad taste and then foam a little at the mouth to get rid of the toxin. I always feel uncomfortable making those calls though, since death can occur within a short time--15 to 30 minutes.

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf76036554.tip.html
A lot of stories about dogs and toads. Lots of misinformation too in the personal tales.

http://www.toadilytoads.com/gardentoads.html
Toad environment and shelter

http://www.toadilytoads.com/gardentoads.html
Toads and water