Newbie here, with the inevitable newbie questions ...
Nearly two weeks ago, I brought home 2 firebelly toads for my 10-gal planted vivarium (details of their habitat are below). For the first several days, the toads were really active; the male called in the evening, I saw them catch a few crickets after lights out, and they hopped around their cage all day.

After those first few days, however, they started hiding behind the waterfall in their cage. Now they never come out, although I hear the male calling all day and most of the night. I did peek in on them this morning in their hiding spot, and they're both still wriggly and bright green.

1) Should I be worried that their behavior has changed so much?
2) Should I be worried that I'm not actually *seeing* them eat? I'm beginning to worry that the crickets are hiding from them, or are not the right size or something. The tank is planted; could the crickets just be effectively hiding from the frogs? I even tried waxworms yesterday, but the frogs just weren't interested.

Set-up:
10-gallon divided tank with a secure screen lid, with incandescent bulbs in a partial hood on top and a piece of glass for adjusting the humidity. The tank is split 50/50 between water and land by a plexiglass divider I installed.

The water is about 6-in deep, with lots of spots for the frogs to haul out and several platforms where the water is about "shoulder"-deep on the frogs. The water temp stays at about 70F. There is a filter that runs a small waterfall. The frogs share the water side with 4 guppies (and thus far, no problems there). I do regular 25% water changes with room temperature dechlorinated water. I'm an experienced fish-keeper, and am sure that water quality is not an issue.

There's easy access from the water side to the land side, at several points. The substrate on that half of the tank is a mix of coco fibers, leaf litter and orchid bark over a layer of river pebbles for drainage. The substrate is planted with a variety of living mosses, and one small tropical plant that provides a hiding space. There's also a small terra cotta flowerpot sunk in the soil, on its side, for a hiding space. The backdrop is oak bark I collected and sterilized myself.

The temp stays between 72-74F during the day, and falls to 68F at night. The humidity remains at 80%. I've been feeding small crickets (14 days old, gut-loaded and dusted) every other day.

I'd appreciate any advice or feedback that anyone can give me.

Hello and welcome!! I do not know enough about frogs and toads to help you, but it sounds like you are a conscientious keeper which is great We would love to see pictures...

well your set up sounds fine. Some toads hide and others come out. They are daytime animals so they should be fed with the lights on. If you don't see crickets I would say they are getting eaten. Is everyone pooping? and when you say regular changes in water, how often?

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

I've been doing 25% water changes every 3 days. I also plan on doing more substantial water changes either every 2 weeks or once a month, depending on how quickly the water quality deteriorates -- as I said, I only brought these guys home (almost) two weeks ago, so I'm still figuring out how well my filter will work in this setup.

As for pooping, I'm not sure whether everyone is pooping or not. As I mentioned, the tank is pretty heavily planted, which makes locating frog poop a little difficult. Additionally, for the last several days they've been behind the waterfall, pooping (I assume) into the water directly above the filter.

yup, mine poop in the water mostly. Its only been two weeks, they are probably still getting used to the environment. They probably like the spot behind the water fall.

As for cleaning. I do a total water change about once every two weeks with no partial water changes in the middle. I take the rocks out (only a few very large ones) and scrub them down. I rinse out the filter and stick it back in. That gets changed out once a month.

I would give them some more time, and watch the weight on all of them. If you have to dig them out from behind the waterfall once a week to do this, so be it.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Thanks, schlegelbagel. I had assumed, since they were so active at the beginning, that they had just adjusted quickly to the new tank. Maybe they just hadn't found their favorite hiding spot yet! I had been hesitant to disturb them more, so I've only been peeking behind the fall to see if they're wiggling, but if you recommend it, I'll pull them out once a week to really check on them.

I'm also going to pick up a cork bark 1/2 log when I get crickets this afternoon -- maybe with more hiding spots available they will consider abandoning the waterfall.

i have one of those hollow 1/2 logs and there is ALWAYS someone under it. Can you post a photo of your set up?

BTW, 10 gallon is your bare minimum for 2 frogs. I don't want you to have to rip everything apart, but 20 would be better. You might want to think about that for future set ups.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Good news! When I got home from the office today, one of the toads was out from behind the waterfall. I added crickets and the new 1/2 log, then broke down the waterfall and shoo-ed the other toad out onto the land portion. One of the toads ate several crickets, and was much more adept at finding them among the plants than I had feared. The other didn't eat, and they both eventually headed back behind the waterfall, but at least one of them is making forays into the wider world.

And yeah, Schlegelbagel, I know that 10-gal is the minimum size; several people in other forums assured me that it was enough for two fbts, which is all I'm going to have. Maybe in a couple years, when I'm done with grad school, I'll move them to a 20-long, but for right now this (and my 90-gal fishtank) are all the room I have.

My camera is out of juice right now, but I'll try to post a pic when I can. I think it's a pretty neat setup, if I do say so myself.

yeah, the 10 gallon will be OK just as long as its two and you keep the water clean. Glad he came out and someone ate! They are probably just getting used to the tank and the new surroundings, and the waterfall is a good place to hide.

Its Liz BTW.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.