Origins:  Fire-bellied TOADs (which should be treated like frogs) originally came from China.  They now come from commercial farms in Singapore.

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You'll see a few "brownies" -- not quite as pretty as the "greenie fire-belly toads."

Appeal:  Their bright green backs and brighter than fire red belly make these a very good looking toad.  Most toads border on drab at best (if not downright ugly).  Red in nature usually means Danger -- Do Not Eat.

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Warty as a toad, but think of him as a frog.  Treat your fire-belly toads like frogs.

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Some are nearly black.

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Greenies show up much better.

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Dark fire-belly toads can "disappear" over dark substrates.

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Fire-belly toads seem to darken their colors at will.

Size:  Adult fire-belly toads max out at two inches.  This makes them ideal for the small amphibian terrarium.  Do not mix them with larger frogs.  They taste nasty, but larger frogs will eat them anyway.

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Lighter substrates brighten the colors of fire-belly toads. 

Landing Ramps:  Provide sloping rocks or wood to give your fire-belly toads easy access to and egress from the water.  Light colored rocks cause their green color to brighten.  They darken up when resting on brown wood.

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A contrasting substrate really shows them off.

Loafing Areas:  A mass of floating plants provides good places for these friendly little toads to hang.  Fire-belly toads also climb up on those artificial lily pads.

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Sometimes fire-belly toads just want to bunch up.

Hiding Places:  Fire-belly toads want to hide once in a while.  Give them more than one place to hide, or they all pile up together.

Submerged Caves:  Provide hollows under water for breeding toads to use as egg-laying sites.  They like to spend most of their time basking at the surface in the open.  Fire-belly toads are not hiders. 

Foods:  Provide live insects and worms.  Like many toads, Bombinas quickly learn to eat bits of food wiggled on the end of a broom straw.  They will come to the front at feeding time.

Supplements:  Since food crickets often get wet and rinse themselves free of calcium dust, you’ll get better results by feeding their crickets a nutritious diet.

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Some fire-belly toads always insist on pushing the envelope.

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Fire-belly toads want out and get out.  Unfortunately, they dry out.

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Fire-bellies don't realize they cannot climb.

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Sort of Climbers:  Even when you lower the water level, you still need to cover fire-belly toads.  They will clamber up the glass (especially in the corners) and bail.  Unlike most toads, they dry out quite rapidly.  Think of them as frogs.  Keep them moist at all times.

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Standing room only here.  Give your fire-belly toads lots more room.

Mixers:  Fire-belly toads love to congregate with their own kind.  Beware of overcrowding.  They also mix well with other similar-sized species with the same basic requirements.  Good cage mates include the smaller newts, tadpoles, anoles, tree frogs, and snails.

Opposing Info from S. Rogge
Your information about mixing fire bellied toads is wrong.  They should never be mixed with anything, they are toxic and will eat anything that moves.  You should change the information on your site.  Read this: http://talkto.thefrog.org/index.php?action=vthread&forum=3&topic=5

Sexing:  Male fire-belly toads develop breeding pads on their “fingers” for grasping those pesky slippery females. 

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Glass was messy.  When we cleaned it, they broke their amplexus.

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Another loving couple.  Wiping the glass always breaks them up.

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Amplexus -- sorry that we can't clean the glass.

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Look real close and you'll see he's hugging a brown female.

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But it's not always love at first grope.  She's outta there.

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Sometimes they're just playing frog pile.  No serious relationship here.

A:  Thanks.  I'll add it to my fire belly page.  LA

Spawning:  If you’ve kept your fire-belly toads until summer, you’re ready to spawn them.  Keep them in their own tank with four to six inches of water.  Feed them a variety of foods.  Plankton should make a great conditioning food.  Once they spawn, remove the parents to protect the offspring.

Tadpoles:  Baby fire-belly toads eat infusoria or powder-fine fish food.  They start turning into frogs in four weeks.  The parents will eat the smaller toadlets.  The toadlets will develop yellow bellies unless fed foods containing Canthaxanthin.  Get this color food into their system by feeding it to their crickets.

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Whoa.  We almost forgot to show you why they're called fire-belly toads.

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Here's one of the black one's fire-bellies.

Last Words.  Pretty.  Fun.  Easy to care for.  Inexpensive.  Interesting.  Intriguing life cycle.  What’s not to like?  Even non-frog lovers like fire belly toads.  LA

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