Josh's Frogs
Smooth Sided Toads Care Sheet
Defining Characteristics
- Intermediate
- Brown with a dark red stripe down the side
- Likes to hide
- Difficult to breed
- 7”-9” in size
- Whiny honking call
- Does well in groups
- Breeds in temporary and permanent water bodies
Name
Rhaebo guttatus. Common Name: Smooth Sided Toad or Spotted Toad. Sometimes shortened to Smooth Toad, gets its name from its distinct lack of ""warts."" Up until recently these were known as Bufo gutatta.This toad is in the family Bufonidae, and is considered a true toad.
Recommended Vivarium Size
Smooth sided toads are large and need at least a 36x18x18 front opening tank or a 40 breeder as adults for multiple animals but a single toad can be kept in a 24x18x18 or a 20 long traditional aquarium. They don't need a complicated tank but appreciate a large corner bowl to soak in as well as large cork tubes to hide in. They can be kept either on coco fiber or biobedding. A basking spot in the 80s is also advisable.Temperature
Ideal temperatures for this species is 75°-85° F. It may be necessary to add a lot watt basking light to achieve these temperatures. Monitor temperatures using a therometer.Humidity
Terrarium humidity should be kept in the 50%-70% range. Because the Smooth Sided Toad requires good air circulation, it's important to provide ventilation in the vivarium. Humidity can be monitored with a quality hygrometer.Size
The size range for Smooth Sided toads is approximately 6-7” for males and 7-9” for females. There is evidence that females can reach up to 10"" but this is very uncommon.
Age
Smooth Sided toads can live up to 10 years in captivity but may live longer to excellent care.Feeding
As toadlets Smooth Sided Toads can eat 1/4"" crickets and will slowly transition to larger prey items as they grow. Ultimately they can consume many large feeders such as nightcrawlers, dubia roaches, and Hornworms.Sexing
Male Smooth Sided toads have thicker forelimbs than females with prominent nuptial pads during the breeding season. Males will also emit a release call when grasped around the waist. You can go by size but there is some overlap so it isn't as reliable as the aforementioned methods.Color/Pattern
Brown with a dark red stripe down the side. They also have white spots on their underbelly. Some individuals can have some dark red spotting on their lower backs. Offspring start off light brown with bronze speckling on their backs and do not have the red stripe on their flanks.
Social Behavior
Outside of breeding Smooth Sided Toads are fairly docile toward each other and can be kept in groups. During breeding, males will amplex each other for short periods of time with all of the excitement going on, but will release when it is apparent that the supposed female is in fact not.Breeding
Smooth Sided Toads will breed in temporary and permanent pools of water. These pools are usually located in gallery forests. Adults will also occasionally dig their own pools of water to breed in during the rainy season. Females can lay up to 10,000 eggs at a time.Development
Once eggs are deposited they can hatch in about a week and develop into toadlets in about 10 weeks. Toadlets can range from 1/4"" to 1/2"" long at metamorphosis.Tadpoles
Tadpoles will consume a myriad of fish foods, including Josh’s Frogs Tree Frog Tadpole Food and Repashy's Meat Pie.