Defining Characteristics:

• Medium-sized toad
• Green and brown coloration
• Long fingers for climbing and gripping
• Covered in spinous warts

Name: The Evergreen Climbing Toad—Incilius coniferus—gets its name from its coloration and ability to climb better than your average toad. In the wild, these toads are usually found several meters off the ground, and though coloration varies, usually has a deep green and brown mottled appearance. Incilius is derived from the Latin word incile meaning "bog" or "inlet" while coniferus refers to conifer trees.

Recommended Enclosure Size & Setup: Evergreen climbing toads can become very active and therefore need adequate spacing as adults. A few frogs would need up to an 18x18x24 glass terrarium. Due to their more arboreal nature, height is important for this species.

We recommend Tropical BioBedding or ABG Mix covered in leaf litter. Humid hides such as cork flats or tubes should be plentiful. A clean water dish should always be accessible. Artificial or live plants can be used to accent the enclosure. If choosing live plants, the best options are those that are sturdy because these toads are liable to step on and potentially break plants that are more dainty. 

Temperature (°F): Evergreen climbing toads are happy at temps between 72-78°. A reliable digital thermometer is highly recommended.

Humidity: Humidity levels from 50-70% are appreciated to ensure they do not risk drying out. As a semi-arboreal toad, ensuring that the tank has an adequate moisture content is key to keeping these toads happy and healthy. A reliable hygrometer is highly recommended.

Size: Like most toads, evergreen climbing toads are sexually dimorphic in size. Males will cap out at just over 2.75 inches and females can reach a respectable 3.5 inches in length. At metamorphosis baby toadlets will be around 3/8 of an inch, and at the time of sale they'll be at least 3/4 of an inch.

Age: Evergreen climbing toads can live over 10 years in captivity with good husbandry practices. Males will reach maturity after about a year and females will reach full maturity after 2. At the time of sale toads will be at least 8 weeks old. 

Feeding: Evergreen climbing toads will eat a staple diet of gutloaded crickets or roaches. As with other toads in the Bufonidae family, vitamin A is critically important and should be supplemented with Repashy Vitamin A Plus. 

Sexing: As with many other species of toads, sexing evergreen climbing toads can be done in a few ways. When fully grown, there will be a size difference between males and females. Males will have nuptial pads and more bulky forearms to aid in amplexus, as well as make a release call when gently pinched under the armpits. Females will be more rotund but this is less reliable than release calls and nuptial pads.

Color/Pattern: Evergreen toads can vary in coloration, but most will be a mix of dark greens and both dark and light browns. As with many other species of frog and toad, these colorations can vary from individual to individual and throughout the day depending on external factors like light and background color. Juveniles tend to be more on the light green side with red or orange warts. Eye color is green and brown.

Josh's Frogs does not recommend, support, or endorse line breeding as we believe this leads to weaker captive animals and nature has done a wonderful job of creating an amazing variation in color and pattern of frogs already.

Social Behavior: As with most amphibians, evergreen climbing toads will primarily only seek each other out intentionally during mating season. However, toads will tolerate each other's presence and will not become aggressive if kept in groups with adequate space. 

Breeding: Breeding for this species is strange in that in the wild, it occurs during the dry season. Males will call near ponds or pools of water to attract females. Calls will be a trill and can last from 18-30 seconds at a time. Large choruses of these toads have been described as a gasoline powered generator.

Josh's Frogs recommends purchasing multiple frogs if you are interested in breeding them – this greatly increases the chances of getting a pair (male & female).

Natural Range: Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama

History in the Hobby: These toads have been sporadically available over the years but are fairly uncommon, with captive-breeding mostly happening in the countries they are naturally found in and exported into the United States.

Links of Interest:

• Amphibiaweb profile
• Wikipedia
• Inaturalist profile

Still not sure if the Evergreen Climbing Toads from Josh's Frogs are the right pet frog for you? Read the reviews below and see what other customers are saying!