Fire bellied toads have personality

Character, or even personality can be defined as "The combination of emotional, intellectual, and moral qualities that distinguishes an individual." Granted, they don't have human intelligence to do stuff like algebra, but these toads do have personality.

Admittedly, I'm no expert on Fire Belly Toads, but I am knowledgeable enough to assure mine are happy, healthy and long-lived. Information about these little toads is mixed. Some sources say they live only 5 years, some say up to 20. I haven't had mine long enough to be able to agree with either one. I can however, say they have a personality all their own.

The way I have the tank for my two little toads setup is actually mostly water with a floating island. Many sources say these toads aren't strong swimmers. Well, I can happily say mine are. They're also at a 90 degree angle to my TV. Since there's no TV signal in the house, I watch movies and stuff on tapes and DVD's from time to time. These two have very particular taste in what's played. If it's something they like, they'll swim to the front of the tank and watch it, and in some cases, sing to encourage a hero or something like that. Other times, if it's something they like and they're already on the island, if something dramatic happens, they'll fall off the edge and then swim over to the front of the tank. If it's something they don't like, they'll climb up on their island, turn their back to it and put their nose straight up in the air with an attitude of "HUMPH! You didn't put in what I wanted to watch!"

This is exactly how my toads got their names: from watching a cartoon series called "Ronin Warriors." It's a Japanese anime made in the 1980's that was dubbed in English originally called "Yoriden Samurai Troopers." Two characters in particular gained my toads' attention: Sage of the Halo and Rowen of Strata.

Sage got his name from falling off the island and swimming to the front of the tank and pawing at the glass as if he were trying to beat up the bad guys that were attacking Sage of Halo. Thus, my Sage earned the name Sage of the Bubble Halo.

Rowen, on the other hand, would leap off the island to the filter and then swim to the front of the tank trying to beat up his namesake's adversaries or he'd sing as if he were trying to say, "You can beat those bucket heads!" So he earned the name Rowen of the Island Strata.

Neither one has made it clear whether they are male or female, but both will almost completely ignore an episode of the series that doesn't feature their favorite characters.

Fire belly toads are described as charming and good for beginners. I can agree with both points. I've been known to call them my "perfect boyfriends" since they only argue with me once a week, and serenade me daily during the summer.

The common information states that only male toads sing. Well, that means that Rowen of Island Strata is definitely male. Sage on the other hand, I've had a hard time deciding. Sage is the bigger of the two toads and according to some sources, that implies female. Sage also doesn't sing. That too, implies female. That being the case, perhaps she has a crush on her namesake who happens to be quite flirtatious himself. Maybe she thought he was flirting with her.

Theories abound with these toads, but I can say they have quite a few personality traits and particular tastes. In spite of what some sources might say, these toads do like freeze-dried crickets. They prefer them on the end of something moving around in front of them, but they'll eat freeze-dried. I've gotten them to chase a laser pointer as well to test their appetite. If they chase the little red dot, they're hungry. That tells me when to feed them sometimes.

As for their tank, they appear to like the all-aquatic setup with an island. They enjoy the plastic plants that are tall enough for them to float among or even hide in. I'm not saying every toad would enjoy these things, but saying mine do. I've found that each of these little toads is different in many ways. They're all individuals with a personality of their own.

In my two years owning this breed of toad, I've made my share of mistakes. I'd like to share some of the ones that cost my first toads their lives unfortunately.

First of all, they're picky about chemicals to treat their water. A standard fish water conditioner will work, but it doesn't have a few nutrients the toads like in other conditioners. I started out with a water conditioner for amphibians that had a shedding aid and even the fish I had loved it. I had to switch to a fish water conditioner and well, I guess there was some kind of imbalance in the changing of chemicals because I lost all the fish and the toads. Rowen and Sage have managed to survive a few of my errors and helped me see where those errors were.

Second, for having fish in the tank, I had to be careful the dumb goldfish didn't beach themselves on the toads' island. They were however, handy at finding the cricket parts the toads missed and helped keep the tank a little cleaner. In short, the fish found what the toads lost. Mine were getting quite large when I had to change chemicals for water treatment.

Third and the most crucial error of all: a lid on the tank! I've lost three toads to the lack of a lid already. They are master escape artists! They're cute, charming, pleasant to listen to, but deviously clever at escaping! Sadly, they'll dry out if they do. They dry out, they die. It's simple as that. Fortunately, that's the one massive problem finally solved for mine. They have a very nice mesh lid on their tank, a view from my window and TV to watch when it's on.

I've learned a great deal from my mistakes, I still wish it hadn't cost my toads their lives, but I managed to learn from the mistakes. Two toads seem to be perfectly happy in a 10 gallon tank with a small floating turtle island. They weren't sure about the fish at first, but eventually, they got used to each other and the fish learned that their domain was well below the surface of the water and the toads got the surface and island.

To my delight, their singing is very soothing as well. It's a fantastic stress reliever and they're great at keeping secrets. They're amazing company and a terrific source of inspiration to me.