How should I care for a toad that has a broken arm and scratches?

Question

I hit a toad with my weed wacker by accident... It has a broken arm and is scratched up a bit. How should I care for it until Monday when the vet opens?

Answer 1

Put it in a shoebox or something small that's similar that has a soft bottom and soft top, maybe cover with a towel instead of the actual lid, but make sure that both the box and the room it's in is as escape proof as can be. Have a very shallow dish of water (it may be dry and want to 'dip'. If in a bucket, just pour water on the bottom- very little, not past his feet). Keep it calm and quiet, make no sudden movements when you check on it, and don't pose a threat to it. It should be fine without food for a few days, and it's actually not probably up for eating. Just give it one or two crickets, either from the petstore, as they usually have crickets for lizards and stuff, or caught, and toss them in there. If he eats them, you can try and give him more, but he really WILL most likely be just as all right without your giving him any food at all as he would if you were to feed him.

Do not check on it often- no matter how large a bucket/box is, the toad will try to jump out when you move that lid away! Put something that the toad can hide under in the box so it won't feel as threatened if you do need to lift that lid. If you must, and the toad's leg is too broken to allow it to hop to what it thinks is safety, hide the toad beneath it yourself.

If possible, you could try and splint the leg with toothpicks/matches cut to the correct size and very light tape to hold it, as once you catch a toad they, in my expierience, just sit there instead of trying to escape. But you would have to both catch it first, which may be hard on the toad, and you would have to have a second person to either hold him or to splint it, and I don't think it'd really have much of a benefit.

Though you shouldn't look at him much, watch to see if he's acting strangely. Just use your best judgment on this, but it could be there's more serious damage and nothing you can do. (Internal bleeding and the like). I would do nothing about the scratches as they're, I'd assume, closed by now and toads are hardy enough that a few scrapes probably won't harm it much.

Glad someone else is lookin' out for toads/frogs (I pulled 68 tadpoles from a puddle that was drying up, and even though they don't look that difficult to take care of and raise to froghood, they can be.)

Answer 2

Depends on the wound. Is it bleeding out, if so there is not much you can do for it. If it is not, keep it comfortable in a box. Close it so it does not try and escape, hurting itself even more. I do not know how the vet will fix it, but I commend you for taking care of it. I had a similar situation but the toad was cut up so badly , I had no choice but to kill it. Hope it turns out okay.

Answer 3

Just make sure you keep it away from any predators and provide food and water. It's good to see that there are still caring people out in this world : )