What Do I Feed Toads? Complete Toad Feeding Guide

Feeding your toad the right food is the single most important thing you can do for its health. Get it right and your toad will thrive for years. Get it wrong and you'll see problems fast.

Toads are strict carnivores. They don't eat fruit. They don't eat vegetables. Their bodies aren't built for plant matter. In the wild, toads hunt live prey — insects, worms, and occasionally small vertebrates. Your job as a keeper is to mimic that diet as closely as possible.

This guide covers everything: what to feed toads, how often to feed them, how to supplement meals, and what to avoid.

What Do Toads Eat in the Wild?

Wild toads are opportunistic hunters. They eat almost anything that moves and fits in their mouth:

• Crickets and grasshoppers
• Moths and beetles
• Earthworms and slugs
• Centipedes and spiders
• Small mice (larger species only)

That variety matters. Wild toads get different nutrients from different prey. In captivity, you'll replicate this by rotating feeder insects and adding supplements.

Best Foods to Feed Toads

Crickets — The Staple Choice

Crickets are the most popular feeder insect for good reason. They're affordable, easy to find, and most toads hunt them eagerly. You can buy live crickets in bulk from pet stores or online suppliers.

One rule: gut-load your crickets before feeding them. This means feeding the crickets nutritious food 24–48 hours before offering them to your toad. Gut-loading transforms a cricket from empty calories into a nutrient-dense meal. Good gut-load foods include:

• Leafy greens (collard greens, mustard greens)
• Squash and sweet potato
• Commercial cricket gut-load food

A starved cricket isn't feeding your toad — it's feeding it nothing useful.

Dubia Roaches — The Premium Option

Dubia roaches are becoming the go-to feeder for serious keepers. They have more protein and less fat than crickets. They don't smell bad. They don't chirp at night. Most toads take them without hesitation.

Dubias are also easier to keep than crickets. They don't escape as easily and live longer, so you can buy in larger batches. If you want to upgrade your toad's diet, switching to dubia roaches as your primary feeder is a smart move.

Earthworms — Nutritious and Easy

Earthworms are fantastic food for toads. They're high in protein, naturally moist, and easy to digest. Many toads go wild for them.

Buy earthworms from a bait shop or reptile supplier. Don't collect them from your yard — they may have been exposed to pesticides or fertilizers.

Mealworms and Superworms — Use Sparingly

Mealworms and superworms work as occasional treats, not staples. They're high in fat and have a tough outer shell that's harder to digest. Feed them no more than once a week.

Waxworms fall in the same category — toads love them, but they're more like candy than a balanced meal.

Black Soldier Fly Larvae — A Nutritional Powerhouse

Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) are gaining popularity as a feeder insect. They're naturally rich in calcium, so you don't need to dust them as heavily. They also have a solid protein-to-fat ratio. Rotating BSFL into your toad's diet a few times a week is a smart choice.

Check out our toad enclosure setup guide if you want to make sure your toad's habitat matches its diet needs — lighting, humidity, and substrate all affect how well your toad digests food.

How to Supplement Your Toad's Diet

Feeder insects alone aren't enough. Wild toads get trace minerals and vitamins from varied prey and their environment. Captive toads need supplements to fill those gaps.

Calcium Powder — Every Single Feeding

Calcium deficiency is the most common nutritional problem in captive toads. It leads to metabolic bone disease — a painful, often fatal condition where bones become soft and deformed.

Prevent it by dusting feeder insects with calcium powder at every feeding. Just shake the insects in a small bag with a pinch of powder before offering them to your toad.

• Use calcium without D3 if your toad has UVB lighting
• Use calcium with D3 if it doesn't have UVB

Multivitamin — Twice a Week

In addition to calcium, your toad needs a broad-spectrum multivitamin. Dust prey with a reptile multivitamin 1–2 times per week. Don't use it every day — too much vitamin A can be toxic.

How to Dust Insects

1. Put feeder insects in a small plastic bag or container
2. Add a small pinch of supplement powder
3. Shake gently to coat the insects
4. Feed immediately — supplements wash off quickly

Simple, fast, and effective.

How Often Should You Feed Toads?

Feeding frequency depends on your toad's age:

Juvenile toads (under 6 months): Feed daily. Young toads grow fast and need consistent food to fuel that growth. Offer 3–5 appropriately sized prey items per feeding.

Adult toads: Feed every 2–3 days. Adults don't need as many calories. Overfeeding leads to obesity, which shortens their lifespan.

Prey size rule: Prey should be no wider than the space between your toad's eyes. Too large and you risk choking or gut impaction.

Always remove uneaten prey after 24 hours. Crickets especially can stress or bite your toad if left in the enclosure too long.

Foods to Never Feed Toads

Some foods are dangerous or simply wrong for toads:

Fruit and vegetables: Toads can't digest plant matter. Even small amounts can cause gut problems.

Wild-caught insects: Don't catch bugs from your yard and offer them to your toad. Wild insects can carry pesticides, herbicides, parasites, and pathogens. Always use captive-bred feeders from a reputable source.

Fireflies: Fireflies are toxic to amphibians. They can kill a toad very quickly. Never feed fireflies — not even one.

Avocado: Highly toxic to most animals, including toads.

Anything seasoned or processed: Salt, preservatives, and seasonings are harmful. Toads eat whole prey only.

Dead prey (for most species): Most toads won't eat prey that isn't moving. Their hunting instinct responds to movement. Some toads can be trained to accept food from feeding tongs, but this takes patience.

Water for Toads

Toads don't drink through their mouths. They absorb water through their skin, especially through a patch on their belly called the "drinking patch."

You need a shallow water dish that your toad can sit in. Keep the water:

• Dechlorinated (use reptile-safe water conditioner or let tap water sit out for 24 hours)
• Changed every 1–2 days
• Shallow enough for your toad to climb in and out easily

Most toads do well at 50–70% humidity. Keeping the enclosure humid also helps your toad stay hydrated.

Signs Your Toad Is Eating Well

Watch for these signs to know if your toad's diet is working:

Good signs:

• Active and alert, especially at dusk and night
• Good body condition (not too thin, not overweight)
• Regular bowel movements
• Eagerly pursues prey during feeding sessions

Warning signs:

• Refusing food for more than 2 weeks
• Visible weight loss
• Swollen abdomen
• Lethargy or unusual inactivity
• Labored breathing

If you see warning signs, consult a reptile vet. Nutritional deficiencies are treatable when caught early but get much harder to reverse over time.

A Simple Weekly Feeding Plan

Here's a practical schedule to start with for an adult toad:

Adjust portions based on your toad's size and appetite. Some toads are voracious; others are picky. Learn your individual animal's preferences over time.

Practical Feeding Tips

Use feeding tongs. Long tweezers let you present prey in front of your toad without your hand inside the enclosure. Some toads will bite a hand they mistake for food.

Feed at dusk. Toads are nocturnal. They're most active — and most hungry — as the lights go down. Evening feedings get much better results than daytime.

Don't overfeed. An obese toad is a common mistake in captivity. If your toad's sides bulge noticeably or it's becoming sluggish, cut back.

Keep a feeding log. Track what your toad ate, when, and how much. It's easy to spot changes in appetite when you have a record to look back on.

For more detail on setting up the right habitat to support a healthy feeding routine, see our complete guide to reptile feeder insects.

Ready to build the perfect toad diet? Start with quality feeders and the right supplements — shop live crickets and calcium powder to give your toad everything it needs.