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We've had our puppies decide to play with cane toads a few times, so far without tragic results, but they have gotten small doses of the Buffo toxin, enough to cause mouth foaming and put them off their feed for a few days. Apparently they haven't learned their lesson because those toads are still attracting their attention whenever they can find one. I did a little research and one piece of common advice is to keep your dogs on a lead at night and when it is raining. I don't want my dogs to get sick or even die, but I need to be able to leave them out in the yard when I go to work, and there are days when that means they are out after dark (especially in the winter.)
What are other dog owners doing to keep their dogs safe from Buffo death? For what it is worth we live half way down HPP on the Makuu side and our lot was cleared 20 years ago and is lava rock, cinders, grass and assorted trees and shrubs, mostly open and sunny, well drained and very little standing water.
Mahalo for any practical advice, I love these little guys and don't want to lose one or both to toad poison.
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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If you have to leave your puppies outside, a lead will probably
not work as the cane toads are attracted to pet food and water!
Friends that have the same problem, confine their dogs to a chain
link kennel. On the outside, up to about halfway you can put deer
netting or wire mesh, to stop the toads from coming in.
( http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/articl...il12a.html)
( http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-Pets-Safe-from-Cane-Toads)
http://www.honoluluzoo.org/cane_toad.htm
Another biological control gone awry!
http://www.benowass.eq.edu.au/6dweb/Rona...report.htm
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we've had to put up kennels as hikatz has suggested. not to protect them from the toads (we've had two), but from themselves! this way, we can go out for the day/night and not have to worry about them.
"chaos reigns within.
reflect, repent and reboot.
order shall return."
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"a great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."
w. james
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Carol.
I concur, if you do not have inside dogs, a kennel is the next best solution for them. They are still puppies right? If so, you can also crate train them in the house. A kennel/dog run gives them more freedom and since you have two, they can play with each other.
But our Golden Retriever was in a crate when I was at work in Chicago and she was just fine. By the time she was about 8 months old she was OK without it and never had an "accident". Valentine (much smaller breed) was also crated when I was away from home until she was about 9 months old. Millions of city dwellers and others crate their dogs when they are away and even at night. Personally, I like having my pets in the house full time, but that is not for everyone.
quote:
Originally posted by kani-lehua
we've had to put up kennels as hikatz has suggested. not to protect them from the toads (we've had two), but from themselves! this way, we can go out for the day/night and not have to worry about them.
"chaos reigns within.
reflect, repent and reboot.
order shall return."
microsoft error message with haiku poetry
Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany
www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
www.eastbaypotters.blogspot.com
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quote:
Originally posted by kani-lehua
we've had to put up kennels as hikatz has suggested. not to protect them from the toads (we've had two), but from themselves! this way, we can go out for the day/night and not have to worry about them.
"chaos reigns within.
reflect, repent and reboot.
order shall return."
microsoft error message with haiku poetry
Aloha Kani-lehua,
Did you folks build your kennels yourself, or did you buy pre-built kennels? I have two Pitbulls, and one Pitbull/whippet mix. None of them are in kennels at all! Just last night the one Pitbull(male pup) was barking like crazy shortly after 11:30p.m.. This went on another 15 minutes until I decided to investigate what all the noise was about. Sure enough, there he was a little toad in all his glory. Not sure if pup has had bad experience from Toad yet. He tend to try and eat everything!?!?
Do you folks have a ballpark figure for say an 8 x 8 kennel? I need to have an idea what it's gonna cost me! Thanks huh..
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Beachboy,
11:30 at night and it took 15 minutes to quiet your dog? Thoughtful.
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One of my cats almost died from a Buffo toad here in HPP. She saw it hopping around the yard and decided to play with it and bit into the back of the neck where the toxin is excreated. Cat started dooling excessively so we had to take it into the Vet on a Sunday (emergency).
Now we don't let the cats out at night. And there hasn't been a problem.
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All the research I did said that if your pet does get a dose of the toxin to wash their mouth out with a large quantities of water. I'd use a hose for a dog and maybe the kitchen sprayer for a cat. The water dilutes the toxin and prevents it from being absorbed through the mouth tissues. If you wrap the cat in a towel so only the head sticks out you have a better chance of not getting shredded.
Our older dog is not interested, which is good because she prefers to spend most of her time outside. But the "puppies" are 6 months old and have a super strong predator drive (they brought me a huge rat they killed the first day we had them when they were only 3 months old).
I think we are going to try limbing up a bunch of the trees and shrubs and otherwise limiting the shady places for toads to hang out during the day and be vigilant about standing water. Breeding has to occur in water to be successful. The eggs take anywhere from 17 days to 6 months to hatch and even the eggs and tadpoles are toxic. And we will have to keep the dogs on leads when they go out at night, especially when it is raining. And of course when it is raining is when you really want to just let them out to do their business and not have to walk them! We don't have to worry about toads coming for the dog food, with our three there isn't a speck of food left in their bowls 10 minutes after feeding time, but I really don't want to have to lock young active dogs up in a box all day when they have a fenced acre to run around on. We've had to do that while we secured the fences and I don't think it was good for them. These are Poi dogs with a good amount of either blue heeler or Australian kelpie in them, so they are very active by nature. One sister seems to be showing signs of black lab genes and is going to be less active when she grows up, but her sister is more like a fleet hound and has tons of energy. Oh well, we'll do what we can to keep them safe.
There is a great video called "The Cane Toad, an Unnatural History" about the Cane Toad problems in Australia. Very Australian sense of humor, but also a lot of good factual information about the environmental havoc they've wrecked there. Their cane toads were imported from Hawaii in the 30s, but they are much bigger than any I've ever seen here, and they have them in much greater concentrations.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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devany's suggestion of using crates is a good alternative and was recommended by our o'ahu vet. one of our male dogs used to love to stay in his. his mother and brother not so much. we now use one of the large dog crates for our handicapped cat that can't jump up. she loves it. we took off the door so she can go in and out as she pleases.
beachboy:
liz and mike helped renee erect the two dog kennels that were purchased from home depot. one is approximately 12x 7 and the other is 6 x 6. honestly, i don't recall the prices but want to say somewhere around $299 for the larger one and $249 for the smaller one. since we were buying two, the manager gave us a 10% discount on the smaller one. we didn't have to worry about roofing because they're in the carport which is attached to the garage. not sure if it would be cheaper to build one yourself.
our dogs are indoor/outdoor and used to have the run of the place. however, ever since they got into a nasty fight, they have to be separated at ALL times. they are only in the kennels when we are gone for extended periods of time. there's no need to worry. they do just fine and we are greeted with wagging tails upon our return.
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"chaos reigns within.
reflect, repent and reboot.
order shall return."
microsoft error message with haiku poetry
"a great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."
w. james
It is possible to reduce the numbers by declaring toad warfare. I really don't like killing things, but it can be done pretty easily if you're willing to go ouside at night with a good lantern.
I accidentally found a very efficient toad killer. Put straight household ammonia in a household sprayer. I was using it for coquis and gave a spray to a group of bufos. The next morning they were all dead on the spot.
They're also pretty easy to catch with a net.
I have two ponds and I go on the warpath with the bufos when they start with the mating call.
My two cats have been around bufos for five years now with no incidents. I am sure they must have tangled and learned quickly. I guess dogs don't learn. Luckily their learning didn't involve biting into the secreting glands!
At night they will sit out on the driveway while toads hop all around them and pay no attention, even though they will go nuts chasing anything that moves from a gecko to a rodent. So they must have learned ... they don't play with centipedes any more either.
About enclosures:
I found that toads can squeeze through cracks. We had a tiny crack under our utility closet door (the water heater closet), and the toads were getting in and colonizing it. I realized it when the closet began to stink of toad piss. [  ] We put a rubber strip on the door and no more toads.
Point being that they can get through where you wouldn't believe it could be done.
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