Do fire belly toads hibernate?

Are the Fire Bellied Toads dead!?

• My brother researched for a whole month on Fire Bellied Toads and finally got them for his birthday. We had it for a week and it wasn't eating so we went back to Pet-Smart and got another one. My brother says that he thinks they are both male and female. They were great friends and were finally eating. He was feeding them live crickets. Two days later. My brother put them into a box into plastic cube box and put it in the top freezer for the whole night. In the morning when he left for school he put them into the bottom fridge. He took them out and found them cold but they moved a little bit. He did it again but he put them in rice, They were completely covered in rice. Our mom keeps telling us they died. My brother only did it because he wanted them to hibernate. I didn't think it would work. He brought them out around 3:30 pm and he left them in their habit. Its around 8:00 pm now. They still haven't thawed out and hes really worrying about them because he put in a lot of time and effort for these little fellas. So I felt really bad for him and I'm researching answers to find out if their dead or not. They are both very still and their eyes are closed. Will they eventually thaw out? If you have any questions contact me at : [email protected] - Thanks A lot!

• Answer:

  Hibernation is not induced by simply sticking them in a freezer. Of all the captive reptiles on the market, none of them will be induced into hibernation in this manner, only induced into death. You cannot simply assume that frigid temperatures which freeze water will lead to hibernation. The general way to do it is to slowly lower temperatures to below the range. Most captive animals will not enter hibernation unless conditions are simulated perfectly and for fire bellies, they need to burrow in mud underwater for them to naturally enter this state.