Around late August of this year (2022), I ordered 2 Asian Common Toads, an easy to keep species with a little bit of heartiness. They arrived on August 30 and both were juveniles, as ordered. The one (male) was slightly bigger than the other (female), which I just assumed the female to be a bit younger. It did however have a very lopsided face, one eye being so much lower than the other. Within the next few weeks it would barely eat, even under the best conditions. Low stress, handling only ever when necessary, properly sized insects offers to it both in tank, and a separate feeding bin.

As I said earlier, she was very small when she arrived. She never grew at all. Within a month she had a skin irritation develop above the eye mentioned earlier, and a few days after that she passed due to her birth defects. I was extremely sad, but still grateful to still have the male, who was still healthy and growing, and to have been able to give the female the best life it could have had in it's short life.

Time goes forward and until a few days ago everything was perfect and healthy with the male. I wake up this morning to him acting slightly off but I decided to put him into his temporary tank and cover it with a blanket to allow him to destress. After that I changed out his water and spruced up his tank a little, making sure everything was clean. I let him relax for a while and a few hours later put him back into his tank.

As soon as I pick him up he's trying to hard to get off my hand, which he usually would be perfectly fine sitting on for a long time. I get him over to his main tank safely and carefully place him back into it. As soon as I do he has a seizure in my hand. He went completely stiff and folded his arms. I understandably was traumatized a bit by this but quickly thinking I set him in his hide upright. Within a moment he gets back up and walks over to his water dish like normal and everything seems fine. Originally I thought he was just playing possum, which amphibians and many reptiles do, but after the events of tonight, we now know it was a seizure.

In a normal amphibian without medical issues, a seizure is caused by a lack of calcium. The other option is if an amphibian is at an old age this can occur as well. I made sure that he received both proper amounts of calcium and vitamins for his diet, to make sure he was healthy as can be.

In a toad with birth defects, even while being given the best treatment possible these things can still happen. My warning is, after receiving 2 toads from LLLReptiles, both of with had lethal birth defects, they may not be they best supplier. (It sounds like another buyer also had a similar issue with two of his uromastyx, plus finding out they were wild caught.) I have owned and cared for many animals in my life, my girlfriend has as well, and between both of us, normal toads would have lived their average 10-12 year life spans or more.

In conclusion, LLLReptile's is selling animals that are unhealthy, and that have birth defects (visible ones too in both mine and the other buyers experience) I would recommend for anyone thinking of becoming a reptile or amphibian owner, don't buy online in general. Go to your local trusted exotics store, and purchase any pets from there.