European Fire-bellied Toad source: wikicommons photographer: Christian Fischer
belly of the Fire-bellied Toad source: wikicommons photographer: Christian Fischer
European Fire-bellied Toad
Everyone likes a nice, nutritious snack and for the European Fire-bellied toad, that's its own skin! When they're ready to shed their skin, they puff themselves up so the skin rips a bit.
Then
they tear the old skin off with their mouth and eat it -- yum!
As the name suggests, they are found in the wild in Europe but many people keep them as pets.
European Fire-Bellied Toads are (mud colored) brown with green splotches on their backs, helping them blend in with their surroundings. However, if camouflage doesn't work
they push up on their legs to show their brightly colored red and black bellies. This warns potential predators that they are not to be eaten - they have a poison mucus or slime that
irritates the mouths of predators who attempt to eat them.
