Can Toads Still Be Farmed? An Analysis of the Medicinal Value of Toads

The toad is also called "hama"; its body surface has many warts and contains venom glands, and it is commonly known as the warty toad, laizi, laci, or lagebao. In China, it is divided into two species: the Chinese toad (Bufo gargarizans) and the black-spectacled toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus). The toad venom and toad skin extracted from them are medicinal materials in short supply in China. So, can toads (hama) still be farmed? What are their medicinal uses and value?

1. Can toads (hama) still be farmed?

Toads can still be farmed, but this requires state approval and the completion of the relevant procedures. On September 30, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration issued the "Notice on Standardizing the Classified Management Scope of Wildlife Banned from Consumption," which clearly defines the classified management scope of wildlife banned from consumption. This mainly includes: wild animals such as the Chinese toad and the black-spectacled toad, for which farming activities for the purpose of consumption are prohibited, but farming for non-consumptive purposes such as medicinal use, exhibition, and scientific research is permitted.

2. What are the medicinal uses and value of toads (hama)?

1. Toad venom (toad cake) is a precious traditional Chinese medicinal material, referring to the dried product of the white secretion from the toad's post-orbital glands and skin glands. It contains a variety of biological components and has effects such as reducing swelling, relieving pain, detoxifying, strengthening the heart, promoting urination, fighting cancer, and resisting radiation, and can be used to treat heart failure, stomatitis, pharyngitis, and so on. Germany has already used toad venom preparations in clinical treatment of coronary heart disease, and Japan uses toad venom as a raw material to produce "Jiusheng Dan." More than 50 well-known Chinese patent medicines in China, including Liushen Wan, Meihua Dianshe Dan, Yili Yatong Wan, and Huachansu Injection, all contain toad venom components.

2. Dried toad skin refers to the dried carcass of a toad with the internal organs removed. It is cold in nature and bitter in taste, and can be used to treat infantile malnutrition, chronic bronchitis, boils and toxic swellings, sore throat, and so on. In recent years, it has been used for various cancers or in combination with chemotherapy and radiotherapy to treat cancer.

3. Toad skin shed is the keratinous membrane they naturally shed, and it has relatively good efficacy in treating chronic liver disease, various cancers, chronic bronchitis, toxic sores and carbuncles, and so on. In addition, the toad's head, tongue, liver, and gallbladder can all be used as medicine.

3. What is the toad farming technique?

1. Building the farm

Set up a fence 1 m high around the site. Inside, set up breeding ponds and spawning and hatching ponds. The area depends on the scale. Ensure sufficient water sources and convenient drainage and irrigation; leave open space in or beside the ponds to plant lawn grass or vegetables, and put an appropriate amount of aquatic plants in the ponds. Raise yellow mealworms, fly maggots, and earthworms or install lights to attract insects to increase feed.

2. Artificial breeding

Capture and raise Chinese toads (Bufo gargarizans), piebald toads (Bufo raddei), and black-spectacled toads (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) as breeding stock. Adult toads lay eggs at 10°C, about 5,000 eggs each time; place them in a hatching pond, and at a water temperature of 18-24°C the tadpoles hatch after 3-4 days. Strengthen feeding.

3. Stocking density

Raise 2,000-4,000 small tadpoles per sq m; after 20 days reduce to 500-1,000, and for young toads 30-40. They need to be raised in separate ponds and groups according to different developmental stages.

4. Feeding management

Newly hatched small tadpoles live on the residual nutrients inside the egg membrane for 2 days, and begin to feed after 3 days. In artificial rearing, rice bran, wheat bran, kitchen scraps, earthworms, fly maggots, and so on can be provided. Feed 1-2 times a day, keep the water temperature at 16-28°C, the water quality must be fresh and clean, and the water depth is preferably 0.2-0.4 m.

5. Disease and pest control

Toads have few diseases; the main thing is to prevent harm from rats, snakes, birds, and so on. Maintain the fences and patrol them, and in winter move them to burrows or underwater soil to overwinter safely.

Overall, toads can still be farmed, but farming is only permitted for non-consumptive purposes such as medicinal use, exhibition, and scientific research. In addition, toads, like frogs, are also an important beneficial animal, swallowing large numbers of harmful insects every day.