Effects of Toe-Clipping on Growth, Body Condition, and Locomotion of Cane Toads (Rhinella marina)
Toe-clipping is a standard technique for marking reptiles and amphibians individually, but concerns have been raised about the impact of the practice on animal welfare, survival, and behavior. We used a long-term mark-recapture dataset to investigate the impact of toe removal on free-ranging adult Cane Toads (Rhinella marina). Our analysis of 213 toads showed no impact of the number of toes removed on growth rates for mass or snout–urostyle length, nor any effect on body condition. Trials with sub-adult toads on a laboratory raceway revealed a short-term impact of toe-clipping on willingness to move (i.e., decreased immediately post-clipping), but no other significant impacts on locomotion. In summary, toe-clipping had minimal effects on Cane Toad locomotor ability, growth rate, or body condition.
Effect of toe-clipping on the number of pokes required to encourage a Cane Toad to hop the entire length of a 5 m racetrack; trials with asterisks are significantly different; error bars represent one standard error from the mean. The first three trials (field, lab, and toe-clip) were conducted on three consecutive nights, with the following trials each conducted one week apart.
Contributor Notes
Associate Editor: M. J. Lannoo.