A bufo toad is a large, toxic toad belonging to a group of species historically classified under the genus Bufo. The name most commonly refers to two species: the cane toad (now reclassified as Rhinella marina, formerly Bufo marinus) and the Sonoran Desert toad (Incilius alvarius, formerly Bufo alvarius). Both produce potent toxins from glands behind their heads, making them a serious hazard for pets and wildlife.
Two Species, One Common Name
The term “bufo toad” gets used loosely, but it almost always points to one of two species. The cane toad is the one most people encounter. It’s native to South and Central America and has become a destructive invasive species across large parts of Australia, Florida, Hawaii, and other tropical regions. Adults can grow to 15 centimeters (about 6 inches) or more, with dry, warty skin ranging from yellowish-brown to dark brown.
The Sonoran Desert toad is the largest native toad in the United States, found in the desert Southwest, particularly southern Arizona and parts of northern Mexico. It’s become well known for a different reason: its glands produce a powerful psychoactive compound. While both species carry the “bufo” label, their toxins, habitats, and the problems they cause are quite different.
Parotoid Glands and How Toxins Work
The defining feature of bufo toads is a pair of large parotoid glands, one behind each eye. These kidney-shaped lumps produce a thick, milky secretion when the toad is stressed or threatened. The secretion contains dozens of bioactive compounds that fall into two main categories.
The first group, called bufadienolides, affects the heart. These compounds act similarly to the drug digitalis, disrupting normal heart rhythm. Cane toads produce particularly high levels of one called marinobufagin, along with lower concentrations of several related toxins. This is what makes cane toads lethal to dogs and predatory wildlife.
The second group consists of compounds that affect the nervous system. All bufo toads produce bufotenine, a substance related to serotonin. The Sonoran Desert toad is unique in that its secretions contain extremely high concentrations of 5-MeO-DMT, a potent psychoactive compound. Lab analyses of dried Sonoran Desert toad secretion found that 25 to 30 percent of the material by weight was 5-MeO-DMT, with individual samples containing 200 to 307 milligrams per gram. A single “milking” from one toad can yield enough of the compound to produce psychoactive effects at doses as low as 3 to 5 milligrams when inhaled.
Where Bufo Toads Live
Cane toads were deliberately introduced to Australia in 1935 to control beetle pests in sugarcane fields. The plan failed spectacularly. The toads ignored the beetles and instead spread across the continent. They reached Brisbane by 1945, Kakadu National Park by 2001, and crossed into Western Australia in 2009, more than 2,000 kilometers from where they were originally released. They continue expanding westward at an estimated 40 to 60 kilometers per year.
In the United States, cane toads are established across much of southern Florida, where warm, humid conditions and abundant insects support large populations year-round. They thrive in suburban yards, around canals, and near outdoor lighting that attracts insects.
The Sonoran Desert toad occupies a much smaller range, limited to arid regions of southern Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora. It’s primarily active during the summer monsoon season, spending most of the year underground. NatureServe rates its global conservation status as secure overall, but notes a long-term population decline of 30 to 50 percent, driven by habitat loss and, increasingly, collection for its psychoactive secretions.
Damage to Native Wildlife
Cane toads are ecological disasters in the regions they’ve invaded. Their toxins kill native predators that have no evolutionary experience with bufadienolides. In Australia, researchers have documented significant die-offs of northern quolls (a cat-sized marsupial), freshwater crocodiles, monitor lizards, and various snake species after cane toads arrived in their habitats. The green and golden bell frog, already in decline since the 1960s, has seen its range shrink southward in a pattern that closely tracks the cane toad’s advancing front.
Cane toads also compete directly with native species for food. Their diet is broad: ants, beetles, termites, smaller frogs, small reptiles, mammals, and birds. Essentially anything that fits in their mouth. Combined with their prolific breeding, a single female can produce tens of thousands of eggs per season, and they overwhelm local ecosystems quickly.
Why They’re Dangerous to Pets
Dogs are the most common victims of bufo toad poisoning, typically after mouthing or biting a toad. The toxin is extremely irritating on contact, and the first signs appear immediately: heavy drooling (often frothy), pawing at the mouth, head shaking, and retching. Vomiting often follows and can persist for several hours.
With common toad species, symptoms may not progress beyond this stage. But with cane toads or Sonoran Desert toads, the situation can escalate to weakness, difficulty breathing, blue-tinged gums, seizures, and abnormal heart rhythms. Without treatment, severe cases can be fatal. The speed matters: if your dog grabs a cane toad in Florida or a Sonoran Desert toad in Arizona, this is a veterinary emergency, not a wait-and-see situation.
The most important immediate step you can take is rinsing your dog’s mouth with water. Use a garden hose or wet cloth to wipe the gums and tongue, directing water out the side of the mouth rather than down the throat. This removes residual toxin before more is absorbed. Then get to a vet as quickly as possible.
Keeping Bufo Toads Off Your Property
If you live in an area with cane toads, a few changes to your yard can reduce encounters. Keep grass cut short, since toads prefer longer vegetation for cover. Trim shrubs near ground level, fill in holes around foundations and structures, and remove clutter like pots, tarps, and woodpiles where toads shelter during the day. Bring pet food and water bowls inside at night, as both attract toads and their insect prey.
In Florida, cane toads are not protected (except by general anti-cruelty laws) and can be legally removed from private property year-round. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission actively encourages homeowners to remove them. If you’re uncomfortable handling toads yourself, pest control services in toad-heavy areas like South Florida often offer removal.
The Psychoactive Angle
The Sonoran Desert toad has attracted growing attention for the 5-MeO-DMT in its secretions. When dried toad secretion is vaporized and inhaled, even a small dose produces an intense, short-lived psychedelic experience. A study in the journal Psychopharmacology found that a single inhalation session was associated with lasting improvements in life satisfaction and reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms among participants in naturalistic settings.
This interest has created a conservation problem. Increased demand has led to more people capturing wild toads to collect their secretions, contributing to population pressure on a species already experiencing long-term decline. Synthetic 5-MeO-DMT is chemically identical to the toad-derived version, leading many researchers and conservation advocates to argue that there’s no ecological justification for harvesting it from wild animals. The compound remains a Schedule I controlled substance in the United States.