Cane toad: make food-safe?

[andyroo]

Sages, particularly those from Aust. & Fla,
I'm interested in my food-bill a my fish grow, and there's a fair count of invasive cane-toads in the neighbourhood:

i) Blanche?
ii) Skin?
iii) Freeze (which I'll do regardless)?
iv) Avoid outright?

Vertebrate toxins are often big, fragile molecules that denature with temperature, so wondering if anybody'd researched or experience incl. with tadpoles.

 

[esoxlucius]

I watched a brilliant documentary about the cane toad a few years ago. With them being so numerous, and quite large, i wondered if they could be eaten. Kill two birds with one stone if you like, reduce cane toad numbers and nourish yourself to boot. The documentary didn't address whether they could be eaten or not so I looked it up!

Apparently they have toxin glands all over the place but if prepared correctly their legs can be eaten, and going off the size of the things there'd be a fair bit of meat on them too. So yes, they certainly can be eaten by humans but whether their meat is suitable for fish I don't know. I'm guessing the tadpoles are probably not worth messing with.

 

[deeda]

A quick search online states that all phases of Rhinella marina or cane, bufo, giant or marine toad are poisonous from egg to tadpole to adult. I wouldn't chance feeding to your fish.

As esoxlucius posted, there has been some attempts at using the legs for human consumption but it takes a fair amount of prep before using them. A followup article by the scientist who originally wrote about the possibility of using this pest for food purposes has fielded comments from the public on the proper method method and does not recommend trying it.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Cane toads are poisonous in all stages of life. They have glands on their shoulders that secrete venom when threatened. Know this from school science.

 

[andyroo]

Yup - all life-stages toxic, though there's some question about newly emerged toadlets.
My primary query is making-safe, which D deeda 's articles have somewhat offered - keep the toad calm with a freeze-to-kill, then lop the legs off & skin.

I'm curious about how the toxin reacts to temperature, though - in lionfish, you either chill or heat & the toxin breaks down. People around here don't know that puffers are poisonous as they they over-cook 'em, which apparently also breaks down that toxin & toad-toxin's a chemical cousin. However, Deeda's article + short-Google suggests that the best way to get high from toads is to make a head&skin soup, which counters this at least to 100C. Deeda's article also suggests that cleaning/preparing legs isn't a layman's effort, but left to professional butchers. This may be to build a formal market & therefore collector-controls to invasive impact, but is likely sincere or at least precautionary.

It's started raining & they'll be around again soon, to be hunted by torchlight & dispatched to keep dogs out of mischief regardless. I may lop a leg for trials on the sword-tails & pleco, though they're pretty tough & maybe not a good indicator... maybe start with the hyper-sensitive river mullet. Arowana (and swords & pleco) come from the same rivers as cane-toad, so maybe she'll know the difference and/or have a durability. Not keen to risk... so option iv for now.

 

[Cich Mind]

Cane toads are poisonous in all stages of life. They have glands on their shoulders that secrete venom when threatened. Know this from school science.

What's up andyroo ,
This is not the exact scenario you have going on, but I once fed my healthy, beloved adult Savanah Monitor a "common" toad and the next morning I found my Monitor dead. I think most toads do carry toxins. Just be careful. GL

 

[the_deeb]

Apparently the bufadienolides toxins are pretty heat stable (at least to prolonged exposure at ~50oC):

Science | AAAS

www.sciencemag.org