 The cane toad begins life as an egg , which is laid as part of long strings of jelly in water . A female lays 8 @,@ 000 – 25 @,@ 000 eggs at once and the strings can stretch up to 20 m ( 66 ft ) in length . The black eggs are covered by a membrane and their diameter is about 1 @.@ 7 – 2 @.@ 0 mm ( 0 @.@ 067 – 0 @.@ 079 in ) . The rate at which an egg grows into a tadpole increases with temperature . Tadpoles typically hatch within 48 hours , but the period can vary from 14 hours to almost a week . This process usually involves thousands of tadpoles — which are small , black , and have short tails — forming into groups . Between 12 and 60 days are needed for the tadpoles to develop into juveniles , with four weeks being typical . Similarly to their adult counterparts , eggs and tadpoles are toxic to many animals . 
