This toad is nocturnal and insectivorous. The toads may become more active during light rain showers. The native habitats of this species are wet lowland rainforests and the lower premontane wet forests at elevations to about asl. Its favourite locations are near large streams and at the edges of forests. In the northeastern rainforests of Costa Rica it occurs from sea level to in elevation, with frogs of the genus "Eleutherodactylus" being the few amphibians to occur at higher altitudes here. It is occasionally found amongst the leaf litter on the forest floor. Reproduction happens during the dry season starting with the males calling from January to February from pools along rocky streams, or within of water. Males may call at odd times of the year. Males develop dark-brown nuptial pads on their first and second fingers during breeding season. Although some sources claim breeding (amplexus) takes place in large streams, according to Savage (2002) it occurs in small, somewhat rocky-bottomed streams which are at low water for the season. Male toads may share their pools with the larger "Bufo marinus" toads. The pathogenic fungus "Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis" has had no impact on this toad. When the species had been less studied, earlier authors such as Bolaños & Chaves writing for the IUCN in 2004 mistakenly believed it to be endemic to Costa Rica. As such it was automatically added to the local Red List and considered threatened. It was described in 2004 as most likely not very tolerant of deforestation and siltation and pollution of its breeding habitat, but nonetheless it was downgraded to "least concern" in 2004. As of 2008 the IUCN describes it as "widespread and regularly encountered" and "common and somewhat adaptable with a presumed large population". It is regularly seen during the breeding period, and is common in wet forests at higher elevations at favoured habitats. It occurs at La Selva Biological Station, in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (if correctly identified) and throughout the Maquenque National Wildlife Refuge in Costa Rica, and in the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve and Río San Juan Wildlife Refuge in Nicaragua. It is kept in an "ex situ" collection at the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center.