# Blue pumilio tadpole died



## r68 (Jul 18, 2007)

I have a couple of questions about my struggles to get froglets from my Blue pumilio pair. Today I found a tadpole with no tail floating at top of film canister. I just have the canister sitting upright in the leaf litter. I assumed the froglet would be able to climb out of the canister. Do I need to put the canister at an angle so the tadpole doesn't drown? Second question do these frogs move tadpoles to different canister because the canister I found this floating in had never had tadpoles recently. But the canister that I knew had a tadpole is almost exactly the same size when I looked in about 2 months ago. I would appreciate any advice because I know I have atleast one tadpole still left in a canister. Thanks


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## sounddrive (Jan 4, 2007)

when it comes to pums in my experience its best to just let them do their thing. try not to disturb or check the tads too often it may cause the female to stop feeding that particular tad. if they are going to get it right they will just give them some time, space, and privacy.


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

I think the film canisters definitely need to be pretty tilted so the froglets can get out of the water


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## Sherman (Oct 29, 2008)

I think it is important to tilt any container that contains tadpoles that are ready to morph out. Once _pumilio_ pop out their front legs they no longer feed on eggs, and it should be safe to disturb them. I'll even go so far as to say it is a good idea to tilt any water containers that are placed with freshly morphed frogs. I recently had a very young _pumilio_ "drown" inside of a 1 oz. condiment cup. 

The young frog had been out of the water for a month or so, and was doing quite well. It was feeding, legs looked strong, and appeared to be growing. One day during feeding I disturbed the little frog and it hopped into the cup. It panicked. It thrashed around inside the half filled cup, trying to "swim" towards an exit. I quickly tipped the frog out and it scurried away to find cover. I did not take to heart what I had just seen. It appears that the frog did not think to just stand up, as the water was not deeper than it was tall, or climb up. It only wanted to move horizontally, expending much energy.

A few days later the water had evaporated from the upright cup. I filled it back up about 3/4ths the way to the top, fed the frogs and went about my day. The next morning I found the little frog floating inside the cup, dead.

I have removed all canisters and cups from my young frogs, and only allow for the tiniest water dishes. (The bottom half of one of those eggs that hold the toys in the grocery store vending machines.)

Hope no one else ever has this happen. Tilt cups!


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