# Surprise Leucomelas tadpole hitchhiker



## rhino43grr (Oct 2, 2011)

I looked in the tank today and our male Leucomela is carrying around a tadpole on his back. I didn't even know they had laid any eggs, let alone viable ones. I assume he's looking for somewhere to deposit it into some water. There's a little pond area about an inch deep in one corner of the tank that stays wet all the time. I also put four little plastic condiment cups in a few places with some water and put a little piece of leaf litter in each one. 

This is a first for us, so any advice would be appreciated. I looked in the petri dishes under the coconut huts and didn't see any other eggs or tadpoles, but they might be hidden away somewhere unexpected. 

Anything we can do to encourage the tadpole to end up in one of the cups or the pond rather than a bromeliad axil? I'm reading through tadpole care guides to figure out what to do if he drops it off in one of the cups. If it goes in the pond, I think we might just leave it in there and see what happens rather than risking injuring it by trying to remove it.


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## bssknox (Apr 24, 2017)

Yeah, lots to read here in regards to tadpole care. If he drops it off in the pond and you leave it, just know that the parents won't tend to it. Nothing else special you need to do to get him to deposit it than what you've already done. If you do decide to remove it from the pond it's fairly easy. A spoon works, but I use a turkey baster.


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## rhino43grr (Oct 2, 2011)

bssknox said:


> Yeah, lots to read here in regards to tadpole care. If he drops it off in the pond and you leave it, just know that the parents won't tend to it. Nothing else special you need to do to get him to deposit it than what you've already done. If you do decide to remove it from the pond it's fairly easy. A spoon works, but I use a turkey baster.


Well he dropped it off somewhere since my last post. Doesn't look like it's in any of the cups (because why would it be easy?) so I'm guessing it's either in the pond or he decided on a brom axil. 

I'm still trying to figure out how they laid eggs without me noticing for long enough for at least one tadpole to hatch out.


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## bulbophyllum (Feb 6, 2012)

rhino43grr said:


> I'm still trying to figure out how they laid eggs without me noticing for long enough for at least one tadpole to hatch out.


Well, that's kinda their job. Deposit eggs in a location hidden from predators and tend them without alerting predators until they develop.

Good luck with the next batch.


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## rhino43grr (Oct 2, 2011)

Update: Tadpole is swimming around in the little pond. There are leaves and Java moss and a couple drowned fruit flies in there so I think we’ll just leave it in there for the time being. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Josh— (12 mo ago)

rhino43grr said:


> Update: Tadpole is swimming around in the little pond. There are leaves and Java moss and a couple drowned fruit flies in there so I think we’ll just leave it in there for the time being.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


What ever happen with this tadpole? Did you leave it in the pond? Did it live?


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