# Tadpole with air bubble



## Arrynia

One of my imitator tads has an air bubble that comes and goes. I did a search on the forums and read all of the related threads but still haven't been able to permanently remedy this. I had the tad in 1" of water that was treated with a diluted amount of meth blue and the air bubble went away within a few hours. I refrained from feeding for 5 days then, when I fed again last night, it developed the air bubble again. The tadpole is eating fine and can swim fine...it just floats on it's side when at rest. Any one have any further experience/advice on this?


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## Julio

This happens when the tads feed at teh surface fo the water and they ingest air, try feeding foods that are pre-soaked or pellets of food that sink to the bottom. if too much air is ingested it can be harmful to the tad.


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## Arrynia

Julio said:


> This happens when the tads feed at teh surface fo the water and they ingest air, try feeding foods that are pre-soaked or pellets of food that sink to the bottom. if too much air is ingested it can be harmful to the tad.


All of the food I have been feeding are sinking and they eat them from the bottom. The air bubble appears outside of the gastrointestinal tract, just below the skin.


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## ktewell

I can't really help much but I do remember this thread from a while back.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/breeding-eggs-tadpoles/44968-ext-what-happening-my-tads.html


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## Arrynia

I guess the best I can do is keep the water as clean as possible and let it run it's course and hope for the best.


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## Julio

hope he turns out just fine. but obviously is from him ingesting air, the only other thing i can think of is that he is passing gas and its not letting it out.


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## boombotty

I had a couple retic tads that had the same thing happen last week. One passed it and was fine, the other did not and died. Hopefully yours will be okay.


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## Paul G

I had this same issue repeat itself several times in a couple of citronella tinc tads. I added 1-2 drops of Prime water conditioner to their tad cup and the bubble was gone in 10-30 mins. every time.
Good luck.


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## Eric Walker

It could be from feeding at the surface. But good chance it is not. 

bloated t. asperum tad ??????Any idea - talk to the frog

I just had him die today and posted this there. I use to feed only blood and tubifex worms which sink and they feed from the bottom. it has happened to plenty of other frog sp. tads as well. Water quality can be the cause, high nitrogen level maby. 

95% water change and stop all feeding untill it goes away. mine guy was floating upside down and swimming corkscrews for a few days


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## frogparty

only time I had a tad with an air bubble I did a water change and it went away within the hour


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## Ed

I've also seen bubbles in some tadpoles that were caused by nematodes in the abdominal cavity. This was back when I worked for Dr. Wright DVM. The presence of the nematodes was in the bubbles was documented on necropsy. 

Ed


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## Arrynia

Thanks for the info guys. I'll just keep the water as clean as possible and avoid overfeeding and hope for the best.


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## Eric Walker

ed I thought I was crazy but the first week he bloated I thought I saw a TINEY whiteish worm like thing in the bubble. I candled the tad with a penlight and saw this

where would they have come from. all my tads were housed in individual deli cups and I used the same water for all of them. I was feeding tubifex worms only at the time, could that have been the source.


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## Ed

Couldn't tell you for sure.. I couldn't rule out any source of the parasites... as the incidence I dealt with the eggs hatched rapidly so there could have been larva in the jelly of the egg mass.. 

Ed


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## Arrynia

I think I found part of the source. For the past 4 days the air bubble had not reformed and the tadpole appeared normal. I was feeding Tetra tropical flakes during that time. Today, I went to feed the HBH Tadpole bites to the tads and within a few hours, the tadpole acquired the air bubble again. Perhaps this food is somehow linked to this?


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## Eric Walker

were you feeding the tad bites before?

that tad might just have a problem with that one brand or type of food, how many other tads have you been feeding the tads bites to.


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## Ed

Arrynia said:


> I think I found part of the source. For the past 4 days the air bubble had not reformed and the tadpole appeared normal. I was feeding Tetra tropical flakes during that time. Today, I went to feed the HBH Tadpole bites to the tads and within a few hours, the tadpole acquired the air bubble again. Perhaps this food is somehow linked to this?


Digestion in tadpoles is still poorly understood but from what little we do know is that many of them are at least partly hind-gut fermenters. If enough easily digested fermentables reach that section of the digestive tract, then excess gas production can occur. Of slightly greater concern may be that this can lower the pH sufficiently to cause not only changes in the gut flora and possibly other health problems. 

For some related articles see Chicago Journals - Physiological and Biochemical Zoology

and this one... Effects of the nematode Gyrinicola batrachiensis o... [J Exp Zool A Comp Exp Biol. 2005] - PubMed result

Given the rapid movement of ingested materials through the digestive tract either increasing the temperature by a degree or two (if possible in the set-up) can speed up the metabolism and possibly reduce the fermentables that reach that section of the digestive tract. As an alternative, feeding small quantities of the food item will also reduce the risk. 

Ed


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## Arrynia

Eric Walker said:


> were you feeding the tad bites before?
> 
> that tad might just have a problem with that one brand or type of food, how many other tads have you been feeding the tads bites to.


Yeah I was...and the air bubble was present every time the tad bites were. None of my other tads have issues with the bites though. I'll just try keeping this one away from the bites and feed it from flakes and the superpig. 

Thanks for the great info Ed....it certainly helps me understand it a little more. I do find it interesting that the bubble doesnt appear to be in the GI tract, but rather just below the skin, beside the intestines.


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## gilliusis

I have the same problem with some tadpoles terribilis. Thank you for the information, I changed the water and I do not give food for some time !


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## Ed

I don't have access to this article from here at home but it looks interesting 

PINNACLE - Larval Anurans Adjust Buoyancy in Response to Substrate Ingestion

Ed


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