# Problems with Tadpole Bites?



## kwazarr (Oct 4, 2007)

I made a sad but also concerning discovery earlier today! I was going through my tadpole containers to check on their progress when I noticed that one of them had died. Although I know full well this is often just part of the natural way of things, this particular tadpole death was unique.

In this particular tad's container, I noticed that some of the Tadpole Bites that I had put in there a couple of days earlier had sprouted several fine semi-translucent fibres that took on the resemblance of a fuzzy dandelion seed in water. The concerning part was that it seemed that this same fibrous material had managed to get lodged down the throat of the tadpole. After checking the other 5 containers, I noticed that another 3 of them had also developed similar growth on the tadpole bites that were in them. Has anyone else had similar experiences using them or does this sound like something that's really out of the ordinary? I'm tempted to buy another batch of it, but I'm not sure if this is something that's unusual or not. What do you all think?

Ross.


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## markbudde (Jan 4, 2008)

Sorry to hear about your tadpole Ross  
It sounds like you are over-feeding and the tadpole bites are molding before they are getting eaten. The mold could have started growing in the throat of the tad after it died, as mold can grow very fast, or it could have killed the tadpole and continued to grow after it died. Either way, I suggest that you remove the moldy bites from the other containers, do a water change and feed smaller amounts in the future. Remember, its much easier to overfeed than to underfeed. Good luck, 
Mark


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## Pirateglow (Jul 29, 2008)

If one of my Tads doesn't eat the pellet they grow the same long things you are describing in my tad cups. I agree cut down on the feeding and try to remove uneaten pellets. Good luck and sorry to hear about your loss/


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## afterdark (Jan 16, 2007)

Hey Ross,

I have seen this exact thing before in lots of my tads. I believe it is the main reason I haven't been able to morph ANY froglets despite having two pairs of 'breeding' azureus.

Now, that being said, I've never attributed it to Tadpole Bites. In fact, the last three tads I had succumb to the 'white mouth fungus' only had boiled oak leaves, a piece of java moss and RO water in their containers. My observations: 


The mold seems to start either at the mouth or inside the tadpole. When I first notice it, it seems to be blocking the entire mouth so the tadpole cannot feed.
After the tadpole dies the 'mold' grows to cover the whole body in a film.
Oak leaves and other 'natural' mold inhibitors do not seem to do the trick.
When I purchased my frogs, the breeder I got them from mentioned having lots of trouble with tadpoles succumbing to mold. He began using methylene blue and said that had solved the problem. I have not been able to track down any to give it a try myself.
 The only thing I can think of is mold. That is why I started to try the oak leaves as they are said to have anti-fungal properties. Hopefully, others will have had similar experiences and we can try to find a solution!

Cheers,


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## NathalieB (Apr 23, 2007)

afterdark said:


> Hey Ross,
> 
> I have seen this exact thing before in lots of my tads. I believe it is the main reason I haven't been able to morph ANY froglets despite having two pairs of 'breeding' azureus.
> 
> ...


I personally have good results with adding a pinch of salt to the water of tads that have a similar problem to what you describe above. Although I am not sure it actually is mold in my case, as some bacterial infections can sometimes look like mold... anyways: it also starts with some mold-like white discoloration around the mouth that spreads to the belly and the tadpoles seem to more "floatability" than usual. As soon as I see this I add a pinch of salt and since I started doing this I hardly lost any tadpoles to the problem.


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

I've used tadpole bites in conjunction with whatever algae is present in my tadpole cups without incident for 3 years. Could it have something to do with the frequency of your water changes?


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## kwazarr (Oct 4, 2007)

Hey guys! 

Thanks so much for all of your input! I've been getting alot of varied input over the past few days and I have to say some interesting ideas have come out of it. Mark, I can definitely see your point about overfeeding! I noticed that I had put in a fair number of tadpole bites relative to the size of the tad actually in the container and I can definitely see how that might contribute to the problem. 

Natalie, bringing up the idea of potential bacterial problems definitely seems like a valid idea! As Mike (aka afterdark) was saying, normal mold-inhibiting treatments such as oak leaves or methylene blue hasn't seemed to prevent this from happening. I wonder if bacterial growth might account for this? I wonder what it is about adding a pinch of salt that prevents this growth from occurring? What kind of water are you using when you do this and how much salt are you putting in? I currently use re-mineralized RO filtered water for my tads. 

Dane, I generally tend to change my tad cup water once a week give or take a few days...I'll even change it more frequently if the tad wastes are accumulating or if the water's just starting to look gross for any reason. I have to wonder if the specific climates that each one of us members live in (climate of the home, and general climate of the geographical area) plays any kind of role in whether or not the tad bites will produce this problem. 

Whatever the case, I've stopped using the tad bites at least for now and have been researching suitable alternatives. Does anyone have any good suggestions?

Ross.


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## NathalieB (Apr 23, 2007)

I read somewhere about fungus-like symptomes on tadpoles could be bacteria-related (trying to remember where I read it... quick-scanned "amphibian medicin and captive husbandry" but can't find it).

Adding salt to freshwater-aquarium is something that is aparantly often done (I heard from some aquarium-keeper) so I just took the chance and it works. I don't know exaclty why it works, but I'm just glad it does.... maybe it's voodoo ;-) I bet there's a logical explanation.

my tadpole water is 50% RO water mixed with 50% aged tapwater. I add some "home-made tadpole tea" I make by boiling Indian almond leaves, oak leaves and banana leaves. The boiled leaves are used as tadpole-food. I hardly ever do water changes, maybe once during their entire tadpole-stage.

how much salt I add is hard to tell, a big pinch... it may vary from time to time


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