# Imitator Tadpole Diary



## markbudde

OK, I moved this tadpole to my lab the other night, and I am going to try an take pictures as frequently as possible, and then when it morphs I will composite them into a timelapse. There is a ruler in the picture for future size reference.

I took this with the camera held up to the eyepiece of the micrscope and the camera focused on the background.

And it starts at...

DAY 5


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## markbudde

Day 6


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## Brian Ferriera

This is cool..keep us posted
Brian


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## tison 30

Im loving this thread already and you just got started...Thank you for doing somthing this cool


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## Philsuma

Awesome!

Not too sound too greedy, but can you do an imi egg too?


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## markbudde

Philsuma said:


> Awesome!
> 
> Not too sound too greedy, but can you do an imi egg too?


That was the intention of this thread. 
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/br...5-curled-tail-bubble-stomach-any-guesses.html


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## markbudde

Day 7


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## markbudde

Day 8 - Lighting from above this time


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## markbudde

Day 9 - I think this picture turned out well









Day 10


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## Otis

Indeed it did


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## markbudde

Day 11


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## markbudde

I changed the image sizes so they will work for HD video. I also didn't get a chance to snap a pic today, so no day 13...
But here is day 12.









http://vimeo.com/2847079


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## EricT

I love the thread and the idea.. Good luck and keep it coming!


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## markbudde

Busy lately, but here are some pics. His back legs are now visible and about 0.7mm long. You can see them on the Pic of Day 14 and Day 18

Day 14









Day 15









Day 17









Day 18 (I didn't get the whole tail)


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## Gaz1987

Hi what type of imitator morph is this and what are you currently feeding?


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## Gaz1987

Anyone tell me what they feed there imi tads?


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## markbudde

I feed tadpole bites whenever there are none around, and sera micron once a week. The morph will appear once it morphs  I'll have new pics up tomorrow, I've been really busy lately.
-mark


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## Gaz1987

Ok thanks have you ever used blood worm or fish flake with good results?


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## markbudde

Day 19









Day 20









Day 22









Day 24









Day 25









Day 26









You can see how long his legs are on the day 26 picture. I wish I could get a pic from below, but its not possible with his container.


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## markbudde

Video so far is here.
Dendrobates imitator tadpole to day 26 on Vimeo


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## JFrog

The time lapse finished product is the crowning glory here. What a great idea Mark. It's going to take due diligence to see this one through but I think the outcome will rival that of the "Halloween Tree" wait. Nice.


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## markbudde

Yeah, I'm going to quit giving daily pictures, but I'm still collecting them for the timelapse. If anyone wants an update go ahead and post here.

Here is the setup. A cheap stereoscope with the camera held up to the eyepiece. The tadpole is living in an old container that media came in. It gets a loose lid and sits on the top shelf when I'm not taking a picture of it.









When I took the daily picture today, I noticed some yellow color on the head, so I zoomed in and took another shot. You can see the iridophores forming on his head. I didn't realize that they came in this early.









And here you can see single iridophores forming. This is a very sterotypical chromatophore shape. Sorry for the low quality pics, but I'm not set up for anything higher.









-mark


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## markbudde

In this picture he is backlit and you can see his front legs are developing well. Probably about two weeks until his legs are out.


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## jubjub47

I've got a vent tad thats about the same age as this guy. Still haven't seen any legs yet though.


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## markbudde

I think vents are notorius for taking much longer than imis to morph, perhaps up to 9 months.

Here is an update from today, day 47


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## somecanadianguy

looking cool mark good luck
craig


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## EricT

Best Thread Ever! 

I really like this idea... Please keep the pics coming... Well done!

Thanks for putting in the time to post this...


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## jubjub47

markbudde said:


> I think vents are notorius for taking much longer than imis to morph, perhaps up to 9 months.
> 
> Here is an update from today, day 47


I've heard the same Mark. It's just making me jealous seeing your guy developing at a crazy rate compared to mine


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## markbudde

Thanks for the kind words everyone. One of the reasons I started this thread was because I got pretty anxious about my first tadpole; when he was about to morph I had not idea how long it would take. So I am going to try and post frequent pictures until this guy pops his front legs. I am going to guess that this guy has about one more week (but we'll all find out together). Here is day 49.









Please give a shout if you've been following this guy's progress.


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## markbudde

Day 51


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## jubjub47

Those front legs look like they'll pop any day.


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## markbudde

Video so far is here
dendrobates imitator tadpole timelapse to day 51 on Vimeo


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## markbudde

Day 53. Legs might pop tomorrow. Here is a shot through him.









And his color is coming in nicely.









The water has been more foul lately, so I might need to do a partial change tomorrow.


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## markbudde

Maybe a couple more days till his arms pop. Day 54.


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## EricT

Can't wait .. Like reading a book you know the ending to , but it's just that good...


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## markbudde

His legs like well formed, but haven't popped yet. Hopefully sometime this weekend. His pattern looks like asymetric spots on his back.


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## markbudde

Day 58 and still no front legs. Two weeks ago I guessed it would be day 59, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. His front legs appear healthy and well formed.


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## Alpha Pro Breeders

Just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate this thread. My first tadpole is also a imitator and just a few days younger than yours. I look at your pictures and look at mine, takes all the worry away. Thanks again / Ron


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## markbudde

bpxc2003 said:


> Just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate this thread. My first tadpole is also a imitator and just a few days younger than yours. I look at your pictures and look at mine, takes all the worry away. Thanks again / Ron


Congrats on the tadpole! I tend to overthink these things, which is why I wanted to make this, so everyone could compare where there tad is and how much longer they have. I'm glad you found it useful.
-mark


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## markbudde

Day 59... After looking at Tor Linbo's website (www.froglet.us), he should pop his arms any day now.


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## markbudde

First arm popped yesterday afternoon. Here is a pic from today (day 62). I'm probably going to take him home tonight and put him in his morph/grow out tank.


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## markbudde

Other arm popped today (day 63). He is now living in his grow out tank.


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## EricT

Congrats! ... This little one is somewhat a celebrity =0)


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## markbudde

I'm going to keep taking pics until he leaves the water, then I'll compose a complete timelapse and collage.


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## markbudde

day 66


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## Otis

This is a great thread Mark, it should be added as a link under the imi care sheet.


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## frogparty

legs look good and strong!


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## markbudde

Thanks for the kind words. He definitely has full mobility in both legs.  Her should be bouncing around the viv in a few days.


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## EricT

This really is a remarkable thread. I am going through raising my first tads right now and this gives me another solid reference.. 


Sticky perhaps?


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## markbudde

Day 68. He's hanging out by the water's edge now. Surprisingly, he can still use his tail.


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## SamsonsFrogs

Wow, that was really cool. I think i will do the samething. It will be a learning experience for me, so the picutres will be cool to have as a memory of raising a PDF.  Thx for the idea Mark! 

Sam


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## ChrisK

Can't wait to see how that pattern is gonna come out


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## markbudde

Day 71 
I think his pattern is pretty much done. After I snapped this shot today he ventured onto land for a little bit, but later went back into the water. He's been sitting with his nose out of the water occasionally for a couple days. The color is a little off because his water is green with algae.


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## markbudde

Final Pic. Day 74


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## frogparty

Very nice, now for the final part of the process. ship it to me at this adress.... lol


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## markbudde

OK, here is a timelapse of the whole process. Zone out and stare at it for a while. Eventually you'll notice some things. For instance, the front and back legs grow at about the same rate and at the same time. The iridiphores (color cells) start as white spots on the back, which become white a white triangle and then spread to cover the whole body. Watch as his eyes migrate from the top of his head to the sides of his head. Notice how he absorbs his belly at the same time he is adsorbing his tail and his gills. 

http://vimeo.com/3758258


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## markbudde

Here is how it was raised. No sign of SLS here.

Temp: 23C, constant (no cooling period at night)
Water: Initially into ~50 ml R/O water conditioned with RO Right and Atison's Betta Spa. The water was probably about 1 cm deep. Crap was occasionally (about once every 2 weeks or when it was looking like it might foul) sucked out with a transfer pipette and replaced with RO water.
Food: 1-3 HBH Frog & Tadpole Bites were replaced when none were visible. A TINY pinch of Sera micron (which is a powdered fish food with spirulina in it) was added about once a week. No other food sources were added, although there were initially some microrganisms (maybe ciliates and tiny planaria) in the container. They weren't in the container by the end. No additional vitamins or supplements were added.

I thinks that's it as far as care goes.


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## EricT

markbudde said:


> OK, here is a timelapse of the whole process. Zone out and stare at it for a while. Eventually you'll notice some things. For instance, the front and back legs grow at about the same rate and at the same time. The iridiphores (color cells) start as white spots on the back, which become white a white triangle and then spread to cover the whole body. Watch as his eyes migrate from the top of his head to the sides of his head. Notice how he absorbs his belly at the same time he is adsorbing his tail and his gills.
> 
> http://vimeo.com/3758258


It says the video of the time lapse is private even after I signed up... Any way 
I could view it...
am I the only one having issues?


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## markbudde

The security settings were turned on for some reason, but it should be fixed now. That must mean that you were the first one to try and watch it. I guess not many poeple around here are into timelapse. Anyway, you shouldn't have to sign up for an account or anything. I can post it to youtube if you are still having issues, but the quality of youtube videos is so poor that you lose a lot of the detail. Let me know if you can watch it now.
-Mark


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## frogparty

neat video!


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## EricT

THAT my friend was just incredible! Well done! I am a huge fan of this thread and the work you've put in to it. Congrats on the tads and much future success!

I do have a question... When the front legs "pop" do they breakthrough the skin all at once or slowly?


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## markbudde

It breaks through all at once. Sometimes you will see only the elbow has broken the skin and then later find the whole arm sticking out.


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## GBIII

Mark that is SWEEEEET! 

Thanks for taking the time to put that together!

George


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## jubjub47

Very cool work on the time lapse Mark. This tad was hatched about a week before one of my vent tads and I've been kinda tracking progress along with this guy. Mine still has a few more weeks I'm guessing, although from looking at the eyes I think he's getting close.


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## GBIII

Hey Tim,

I think Mark's imitator only took a little over two months.... My Blue leg vent's take 4-5 months to morph. Hopefully, yours won't take as long.

George


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## new frog breeder

great job

finaly someone put up detailed timlapsed photos


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## McBobs

Mark... Did you keep the little guy?

Breeding yet? He's definitely old enough now!

-Matt


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## markbudde

I sold her a while ago. She matured at about 6 months if I recall.
-Mark


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## frogface

Great vid! Thanks for taking the time do do that.


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## ALLEN HUNTER

Mark that was awesome!! My kids just watched this with me this evening and thought it was amazing.

Aweinspiring project. I enjoyed all of your work.


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## D3monic

Very nicely done, I need to pick up a second scope for this purpose. My current one is only good for much smaller subjects. I never knew that it would take that long for a tad to develop...its a wonder they manage to survive in a brom for that long in the wild.


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## bgmike64

This thread answers so many of my questions regarding imi tad development. Definately worth bookmarking. Thanks!!!!!


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