# Transferring/Acclimating Tads



## Percularis (Mar 22, 2011)

I'm expecting my oldest tad's front legs to pop out tomorrow and the others aren't very far behind. I want to move them to their permanent viv, which they can easily crawl out of the water and onto the land when ready. I have the viv's water area filled with distilled water so it is ready for the older tads. 

So my questions are...

1. Do I need to acclimate them to the new water? I don't want to transfer their current water over because it's full of little water beetles (which don't harm them at all). I have a drip acclimation system if they need to be acclimated slowly. 
2. Is there anything else I need to know about moving them? Are their limbs extremely delicate at this stage? If so, I can catch them with a cup so they don't get hurt by the net. The net I have is a shrimp net and has no holes. It's extremely soft too.

Thanks in advance!


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## saruchan (Jun 12, 2010)

I would wait until their front legs pop out then place them in a morphing out topper ware set up. This consist of enough water (for the tadpole or tadpoles I keep two to three in a morph out tub) , some spagnum moss kept wet and some java moss. Then tilt the tub so that its partially wet and dry. After they have completely morphed I would then place the froglet in a topper ware with some moist spaghnum moss, some plant clippings and some leafs for them to cover under. Also load this tub with a bunch of springtails for them to much on. I think this would be alot safer then placing them into the permanent viv you could avoid things like them starving or even worse finding him dried up in a corner or something best of luck to you! 

Here is an example of my morph out tub


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## Percularis (Mar 22, 2011)

saruchan said:


> I would wait until their front legs pop out then place them in a morphing out topper ware set up. This consist of enough water (for the tadpole or tadpoles I keep two to three in a morph out tub) , some spagnum moss kept wet and some java moss. Then tilt the tub so that its partially wet and dry. After they have completely morphed I would then place the froglet in a topper ware with some moist spaghnum moss, some plant clippings and some leafs for them to cover under. Also load this tub with a bunch of springtails for them to much on. I think this would be alot safer then placing them into the permanent viv you could avoid things like them starving or even worse finding him dried up in a corner or something best of luck to you!
> 
> Here is an example of my morph out tub


I'll do that just in case of a mishap. These aren't dart frogs though and they can hop really well. Do you keep your morph containers covered? Also, what do they eat during the morph? I would assume they pull the nutrients from their tail, but is there anything else I can give them? I used to keep these frogs when I was really young and I fed them crickets from the very beginning. I'm sure that would work, however I don't want to take the change of choking. I'll feed them springtails for a bit to stat off if my local viv store has them. Can springtails hop? And do they stay on the ground? My viv has a netting cover and I don't want them to crawl out the tiny holes.


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## saruchan (Jun 12, 2010)

Oh Im sry what kind of frogs are you keeping? There care maybe alot different so in that case I dont know lol. Yes the grow morph out tub is topped I just cut some holes in for ventilation.


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## Percularis (Mar 22, 2011)

saruchan said:


> Oh Im sry what kind of frogs are you keeping? There care maybe alot different so in that case I dont know lol. Yes the grow morph out tub is topped I just cut some holes in for ventilation.


The tads I'm raising are Pacific Tree Frogs. The "Tree" part of the name is rather misleading because they are rarely found in trees. They're more like pond frogs. They are the size of larger-sized darts, like Azureus. I've read that they mainly eat crickets, and I've fed newly morphed ones that when I had this kind of frog when I was really young.


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## Xan Stepp (Aug 17, 2009)

How long to they take to exit the water once they grow front legs? What I've been doing with my hourglass tree frogs is just scooping them up in little bathroom cups along with the water in their tank, and placing the cup in the grow out tank. They take about 12 hours to climb out, and they all do pretty well. You may want to consider some variation of this.


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## Percularis (Mar 22, 2011)

Xan Stepp said:


> How long to they take to exit the water once they grow front legs? What I've been doing with my hourglass tree frogs is just scooping them up in little bathroom cups along with the water in their tank, and placing the cup in the grow out tank. They take about 12 hours to climb out, and they all do pretty well. You may want to consider some variation of this.


Keep them in a cup that they can't get out of when they're still living in the water, and when they're ready they'll hop out. Is that the correct idea?

I'm not sure how long it takes theses guys to exit the water. If I remember correctly, once their front legs start to pop out it takes a few days. Once their front legs are completely developed, they're ready to spend a bit of time on land. I think it may be safer for them for me to make a morph tank like the one saruchan shared a picture of. That way they won't drowned and they can climb in and out without much energy.


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## Percularis (Mar 22, 2011)

Here's my morph container. It's about 4" (L) x 6" (W). I put wet sphagnum right up against the water part of the container. 

Side view...










Top view...










Does it look okay? Anything I need to add? And do they live off the nutrients in their tail until it's completely gone?

The largest tad have all his legs except his front left one. I see a little bump there, so he should have it within a few hours I would assume. When should I move him to the morph tank, and when I do, can I move him with a net or do I need to catch him with a cup?


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## Percularis (Mar 22, 2011)

I can see an bulging outline of an arm and a hand going from below the back to the chest. That's probably the arm. It should be out by tonight at the rate it's going.

Is it bad to take it out of the water? I won't use a net just in case, but I'm wondering if I should do it with my hand or a cup. It would probably be easier to get it into the palm of my hand than catch it with a cup.


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## Xan Stepp (Aug 17, 2009)

> Keep them in a cup that they can't get out of when they're still living in the water, and when they're ready they'll hop out. Is that the correct idea?


Almost. I wouldn't put them in a cup that they can't excape. The tree frogs climb out just fine, but I would probably tilt a cup so that the frogs can walk out whenever they want. It's essentially like creating a tiny morph-out tank for each metamorph. It keeps me from worrying about water quality, and having to worry about having a morph-out and a grow-out tank. If they take several days to morph out, there may be water quality issues, but since most (if not all) metamorphs don't eat after they grow their front legs, there are fewer concerns. 

However, what has worked for one species may not work for another.


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## Percularis (Mar 22, 2011)

My main viv has a lot of swimming space for the morphs, plus it's wet (not moist, wet) on the floor of the viv, which is also covered in moss. I don't think they would dry up unless they decided to climb up one of the pieces of driftwood, but I assume they can't climb with the big tails they have while still water-breathers. It's just like the morph container is. The only problem I see is the morph swimming into the shallow area in my viv and getting stuck in the air. Can they breathe water and air at the stage with a tail and all four legs?


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## Percularis (Mar 22, 2011)

The largest of the bunch has all four legs out and 1/4 of his tail is gone. His tummy is starting to bulge and he looks almost like a frog. These guys stay in the water until the last minute, so I'll add him to the viv's water area once 3/4 of his tail is gone. I would assume it would be okay to add him now, because in the wild they don't have morph containers and they can crawl right onto the land from anywhere, as they can do in my viv too. I'll wait until he can breath partial air before I add him though.


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## Percularis (Mar 22, 2011)

The second largest tad is now showing signs of one front leg about to pop out. By the time he has his legs out, the largest tads (currently has all legs and 3/4 of his tail) should be in the viv.


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## Percularis (Mar 22, 2011)

I got the first guy over to the vivarium yesterday and he's doing great. When moved him he still had like half his tail left, yet he could breath full air and he hasn't gone back in the water since then. He has 1cm or less of his tail left, and once that's gone I'll give him a cricket.


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