# obligate egg feeders tadpole rise alternative



## elianto (Feb 15, 2009)

hello,

I have been breedeing obligate egg feeders for some time now, and a few days ago, one of the bromeliads i have in a siquirres tank rotted and collapsed on the floor. inside i found three tadpoles, all with hind legs already developed.

i tried to put the brom back in place, but the female has not shown any interest at all in it. so before chucking it and tadpoles away, i was wondering if anybody had any luck with aternative food for obligate tadpoles.

i have browsed the forum a little and a few publications on egg feeders, but nothing is too updated, and if it is, i ve missed it.

any tips or stories are much welcome, like i said, lost for lost, i dont mind trying something new on the tads. 

i currently dont have any "supply" of unfertilized eggs, wich to my knowledge are the only accepted alternative and succesful story.

i look forward to any reply,

best


----------



## topher (Oct 9, 2013)

Man.. what a bummer.. I think your only chance would really be unfertilized eggs from somewhere.. maybe a frogger around you can help you out with some. 

Some people have had very minimal success with chicken egg yolk.. only VERY small amounts at a time as it will funk up the water quick. Hind legs being developed already, hopefully this method may be able to work for them to an extent.


----------



## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Some hope because of the hind legs, if the tadpoles are already re-absorbing the tail, or nothing to do. I have lost many tadpoles because of rotten bromeliads - that I'm gradually taking away from my vivs.
Try as Topher said above, with egg yolk. Better if you have eggs of other frogs.
Keep us updated.
Best wishes


----------



## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

I have had similar things happen, I have had luck feeding other dendrobatid eggs to tads with back legs and have had them come out fine just takes a bit longer than if the parents were to raise them


----------



## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

So sorry to hear about your tads, elianto :-(

I was wondering if it would be possible to freeze eggs just in case for just this situation. I sometimes have unwelcome clutches of eggs, and, rather than disposing of them, I could save them in the freezer. Would freezing work and how long could I keep them in there without them losing their nutritional value? 

Sorry if this is hijacking your thread, elianto. I wish you luck in raising your tads.

Mark


----------



## elianto (Feb 15, 2009)

thanks for the many replies,

i have enough tadpoles not to feel the loss too much.but i do not want to take unfertilazed eggs from other feeding sites.

i like the idea of the egg yolk.now the question is, and it may sound a bit stupid, but what if i were to mix egg yolk with sodium alginate and then dip it in a calcium chloride bath?

it would be technically possible to produce non soluble droplet size "eggs" to feed the tads, yet avoiding the fouling of the water basin.

is it worth trying?

thanks


----------



## elianto (Feb 15, 2009)

i dont know if the sodium would interfere with the water quality and maybe another medium like agar would work better.


----------



## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

Since we don't know the chemical and nutritional make up of the feeder eggs I highly doubt chicken egg yolk would be a viable alternative.

I think it would be easier and more viable to steal some eggs from another pair/group of frogs.

I do believe someone on DB has tried it...There should be a thread about it..

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk


----------



## SwampMan (Jun 26, 2015)

What is it that stimulates the female to lay eggs in this species?


----------



## elianto (Feb 15, 2009)

it is mostly processed carotenoids aquired through mites that allow stimulate breeding in pumilios.

so, after some reading and more experimenting, i am ten days in after the last feeding from the mother and the tadpoles are doing fine.

in nature a female would visit roughly every 1-6 days the tadpole, and base her trip on memory. for the tadpole is necessary a mechanic+visual+chemical input to show the so called begging behavior ( vibration)

i didnt care to recreate the visual , since my adults are hopping around in the terrarium where i keep the tadpoles( in these cups where you do the urine tests) but i have added one ml of water taken from a canister where the female sits often, hoping to trigger the chemical input.

i have then prepared the fake eggs in a reverse bath with sodium alginate. took a while to get the doses but i think its good enough. i begin to question the necessity of the alginate, but it helps keep water clean,

i have not seen any direct feeding, but after ten days, id be surprised if the tadpole didnt show any sign of distress, if unfed.

at this point i m just gonna continue this routine. maybe something nice happens.

peace


----------



## elianto (Feb 15, 2009)

forgot to say, 
i used egg whites, not egg yolk.


----------



## SwampMan (Jun 26, 2015)

Very informative, Elianto. Thank you.


----------



## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Powder egg white? I will follow with great interest your thread. Keep us updated!


----------



## elianto (Feb 15, 2009)

no, just normal egg white,i use a syringe and drop with with the needle on. you really get a tiny thing in the water, and after some hours, i do a water change.

i used bio eggs tho since i think theres a lot of chemicals in regular eggs.


----------



## elianto (Feb 15, 2009)

Today I saw a tadpole feeding directly on the egg. 

Considering about adding amminoacids to the egg..


----------



## elianto (Feb 15, 2009)

so,

this is my first one who actually grew completely on extra maternal feeding.

just saying.


----------



## Baltimore Bryan (Sep 6, 2006)

Congrats, so you just used egg whites for feeding, no other supplemental food? Do you have any sense of the survival rate of the obligate tadpoles you've been raising like this?
Thanks,
Bryan


----------



## tonysly (Dec 7, 2004)

Wow that's pretty dang cool Elianto. I honestly thought you would have to steal some auratus eggs or something to raise these guys on. That's amazing what you were able to do with these tads.


----------

