# Tadpole care while away on vacation



## SpaceMan (Aug 25, 2013)

My R. Uakarii have been a productive bunch, and as a result, I've got quite a few tadpoles and clutches under my care.










I will be leaving for a short 5-day trip to visit family (now that I'm fully vaccinated), and am looking for some advice on how to prep my tadpoles for the time away.

I currently have each tadpole in its own 8 oz delicup, and check on them every 2 days, remove uneaten food and waste with a pipette, top up water as needed, and add 1-3 tadpole bites, depending on the size of the tadpole. 

I think one limiting factor for how long I can go without maintenance is the size of their containers, as water quality will quickly degrade if I simply add double the food before I leave. 

What would you guys do?


----------



## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Put them in bigger cups.... And feed them a bit extra ... 

Or!!!! Just go and don't worry about them. They'll survive 5 days without fresh food. Fill up the container with water, cover them to prevent evaporation.


----------



## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Though most of my frogs raise their own tads (as frogs should), the tads I do raise I only check on every five days as my regular practice. Sometimes I'd run a couple days late.

Personally, I wouldn't move them into new cups. There's a population of denitrifying bacteria in the cups you're using that may be doing more work than you know.


----------



## Chris S (Apr 12, 2016)

Just leave them. Feed them before you go. They will eat the leaves, biofilm and graze on algae. You can also add springtails to the water. The surface tension keeps them above the water so they don't drown, but the tadpoles will actively feed on them from the surface (and fruit flies, except these guys drown).

You are way more religious than me. I top up water / change water every 2 weeks, if I remember. I lose a couple now and then, but it's usually when they are very, very small.


----------



## eMCRay (Mar 24, 2020)

Yeah same here - 5 days at a time is no problem for them if you feed them before you head out (my go-to is Repashy Soilent Green). Just check beforehand to make sure none are close to popping their front legs.

If you want you could leave the tads somewhere in your frog room. I've found that the water tends to attract any escaped FFs which end up being a nice bonus snack for any tads. That is assuming it's not crawling with FFs, in which case that's a bad idea.


----------

