# How the hell did this happen?



## Toxic (Jul 9, 2012)

Today i was feeding my azureus pair and i noticed something moving in the water under the false bottom. When i took a closer look, i saw that there was a tadpole under the false bottom.  i have no idea how it could have gotten there. There is no pond or water feature for the parents to have deposit it there. So how did it get there? I feel bad for the tadpole. i dont wanna leave him there knowing that he will die when he morphs out. 

The viv has a drainage hole and i removed all the water hopping for the tadpole to come out as well unfortunately, he didn't. I managed to take this pic. Its hard to see, but if you look closely on the bottom left corner, you can see a his tail.








Has this ever happened to you? if so, what did you do? Thanks!


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

If you have a tad under the false bottom, and you do NOT have a pond or water feature, then your frogs can get under your false bottom. If there is not a pond that the tad could somehow find his way through, then the parents had to have deposited him there. That can be a problem. I saw a dead frog trapped under a friend's false bottom once. I would find the problem and fix it so that frogs can not get under there.


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

I remember someone who had this happen... They ended up digging up some substrate and pulling the froglet out... you could try to put some food in the drainage pipe, wait for the tadpole to go into that area, and then suck the water out as quickly as possible.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Time to find that hole!


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## Toxic (Jul 9, 2012)

ok after checking every inch of the viv, i found a small opening in the back. its so small though. im surprised they were able to fit in there and deposit the tad and come out. ill see if i can get the tadpole out today. Hopefully i don't stress the frogs and tadpole too much.


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

If you have a drainage hole - you should be able to siphon the tad out. Just use a larger diameter drainage hose. Less likely to hurt the tad.

s


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## zreedman (Apr 8, 2006)

I recently went through this with my Luecs. I did have a water feature and thought I had it secured with screen and rocks. Needless to say I had to tear the entire Viv apart. I found 3 more tads. All are doing well. Who knows you might find some more Tads. 
Best of Luck!


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## Tricolor (Jun 12, 2009)

I don't do false bottoms anymore. after a couple yrs my thumbs would always find a way to get through. false bottoms seem like a waste of time to me. Just my 2 cents.


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## Toxic (Jul 9, 2012)

I wasn't able to flush the tadpole out through the drainage hole, but i managed to get it get him to the corner of the viv and then pulled up the false bottom and picked him up with a spoon. This all took me a about an hour. By the time i had gotten him out, he wasn't moving. I thought he was going to die from all the stress i put him though, but then i dropped a little bit of food in his container and he ate it right away


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## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

Glad you were able to get him out. This happened to me once. The problem was that under the background, way in the back was about a half inch gap where the silicone either peeled off or was missed when I constructed it. The lesson for everyone here is to make sure you seal off the edges of your false bottom with silicone, and make sure you do a good job of it. If there is any gap, they will find a way to get a tadpole down it.


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## Toxic (Jul 9, 2012)

yeah the hole i found was in the background and was about half an inch. im really surprised my fat frogs were able get in and out of that tiny hole. im glad i found this tadpole otherwise, i would have never found that hole and i might have found a dead frog instead.


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## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

Toxic said:


> yeah the hole i found was in the background and was about half an inch. im really surprised my fat frogs were able get in and out of that tiny hole. im glad i found this tadpole otherwise, i would have never found that hole and i might have found a dead frog instead.


Well, the lesson to be learned here is to NEVER underestimate your frogs! Our little guys are much better at squeezing through hole than we may expect. 

Glad you found your little guy safe


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## Mantella71 (Oct 7, 2013)

I agree with tricolor. False bottoms are more trouble than what their worth. I only use them with bigger tree frogs species and even then it's only temporary rain chambers. Glad you tad came out out alright.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Mantella71 said:


> I agree with tricolor. False bottoms are more trouble than what their worth. I only use them with bigger tree frogs species and even then it's only temporary rain chambers. Glad you tad came out out alright.


False bottoms work great if you know how to build them. I've easily put together at least 80 vivs with false bottoms. I keep the smallest of frogs, and I have never had a frog get under one. http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/76581-pumilos-75-corner-viv.html#post677462


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## Toxic (Jul 9, 2012)

I prefer to use false bottoms. They are easy to make, the tank is lighter so its easy to move around and i don't have to buy leca so i save money on substrate.


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## theroc1217 (Jun 5, 2012)

When you put the screen over it, sometimes it helps to glue the screen to the sides. Less gaps.


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