# My tadpole experience



## scylla01bp (Jul 20, 2009)

This is my first dendroboard post, although like many I have been reading the forums for years now. I have 5 d. leucomelas, purchased in mid-December of 2006. Here are my experiences, along with some questions:

All 5 frogs were housed together. For the first couple summers, one of the frogs would call, but no eggs were laid. Then this past summer in July (I am in North Carolina), I found the first set of eggs on a bromeliad leaf. Over the next month, 3 more batches were laid (for a total of 12 eggs). Unfortunately, this story does not have a happy ending, just to warn you ahead of time. 

For starters, right around the time the first batch was laid, I noticed one of the frogs in the cage had lost a lot of weight. By the time I got "her" (never observed it calling) moved to a different cage, she was just a skeleton! Fortunately, she has been coaxed back up to good health, and has decent body weight now. Ultimately, the frogs were split into three groups; the breeding pair in a 40 gallon tank, the poor runty frog by itself in a 10 gallon, and the remaining two frogs in a different 10 gallon. I think the breeding pair was getting kind of intimidating; the other frogs seemed to do better once they were moved.

As far as the tadpoles went, I lost quite a few early on due to small water volumes, and bacterial blooms caused by either overfeeding, unknown factors, or in one case by adding oak leaves that had not previously been boiled (I think their decomposition used up all the oxygen in the water, although I'm not sure). Eventually, I ended up putting the remaining tadpoles in individual containers in a half-gallon of water each.

Initially, I used distilled (not spring) water, and fed tadpole bites to them. Unfortunately, due to the high humidity in our area the tadpole bites molded over, so I had to switch to fish flake. The water temp was around 78-80F for most of their development; probably a little bit high. Towards the end, I switched to using city water, filtered through a Brita filter, with chlorine-remover added; pH was exactly 5.5 (as measured by test strip).

Ultimately, I ended up losing all but one of the tadpoles, at various stages of development. The final tadpole morphed out this week (~12 weeks, on schedule but small), but his front legs are not looking good (very skinny, likely spindle leg), and I don't think he will be able to lift his body. For a few days towards the end of his water stage, his front right leg was "stuck" in his skin membrane by his head; I didn't end up intervening, and eventually it popped out. I don't think this made a difference in the end, though.

So, to avoid these results in the future, I am going to:
1) House the tadpoles in bigger containers, with a half-gallon of water per tadpole.
2) Feed single tadpole bites 2-3 times per week, not letting excess food build up; also try to feed more variety (not just fish flake).
3) Use spring water from the store (perhaps try an experiment with both city and spring water set-ups; I know our city uses some pretty harsh chemicals in the water. I kept fish successfully for several years, but forgot to add chlorine remover earlier this year and lost them all at once!)
4) Keep the water cooler (mid-70s) during tadpole development, by placing the containers in a different part of the house.
5) Do more frequent water changes (1-2 times per week), or try to use "aged" water from the start (with beneficial bacteria already cycled).
6) Make sure the parents are fed very well going into the breeding season, with herptivite and repto-cal supplements.

I realize everyone has different systems, so any other suggestions or comments are appreciated! It may be a couple days before I get back to the post though, so don't be offended if you don't get a prompt response from me.


Final question: have any of you every seen "bubbles" develop on your tadpoles? 

Several of my tadpoles developed skin bubbles that altered their buoyancy. Very weird. For most of them, the condition went away after several days. For one tadpole, the condition persisted for the better part of two weeks; because the tadpole appeared to have trouble feeding, I eventually lanced the bubble with a syringe. Unfortunately, the tadpole died within a couple days after that. The tadpole that morphed out had bubbles at one point.

Anyway, this is my experience over the past several months. Good luck to the rest of you with tadpoles in the water!

-Matt


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## shockingelk (May 14, 2008)

You've had frogs a lot longer than me, but here are my newbie thoughts. Most of my tad experience has been with leucs (banded).

There was a recent thread on tads with bubbles: a few folks said frequent water changes clear it up.

_"Make sure the parents are fed very well going into the breeding season, with herptivite and repto-cal supplements."_

I'm starting with this because this was a mistake I made: my supplements were over a year old and I started losing tads, then having eggs not develop fully. After getting new sups a month ago, my auratus eggs are developing well. Most froggers supplement every feeding and replace them every six months. 

_"House the tadpoles in bigger containers, with a half-gallon of water per tadpole."_

Woah, that's a lot of water! Are you raising them communally? Leuc tads can be cannibalistic, I've read they only are when cramped. But I've successfully raised a few dozen in 16 oz individual cups.

To your point of changing water frequently, after reading some people never change water, I started letting it get opaque before changing - just once throughout the metamorphosis. Things worked out fine.

_"Feed single tadpole bites 2-3 times per week, not letting excess food build up; also try to feed more variety (not just fish flake)."_

That seems a lot of food - I've had success with one tadpole byte per week for the first half, then two then three as they get larger. I've never fed more than once a week.

Some warn against feeding too much too early - and not at all until the tads start moving around.

I'm confident that I've read enough accounts from others that variety doesn't matter. But I use bloodworms in addition to tad bytes or fish flakes just for fun.

Your point about using spring water - yes. Distilled doesn't have enough salts and can suck salts out of your tads.

An anecdote: My only froglet that had SLS was one that I accidentally gave a whole cube of bloodworms during the last few weeks as a tad - and just let it be. It gorged itself and morphed out misshapen. Perhaps it was ust obese, but it couldn't hold itself up and I attribute it's death after a month or two was a froglet to overfeeding as a tad.

PS - do you have a coco hut in with the parents? Frogs love laying under coco huts and will usually prefer them to other locations.


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

I only feed my tads once a week (hard learned lesson when I lost a few of the older ones when feeding every day) tadpole bites - I keep in fridge so it won't mold and sera micron - I alternate these with each feeding. I have mine in separate 1 pint canning jars, I use Kent's Blackwater Expert to make the tad tea (mix in a gallon jug of spring water till the water is tea colored- I buy the same brand to keep it the same). I spray my eggs with the tad tea as well to keep them moist.
I keep my tads in sterlite 5 drawer shelving system in a closet in my media room where the tems stay in the low 70's. We have a separate A/C zone to that room so it is kept cool for the frogs. I do not change the water in the tad containers (only siphion a little out with a turkey baster - if the water looks really dirty). Also, I fill the containers 3/4 way full and add water to keep it at that level. So far, this has worked for me, tads are morphing and I am not having any tad deaths.

Hope that helps!
-Beth


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

Oops forgot to add that I have a little java moss in each of the tad containers. I also wait until they are 3 days old before I feed them (removed them from petri dish when swimming freely out of jelly sac).
-Beth


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