# Can I do anything?



## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

My first leuc tadpole is developing his front legs, the only problem is that they appear fully formed, but are inside his body! He has been bloated since he was a week or so old, and you can see the legs in the 'bubble'. Yesterday, I noticed he was having trouble swimming, and I think he's to the point where he would come out of the water. 

I have 8 perfectly healthy tads atm, kept in an identical manner, so I know the tad is probably defective due to it being the first from my leucs. Unless anyone has a better idea, Im going to let nature take it course, and see what happens.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Happen to have a picture? You can see the legs under the skin, but if it is bubbling up there could be a problem.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Its definately bubbling up. He's about the same size of the rest of my tads, who already have front leg nubs, except his 'belly' is bulged out and transparent. ill try and get a pic up tomorrow.


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Zach,

The fact that this tadpole is described as being 'bloated' from an early age strongly suggests that it is not going to make it. While allowing nature take its course and letting the tad ultimately drown is one option, perhaps euthanizing the tad is a better choice.

Bill


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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

_Removed comments on tads because I didn't read the thread right._



> While allowing nature take its course and letting the tad ultimately drown is one option, perhaps euthanizing the tad is a better choice.


I wrestle with that a lot.


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## UmbraSprite (Mar 2, 2007)

Try putting him in fresh water and not feeding. 

I would occasionally get "gassy" tads and lost a few. I tried clean water and no food and haven't lost one since.


Chris


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Ok, Ive put him in new water with a bit of java, and no food. I did this once about 2 months ago, but no effect. maybe second time is the charm.

here's some pics:

This pic si blurry, but you can see the stomach bulge:



























His front legs are visible in the 'bubble', and seem completely formed. This is the first tadpole produced by my leucs, from their 3rd clutch. I did not get any more tads until the 7th clutch. Its been this way since it was about a week from the egg. I did a search then, and most posts said it eventually went away, or the tad didnt make it this far in development.
If it comes down to it, how do I humanely euthanize a tadpole?


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## FROGMOM (Sep 7, 2006)

*bubbles and euthanasia*

I had 16 tadpoles last spring from 5 different clutches. 8 of the tads developed strongly right up to the bubbles on the front leg area. They had great size appetitite. Their back legs were very strong, but the front legs were in large bubbles. I soon found out that these bubblers had SLS. 

After reading many posts re: euthanizing, I bought Oragel and put it on the head or top of the body of the tadpoles that were to be euthanized. It was over quickly. I know that a form of benzocaine etc. is used to euthanize amphibians in lab situations. 

Of the 16 tadpoles that had leg development; I euthanized 8 w/SLS. The other 8 are now almost 1 year old and at least 2 have started to call. 

My original stock of 3 males and 5 females have started breeding again. The first 2 clutches went no where. The second 2 are showing 3 of 7 eggs going into tadpoles in the first batch and 6 of 15 eggs probable tadpoles- too early. A third batch of 7 eggs- show 6 fertilized with 5 looking good. Since they are only 2 days old-it is too early. As usual I will worry about SLS. I changed a lot of how I handle the new clutches. Not sure if it will make a difference.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Just wanted to update, about 3 days ago, the frog started to return to normal time. Today, it finally popped its front legs, and it appears normal size, so i put in the morphing box, and it crawled onto land after about 15 minutes. I believe that the bloating delayed the appearance of its front legs, but hopefully its back on track now.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Just posting a follow-up. The swollen area seemed to decrease as the frog's tail began to reabsorb. The froglet looked completely normal when it finally came out of the water, and it came out normal size - only took 2 months longer than the others. Its been out of the water for a week or so now, and doing well.


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## abarrera2 (Sep 13, 2006)

Good to hear that they can get through it.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

I noticed with some tinc tadpoles - and freaked at the time when I saw it - that some developed bubbles similar to what you were talking about... it turned out it was just their little arms pushing the skin outward, making them look odd. It was only up around the arms, not in the actual body cavity near their digest system (where the bad bloating issues occur). I have pics of it, not on this computer, and i'll try and post them when i find them. If you viewed them from above and there was light underneath you could clearly see the arms... dunno why they weren't held tight against the body like most tads.


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## back2eight (Dec 19, 2005)

I came upon this thread while researching SLS. I'm a little confused. I have one tad right now who popped his front legs, but they were in bubbles for about a week before popping out. They look very skinny to me and of course I'm worried about SLS, but since I've never had a tad before I don't know.

Am I understanding correctly that you put the tad in a morphing box right after his legs popped out but before his tail was absorbed? 

I have mine in FF cups, and I turned the cup on its side once I saw the front legs. This way he can crawl out when he is ready. The tail seems a bit smaller. They legs don't look healthy though.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

The timing on when to put them in morphing containers varies by keeper and the frog involved. With species that morph fast, such as epipedobates, the risk of downing is higher, so you put them in morphing containers when you can see their elbows poking out when viewed from above, and some even stick them on sopping wet moss as soon as they get front legs to aviod drowning issues! With more common PDF species in the hobby, like most dendrobatids, they can take around a week between popping front legs and being up on land, so you can wait until the legs pop with no issue.

Stick them in a container with something to climb out on... while some have proven to be agile plastic climbers, I wouldn't count on it. Give them some sphagnum moss or something similar to haul out on. You can also reduce the water level down to just above the top of their backs.

If the tad has SLS, it will not be able to raise the front of it's body out of the water. Froglets don't have the most well built arms to start, but SLS just looks like bones, and the arms cannot support the weight of the froglet... this is the easiest way to tell for the inexperienced.


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