# Tads dying



## cindre2000 (Dec 17, 2007)

So I have had 4 red vent tads die in the past month. They were all doing good growing their back legs and getting ready to pop their fronts; and then they die. Healthy one day, dead the next.

They are living individually in 8oz deli cups with oak leaves, java moss, and duck weed. I feed them frog and tad bites every couple of days. I have another two maturing and I don't want them to die too (however these two are transported tads snatched from a film canister, unlike the original 4).


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## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

I dont know that you are going to identify the cause per se

weak tads, SLS...ect.

If is any consolation in my time in this hobby I've seen hundreds of tads die... 

That is why Mother Nature produces so many. Mortality should be high in an organism that breeds in numbers that would overpopulate in just a few generations. Many amphibians go with 'quantity over quality' .

S


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

what temps were they ketp at? did you do water changes?


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## cindre2000 (Dec 17, 2007)

Room temperature, and I occasionally use a turkey baster to pull out the build up of crud.

It just bother's me that this group has yet to produce a froglet. That, and since the move they have been hiding their tads from me so I cannot pull some of them out; I just feel so left out.

I have another tad that looks like its about to grow its back legs, so I will keep an eye on it.


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## jeffreyvmd (Oct 16, 2004)

Are they Iquito or red amazonicus? How old are they now? Some younger pairs/groups take a while to get it right with eggs but also the first tads aren't always strong enough to survive. Also, I have heard of a few people who have red amis that they have yet to get good froglets in years of trying. The frogs lay, the eggs are good but either they die before morphing or suffer from SLS. And as sportsdoc said, mother nature has its way of controlling numbers to avoid overpopulation.


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## melissa68 (Feb 16, 2004)

I agree. It isn't uncommon to loose tads. We all have that issue at one time or another. It just gets frustrating. Just keep plugging away.


Only suggestion I would make is to move from 8 oz cups to 16oz ones. My growth rates are better and I don't have to worry about overfeeding them too much. I also only feed 2-3 times a week and do not do any water changes - just replace water that has evaporated.

Good luck



sports_doc said:


> I dont know that you are going to identify the cause per se
> 
> weak tads, SLS...ect.
> 
> ...


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## Woodsman (Jan 3, 2008)

I like to keep duck weed growing in my axolotl tank, where it has never caused any harm. When I added some to my tadpole cups, I lost a number just as you describe. Whether it was related, I don't know, but I don't use duckweed in my breeding cups any more.

I've also lost tads when I overfed with the tadpole bites, which produce a lot of water molds (Oomycetes) when they rot. I also do water changes more frequently than most probably do.

Don't know if this helps, Richard in Staten island.


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## cindre2000 (Dec 17, 2007)

I did not know that about the duck weed, I will try removing it to see if it helps. Its not really thriving in there anyway, the java moss is what is really taking over. I also will up the size of the cups, I don't have any spare 16oz right now; if I use 32oz should I only fill half way?

As for the species/morph; they were sold to me as farm raised red vents imported by sndf in '06. I am pretty sure they are Iquito.

I am very careful about overfeeding; in fact I have been cutting back on the feeding since some of the cups were building up a good deal of crud.


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