# Trying to find a timeline of tadpole evolution for E. Anthonyi



## Michee (Jun 9, 2017)

I currently have 30+ tads in various stages of growth from just hatched the other day to two weeks hatched, and I am wondering when I should start seeing back legs, front legs, etc.

My frogs have been breeding like crazy - I've got another 16 eggs on a leaf in the viv. I'm not removing them like I did the first batch, but still finding tads almost every other day in the water dish. It's a bit intense. I have started a dry period with less food for them in the hopes they'll calm the heck down!

If someone could provide a link to a general tadpole growth timeline, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm very new at this and don't want to be surprised or unprepared!

Thanks in advance.


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## redfrogger (Nov 6, 2010)

Epipedobates morph time as a tadpole is ~ 60 days like most other dart frogs. Ranitomeya amazonica morph time is longer at around 90 days.


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## Michee (Jun 9, 2017)

thanks for answering - can you break it down a bit more? For example, all eggs so far have hatched with 14 - 18 days of being laid. The tads all seem to be growing well. When should back legs be noticeable? When do the front legs pop? I don't want anything to drown!

My oldest tadpoles are about a month old right now, so I've obviously got some time - I just don't want to mess up.


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## redfrogger (Nov 6, 2010)

The back legs will 'pop' first. Then a few days/week the 2 arms will 'pop'. I then will move them to a growout tub/tank. 

I will check on my tads every 3-4 days. When I notice they have all 4 limbs , I scoop them out. They will climb up on the sides or the floating moss or leaves in the water if they need to get out of the water. 

They won't drown if you miss the moment they pop their last 2 limbs. They will climb out of the water themselves. But I would recommend checking on them every 3-4 days after their back legs pop.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Ravage (Feb 5, 2016)

Personally, I have never seen front legs pop "days" after the rears. I live at high elevation and I do know my morph outs are slower than for the low lands. But that being said: the rear legs will develop *significantly* before the fore limbs pop. I have seen it take a month. I have raised multiple species and it always is a few weeks from rear to front legs. The key is: don't worry, they will develop forelimbs when they are ready, and you will see that clearly- they develop inside of pockets that are very visible. Look for the tads to begin developing color and that's a good indication that metamorphosis is imminent.
Time to emergence can be greatly reduced by raising the temp., but from what I hear that is not always such a good thing. Congrats! It's always so interesting to watch this metamorphosis. Savor the kids, because they grow up so fast.


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## Michee (Jun 9, 2017)

Thank you both - it really is fascinating to watch the growth of the tadpoles.

What I currently find very interesting is the difference in sizes of the tads! As of yesterday, when one of my frogs deposited some tads in the water dish, I currently have 31. The oldest are almost three weeks hatched, and look huge in comparison to the new ones. I can see back leg bulges on many of them.

On thing I was wondering, is it common for eggs to vary in size from female to female? I have one female that lays relatively large eggs, and the tads that have hatched from them are noticeably larger then the tads that have hatched from a different female, who lays much smaller eggs. Both lay clutches between 16-25 eggs. The smaller egg layer deposited another 16 eggs on a leaf last night, and I now have them in my homemade incubator with 16 eggs from two days ago from the larger egg layer. 

Like I mentioned, I have tads from both females - the one that lays the larger eggs end up hatching out significantly larger tadpoles; I would say at least 3x the size of the others! Is this normal? Could it be a maturity issue? I don't have any froglets yet, but am very interested in seeing the difference in sizes for the froglets!


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## Michee (Jun 9, 2017)

I have froglets! Only two so far, but several more in the grow-out tank have back legs and front leg bulges, so I anticipate 5 or 6 more by the end of next week. The first two to morph were the two smallest tads, which is the exact opposite of what I would have anticipated. The largest tadpoles were double the size, in comparison.

Despite my trying to 'dry out' my adults to get them to stop breeding, I am not having much luck. I have cut misting down to once a day, and feeding in the adult tank every 3 days. When I do feed the adults, they go nuts, literally trying to jump into the cup with the flies or pinheads I am trying to deposit in the viv. I feel like I am starving them, but I think they are getting enough to eat. There are new egg clutches from both females every 7-9 days, never less than 16 eggs and one had 29! It's been fascinating watching the eggs develop and hatch out, and also watching the tads develop.

While I still have one frog laying huge eggs in comparison to the other, at about two weeks hatched, the tads are roughly the same size regardless of how they started. 

I don't want to have to pull the females, but I don't want them bred to death. I had considered feeding the eggs to my fish, but the thought just makes me ill - they are such neat little critters, I would feel like I a murderer. I will do it if I have to, but would prefer not.

Currently, if all my tads morph out I will have about 61 froglets by the end of the summer - that's not counting the eggs currently turning into tads either!

Any suggestions?

edited to add: When should I start feeding fruitflies to the new froglets? Both currently still have a bit of tail, and they are in a small plastic container with sphagnum, leaf litter, plant cutting and seeded with isopods. Are the isopods enough for a week?


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