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 #2006536


Tran
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 Help! Tadpole ID

Okay, I need some help figuring out what’s going on. We have three tadpoles that are supposedly bullfrog tadpoles. From what I’ve been told they take quite a long to to mature to frogs which makes me wonder if these are something else. They arrived May 1st and had tiny hind legs at that time. Now two of them already have front legs and their tales are shrinking. So this has happened in two weeks. The third one has stayed the same as when it arrived.

I’ve looked around the forum and they do look like bullfrog tadpoles, but it also seems people keep talking about leopard frogs. Any ideas?



05/17/09  06:37pm

 #2006712


Clawedfrogsrule
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   Message To: Tran   In reference to Message Id: 2006536


 Help! Tadpole ID

yay another frog debate :)
It’s possible that the tadpoles were already a bit old when you got them (as was the case with mine). You may have leopard frogs too. Post a picture (if you dare) and we’ll do out best to come to a conclusion.
05/17/09  10:07pm

 #2007157


Tran
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   Message To: Clawedfrogsrule   In reference to Message Id: 2006712


 Help! Tadpole ID

Thanks for reply! My daughter posted 1st contact while I was busy with my tad & frog-lets. Unlike her, I agree with your comments & feel they were all bullfrog tads, as ordered. My concern is that I’m sure they all had moving little hind legs on arrival, two have become frog-lets, but the other tad’s legs seem to be smaller to me than at first & are held close to it’s body, pointing back towards the tail ( with no movement at all. I thought I saw all their little legs moving when they arrived.? ). My daughter thinks we all just weren’t that observant in the beginning, and this little one is developing slower. Have you ever heard of anything like that happening, or is my daughter right? Do I just wait to see what happens, or is something wrong & I should be doing something for the tad? If so, what? Obviously, I’m new at this and welcome all information. I started this project for my grand-daughter, but am hopelessly hooked on these little things now! Thanks.
05/18/09  05:03pm

 #2007755


Clawedfrogsrule
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   Message To: Tran   In reference to Message Id: 2007157


 Help! Tadpole ID

I’m not sure why it would be taking longer to develop than the others, maybe it’s just a runt and can’t compete as well for food. When I’ve had tadpoles it always seemed like the legs didn’t really start moving too much until they were really big enough to use, so I wouldn’t worry about that yet. I say just give it time, they all develop at different rates, and bullfrogs do normally take a while...so unless it starts either losing weight or looking bloated, or acting strange and disoriented, I wouldn’t worry.

sidenote: Have you moved the froglets to a separate tank? They’ll start eating live food once they lose the tails, and depending on your setup now they might need more land (a half/half setup would be good). And if they continue to grow while the other guy’s still a tadpole, they will eat him...so I just wanted to make sure.
05/19/09  07:53pm

 #2008026


Tran
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   Message To: Clawedfrogsrule   In reference to Message Id: 2007755


 Help! Tadpole ID

Haven’t moved the froglets yet, but lowered the water level to about 4 inches & put a large fake rock in, which they love. It seems to leave them & the little tad plenty of room to swim for now (10 gal. tank). I’ll get a larger tank soon ( How soon? Now?). Any advice on size of new tank? I want to give them the size they need, but not go larger than necessary as I live in a small house.
The local pet shop gave me some tiny crickets to put in for the froglets to eat, and it seems a few are gone-- but I’m not certain. Since I read on the message board that they usually don’t eat while in process of reabsorbing tails & developing lungs, etc., not worried. Right? Little tad still eating flakes, of course. And, yes, he/she was the runt.
So glad found this site and can talk to people who know what they’re doing! Please don’t desert us, will continue to have questions. Thanks!
05/20/09  09:10am

 #2008468


Clawedfrogsrule
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   Message To: Tran   In reference to Message Id: 2008026


 Help! Tadpole ID

I would separate them now, that way you can make a setup with less water (they really don’t need that much water as adults), and also put in some hiding places like plants (live or fake) and/or a cave or two. They get pretty shy as they mature, mine spends all day in her cave and only comes out in the middle of the night when the lights are out and nobody’s around.
As for tank size, for full grown adults usually a 30 or 40 gallon works. Just watch them, because the males in particular can get territorial. They’re young now so you can’t really tell gender yet, but wait a while and see what happens, if they get along, that’s great. If not, you’ll have to separate them.
For food, usually they only eat when the tail’s gone, but it’s still good to have the food available just in case. Also, put some fish flakes on the rock for the crickets to eat, that way they don’t bother the frogs.

Yeah this site’s great, it helped me A LOT when I first started.
05/20/09  10:20pm

 #2009411


Tran
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   Message To: Clawedfrogsrule   In reference to Message Id: 2008468


 Help! Tadpole ID

O.K. I’m looking @ the tank & stand, etc. setup @ the local shop--surprisingly about half the cost of ones @ Petsmart. What depth do you keep your tank’s water? What do you put in bottom, aquarium gravel, or have you found something better? The pet shop is recommending a screen top with light just set on top of screen. Is that what you do?

The tad seems to be holding it’s own so far, but can’t see any signs of growth- legs or otherwise. no evidence of bloat, but what does bloat indicate anyway?

Thanks again for help.
05/22/09  04:20pm

 #2009591


Clawedfrogsrule
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   Message To: Tran   In reference to Message Id: 2009411


 Help! Tadpole ID

My setup is basically the cheapest and easiest one you can have. It’s moist paper towels on the bottom, and a large water dish with water up to the frog’s chin when she sits up comlpetely. She has a flower pot turned on it’s side to act as a "cave" on one side of the tank, and a large rock and plants on the other side as alternate hiding. It sounds boring, but it suits her needs and is really easy to clean too, which is good for you and the frog (the hardest part is just getting the frog out of the tank first).

If you want to do a mostly water setup with other land, you can have bare bottom on the water side, or you can try large river rocks. Stay away from gravel because if they accidently eat it, it could cause some digestive issues.
The light on top of the screen is what I use also.

Bloat is dropsy basically, where they retain too much water. It happens to fish too, and underwater frogs. I only brought it up to say that you pretty much have nothing to worry about with your tadpole, it sounds healthy.
05/22/09  10:05pm

 #2011258


Tran
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   Message To: Clawedfrogsrule   In reference to Message Id: 2009591


 Help! Tadpole ID

I’m all for the tank setup that’s easiest to keep clean! How often do you change the damp paper towels-- daily? Must they be dampened with dechlorinated water? Do you use a net to catch your frog to get it out of the tank to clean it? Must admit that’s my concern, as I’m afraid I’ll hurt the frog in the process--- they seem so nervous at any approach and are definitely so fast, they’re going to be a challange to catch.

Also, they are devouring the little crickets, especially the smallest froglet ( Interesting it’s the smaller one ). Is my info. correct that I only feed them 2 or 3 times a week? It didn’t make it clear how many to feed them each time. Any suggestions for two froglets? What have I caught mention of that your supposed to put on crickets as supplement, and how often? As always, thanks for help.
05/26/09  12:42pm

 #2011578


Clawedfrogsrule
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   Message To: Tran   In reference to Message Id: 2011258


 Help! Tadpole ID

The paper towels basically need to be changed when they start getting soiled, usually once every couple of weeks is fine. Mostly they seem to make most of their waste in the water bowl, which should be cleaned every day. And dechlorinated water is a must, just get a cheap spray bottle that you’d use for plants and use that to mist the tank each day. To catch the frog, I take all the accessories out of the tank, so that all that’s left is the frog, and the paper towels on the bottom. I then get an empty container with a lid (like take-out soup containers or something similar), and basically just try to corner the frog so that it jumps into the container itself. Since you have more than one, I’d suggest using seperate containers to make it a little easier.

Baby frogs can be fed every day, with calcium powder dusted on the crickets 2-3 times a week. I use reptocal powder as my supplement. As for how many crickets to feed, that’s something you’ll have to figure out with the frogs through experimentation. I say try 10 small crickets, and see how long it takes for them to eat them. If there are still leftovers hours later, maybe next time you try 6, and just see where you go from there.



05/26/09  08:51pm


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