Feeding and housing newly morphed ACFs

[Gemma]

Most of my ACF tadpoles are 3 and a half weeks old now (from hatching). One of them looks just like a little frog now but with a tail, and some of the others aren't far behind. The most advanced one rests on the bottom a lot now, breathes at the surface, and doesn't use his (or her) tail as much now that he's using his legs. His head is smaller and has turned more frog shaped, his eyes are moving to the top of his head, he no longer has whiskers, and when I put powdered food into the water for the rest of the tadpoles he moves his arms like adult ACFs do when they're trying to shove food into their mouths! I've attached some pictures of him from this morning, but he's changing so quickly that he looks different now already. It's hard to get a clear picture of him.
I have no idea how long it will take for him to become a froglet, so I want to be prepared.

My main question is this: When do I separate him from the others? Is it best to do this once I notice that he's started absorbing his tail, or should I do it once his tail has been absorbed?

I'm also unsure about how to house them as newly morphed froglets. Should I keep the water shallow so that they can easily reach the surface for air, and keep it at 25 degrees C (same temperature as the tadpoles)? Am I right in thinking a filter will be too stressful for them while they're so small? Will an airstone be unnecessary at this stage since they breathe at the surface, or should I keep it to help circulate the temperature from the heater?

In terms of food once they have absorbed their tails, a lot of websites say to use HBH Frog and Tadpole Bites until they're big enough to eat Reptomin. I can't find HBH Bites in England, so I've ordered Zoo Med Aquatic Frog and Tadpole Food from Amazon, but one review says that the food killed their frogs. Something else might have killed the reviewer's frogs, but I'm worried in case they're right. I ordered some anyway but I'm not sure if I'll use them. Has anybody reading this used this food? I already have Reptomin and frozen bloodworm cubes in the house, but I don't want to spoil them with bloodworms and, from what I've read, Reptomin will be too big at first. Can't I cut the Reptomin up, or are there any other safe foods I can use instead?

Thanks in advance for any advice at all :)

[TommyBoi]

Hey Gemma! Long time since I've been here...Just wanted to share some of my experience with you, in regards to metamorphosing tads/froglets...I started to separate my morphing tads, a day or 2 after their front limbs (arms) are out...I kept the same temp of water as for the tads, and I kept a "light" airstone flow, just to be careful, until their tails were fully absorbed. I varied the diet, from HBH frog bites, crushed reptomin stix, and bloodworms (as a treat, 1-2x a week). They did exceptionally well. I'm getting pairs of 2 species of Xenopus, very soon...CO3; Borealis; and Muelleri...looking forward to it!

[Gemma]

Hi TommyBoi! Thanks for your help. I saw your message earlier and went to my local fish shop to buy another air pump ready to separate them, but they'd sold out of air pumps and connectors. Typical! I've ordered one online so hopefully it will come tomorrow and I'll be able to separate them. Today I have 4 tadpoles that look like the one in the photos above, and about 10 that have all four limbs but large heads. Most of the others just have back legs. The one in the photos above is absorbing his tail now as it's a little bit shorter, he's no longer using it at all, and the tail has lost all of that clear tissue that was surrounding it. Will a tadpole only start absorbing its tail (and stop eating) once the tail has stopped moving? It would be useful to know so I don't end up starving them or overfeeding them once all the tadpoles with 4 limbs are in their own tank. Thanks again for your advice
Xenopus Borealis and Muelleri are beautiful! Are you hoping to breed them?

[TommyBoi]

I stopped feeding once I noticed the tails becoming less active; during this 2-3 days, I'll feed sparingly...also, the water level for my froglets, I kept to around 6-8 inches of water, with some bushy/floating plants for them to be able to bask at the water's surface. And yes, I am DEFINITELY planning on breeding the 3 pairs of: CO3 (Conga); Borealis; & Xenopus frogs...and perhaps after a successful batch of tads to froglets, I will try a cross-breed of borealis x muelleri )

[Jenste]

As said above, once the body begins compressing from tadpole to frog shape and the tail is shrinking, stop feeding. Once the tail has been absorbed a full 24-36 hours you can start feeding your newly morphed froglet.

This is when you should introduce him to what will be the staple of it's diet - hold off on treats such as bloodworms so they don't become spoiled. They can be like children...too much dessert and they won't like their veggies!

[Gemma]

Thank you both for the advice! It's much appreciated. Tommy I'd love to see the frogs when you breed them. You should put some pictures up when you do

It snowed heavily today so the postman couldn't get to my house, which means no second air pump. What I've done instead is put the froglet tank and the tadpole tank next to each other, stabbed some holes into the airline and draped it into the froglet water on the way into the tadpole tank, just in case some of the froglets (well frogpoles) are still using their gills. The only plants that the shops near here sell are falling apart and covered in pests, otherwise I'd get some. I'm contemplating putting a soft fake plant in to help them to bask at the surface. They've been floating around at the surface for a couple of days in the glass tank that I removed them from a few hours ago, but they're just resting on the bottom of the plastic one they're in now. I'll start feeding them 24-36 hours after their tails have absorbed, and I'll stick to chopped up reptomin and the frog and tadpole food if it ever arrives in the post!

This is the little guy from the photos above today. He's the one with the shortest tail. He keeps trying to use his front claws to shove imaginary food into his mouth! He's 4 weeks old tomorrow

[Gemma]

As said above, once the body begins compressing from tadpole to frog shape and the tail is shrinking, stop feeding. Once the tail has been absorbed a full 24-36 hours you can start feeding your newly morphed froglet.

This is when you should introduce him to what will be the staple of it's diet - hold off on treats such as bloodworms so they don't become spoiled. They can be like children...too much dessert and they won't like their veggies!

Jen, I was wondering if you could help me please. On your website it says to feed newly morphed froglets 1-2 tadpole bites twice a day. My Zoo Med food still hasn't arrived because the snow is stopping the postman being able to get to my house, so I've been feeding the frogs chopped up reptomin instead. I'm not sure how big the tadpole bites are compared to the reptomin sticks though to know if I'm feeding them enough. I've been giving each frog about a third of a stick of reptomin twice a day (every 12 hours). Should I be feeding them a bit more? They would probably eat more but I'm scared of overfeeding them.



Also, general update: I have 4 froglets without tails now I also have one more froglet who will probably have no tail by tomorrow, and loads of the tadpoles have all 4 limbs and/or look like the frog/tadpole in the pictures at the top of this page, so I should have lots more little frogs by this time next week I can't believe how quickly they're morphing.

[Jenste]

I think you are feeding them just fine. It is so easy to worry about them, isn't it?

[Gemma]

I know, I never stop haha! Thank you

[Geoff]

I've been giving each frog about a third of a stick of reptomin twice a day (every 12 hours). Should I be feeding them a bit more? They would probably eat more but I'm scared of overfeeding them.

In my experience it's good practice to feed newly metamorphosed froglets as much as they will eat otherwise their growth rate will be slower. The bigger and stronger they are, the more resilient they are to potential health problems that weaker animals may succumb to.

[Gemma]

Thanks, Geoff. I might start feeding them a bit more then. It's hard to judge how much they will eat in one feeding session since they're not very good at finding their food. I'd go by the however much they will eat in a certain amount of time rule, but they spend more time searching for the food than they do eating! I always check back half an hour or so after I've fed them though and all of their food has always gone.

[Gemma]

Just showing off some of my baby frogs They're blurry because they were doing their excited little I've-got-food swim.