Urgent! New to toads need help!

[Tseros7768]

Hi guys, I am a new member to this forum and need some help! I live in the Phoenix metro area and was in a shallow canal and noticed a bunch of tadpoles everywhere... I caught them and I have roughly 10 of these creatures. Each is about 1-2 mm long and black...any ideas on species or care? I can add a few pics if nneeded thanks,
Tommy

[yoshimi]

Hi guys, I am a new member to this forum and need some help! I live in the Phoenix metro area and was in a shallow canal and noticed a bunch of tadpoles everywhere... I caught them and I have roughly 10 of these creatures. Each is about 1-2 mm long and black...any ideas on species or care? I can add a few pics if nneeded thanks,
Tommy

Pics! So people who know these things can tell you what exactly they might be, and how to care for them.

[Tseros7768]

So I discovered that they are American toads (bufo americanus) and they are literally 3 days old. Any ideas on care for them? I have them in a large kritter keeper with a bundle of algae from the canal...and I filled it with bottled water so there's no chlorine!

[yoshimi]

Raising Tadpoles | Missouri Department of Conservation

How to Raise American Toad Tadpoles | eHow.com

were 2 links i checked out in a hurry. This is awesome!! Try to include "tadpoles" in your headline to grab their attention. My gal toad is an Eastern American, and while I caught her as little, I've never raised tadpoles. Sounds like you're doing ok so far, but I'd get some water conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramines plus detoxifies heavy metals, if you go back to tap. It's just good to have anyway.

There was another member seeking out fowler's or american toads to start them going again in their area (NY) but I don't know about transplanting... but this is the link to that post: http://www.frogforum.net/toads/22343...tml#post171962

[Tseros7768]

Thanks for the help!!!! They're doing good right now, it seems to be a waiting process!

[kueluck]

The links Crystal gave you have great info. I've raised both frogs & toads from tads. One thing I've always done is add an airstone to the tank to help oxygenate the water. And if the pump is to strong, just poke a few pin holes into the tube so the force isn't so strong. Now if some of the tads do die, leave the bodies in there, the others will eat them which is a good source of protein for them. Post pics so we can see the transformation, it's an amazing thing to witness.

[Heatheranne]

Hello and welcome .

Raising tads is fun. We raised and released a bunch last year .

For now they will need a tank with aeration, as Gail has said. The easiest way to do it is to set up a 10 gallon aquarium with a small filter. Cover the intake valve with either a nylon or fiberglass mesh. A zip tie works great for this. Do a 25-50% water change once a week. They sell squeeze siphons at any pet store.

Use only spring water or dechlorinated tap water. There are several dechlorinators. I used Stress Coat, but there are quite a few options.

Treat the tank like a fish aquarium. If you've never had fish, the tank will go through a nitrogen cycle. This is a process that occurs due to tad pole wastes and uneaten food. Ammonia - nitrites - nitrates ...

Here is a video. It is loud so you may want to turn your volume down .http://youtu.be/PwOcRJYU3F8

Here is a nice article.
http://puffernet.tripod.com/nitrogencycle.html

The nitrogen cycle will occur in your tank whether you'd like it to or not. This is why many new tank owners lose fish and don't know why. It is important to understand. You may want to jump start your aquarium while they are in the keeper. Though, the cycle will occur in any water source containing waste products created by fish (tads), food, decaying plants, etc., including the cricket keeper.

American tads take about 3 months to develop into toadlets, and will require a proper aquarium in the mean time.

Adding aquarium gravel helps add surface area for the beneficial bacteria to colonize through. Adding a filter is very helpful in removing solid wastes and if you purchase one with a biofilter pad or bio substrate area within the filter this will help even more.

Adding aquarium plants can help to absorb some of the nitrogen also. They also make a nice snack for the tads.

Food: you can use tadpole food, fish food flakes, romaine lettuce boiled in dechlorinated water until limp, dried seaweed, for a few examples. To make lots of food we boiled romaine lettuce and then froze it into ice cubes using the water it was boiled in. It keeps it fresh for a long time. Then we'd just cut little pieces off the cubes. Or you could put smaller amounts of lettuce in each cube. This worked great and they loved it. We also used the dried seaweed sheets found in the aquarium section of the pet store. They loved that too. Ours weren't crazy about the tadpole bites we bought.

Tads need calcium for proper growth and to prevent bone disease. They will need it as they become toadlets and as adults also. The easiest way to do this for tadpoles is to buy liquid reptile calcium drops. Only add about 8 drops per 10 gallons of water because they are so small. Do not use the recommended amount on the bottle - that dose is for adult reptiles and frogs. Add about 4 new drops per 5 gallons of water change, only on water change days. If you do a 25% water exchange only add or 2 drops.

Congrats on your tads! Just wait until those little legs develop in about 3-4 months. They are adorable and so active as toadlets .

I'll see if I can find any pictures of ours from last year . We loved them .