Tad not popping out left arm, crooked tail?

[Herbert]

Hey team,

I currently have a southern brown tree frog tadpole (Herbert) who is developing well and has ‘popped out’ his right arm nearly three weeks ago, with the left not wanting to come out.

Originally I had two tads, but three weeks ago, one died and I could never get to the bottom of it. At that point they both had well developed back legs, and the other tad (Humphrey) had had his right arm out for at least 2 weeks. Unfortunately Herbert (who still remains) was rather bloated, and was having trouble swimming, so I moved both into a smaller ice cream container with some rocks and moss for climbing out and no current to disturb them (originally they were in a 5 gallon fish tank with heater, filter, plants, and ledges to leave water). The following day, I walked into their room and noticed that the other (not-bloated) tad was floating limply near the water’s surface. I gave it a prod with my feeding tweezers, and soon discovered he was dead. In the end I thought it could be one of the following: stress from moving containers; possible leaching from the plastic container, poor water quality, something harmful in the (natural) spagnum moss, or drowning.

Of course, I moved the still alive, and bloated, Herbert back into the tank. I did a few partial water changes over the following days, and the bloat receded. In fact, the day after the other tad’s death, Herbert popped his right arm out! The bloat was all gone until today, when he seemed to blow up yet again! I did a 50% water change and it subsided very quickly...

However, during the last week, he’s been absorbing his tail and I have stopped feeding for fear of dirtiying the water further. From the absorption, the tail had become crooked at a 90 degree angle so now every time he tries to use it, he either swims in a circle or backwards. I feel very sorry for him, but he’s certainly hanging on. I’ve done plenty of research into why he might be delaying his development (by two weeks this Tuesday) and why his tail is also so crooked.

Water temp is 80F/25C When I’ve fed over the last few weeks, I’ve been feeding freeze dried bloodworms and some carnivorous fish flakes.

Would really appreciate your opinions, would euthanization be an option? I love him very much but would hate to think he’s in pain with health problems...

Thanks for your help!

[Herbert]

Whoops, sorry!

I clearly don’t know my left from my right! His left arm is popped out, whereas the right is just a lump by his side.

Thanks for the advice...