I have 3 week old adf tadpoles that are slowly dying off. I'm hoping someone can help me figure out what is wrong and how I can help the remaining live.
They were fine for the first 2 weeks and I have done nothing different. I have raised adf tadpoles perforce and the only thing I did different this time was fed microworms which were to smelly for me so I went back to just feeding bbs.
The tadpoles start by swimming awkwardly. Within a day it gets to the point where they spin instead of swimming. Then they can't even maintain their balance, hang out at the bottom on their side. Then by day 2 die
it follows the same pattern every time. And affect 1-3 at a time. I'm down to 6 left. All have ate and grown normally. The remaining have partially developed legs.
Hi Melissa,
I have NEVER done this. I have never had an ADF.
I do remember, however, reading about how the food.....in the very beginning.....is the most difficult part of helping them to develop properly. What do you feed them for the first 2 weeks?
I have done this for Dicus and Angle fish fry . I used to put tulling ( fabric store- by the yard or on rolls at a craft store) around the filter intake valve. It is a very, very fine mesh. I had to raise brine shrimp ( store bought are too large) and make infusoria? They both take some time, so timing is important.
I found this 'recipe' for infusoria?
How to Make Infusoria: 8 steps - wikiHow
Keep trying - you can do it! Just think how rewarding it will be!!!! It's so much work.
Lynn
Current Collection
Dendrobates leucomelas - standard morph
Dendrobates auratus “Costa Rican Green Black"
Dendrobates auratus "Pena Blanca"
Dendrobates tinctorius “New River”
Dendrobates tinctorius "Green Sipaliwini"
Dendrobates tinctorius “Powder Blue"
Dendrobates tinctorius "French Guiana Dwarf Cobalt"
Phyllobates terribilis “Mint”
Phyllobates terribilis "Orange"
Phyllobates bicolor "Uraba"
Oophaga pumilio "Black Jeans"
Oophaga pumilio "Isla Popa"
Oophaga pumilio "Bastimentos"
Oophaga pumilio “Mimbitimbi”
Oophaga pumilio "Rio Colubre"
Oophaga pumilio "Red Frog Beach”
Oophaga pumilio "Rio Branco"
Oophaga pumilio “Valle del Rey”
Oophaga pumilio "BriBri"
Oophaga pumilio "El Dorado"
Oophaga pumilio "Cristobal"
Oophaga pumilio "Rambala"
Oophaga “Vicentei” (blue)
Oophaga sylvatica "Paru"
Oophaga sylvatica "Pata Blanca"
Oophaga histrionica “Redhead”
Oophaga histrionica "Blue"
Oophaga lehmanni "Red"
Oophaga histrionica "Tado"
Ranitomeya variabilis "Southern"
Ranitomeya imitator "Varadero"
Ranitomeya sirensis "Lower Ucayali"
Ranitomeya vanzolinii
http://www.fernsfrogs.com
https://www.facebook.com/ferns.frogs
I fed them infusoria from moss balls and first bites food. They all seem to grow at the right rate..
I am hatching them fresh baby brine shrimp every day and they gorge on it.
They seem fine until one by one they start swimming abnormal. It gets worse and worse until they die
You need to determine which species of ADF you have. Hymenochirus curtipes tadpoles are more difficult to raise than H. boettgeri. It is fairly easy to tell apart. H. boettgeri has a long tail that is pigmented to the end. H. curtipes tail is broad and unpigmented. Those of the boettgeri group will take larger food, such as, tubifex worms, small insects and brine shrimp. If they are in the curtipes group, they should be fed infusoria a while longer. Metamorphosis takes place in about 6 weeks. Good luck and hope all goes well.
Terry Gampper
Nebraska Herpetological Society
“If we can discover the meaning in the trilling of a frog, perhaps we may understand why it is for us not merely noise but a song of poetry and emotion.”
--- Adrian Forsyth
Current Collection
Dendrobates leucomelas - standard morph
Dendrobates auratus “Costa Rican Green Black"
Dendrobates auratus "Pena Blanca"
Dendrobates tinctorius “New River”
Dendrobates tinctorius "Green Sipaliwini"
Dendrobates tinctorius “Powder Blue"
Dendrobates tinctorius "French Guiana Dwarf Cobalt"
Phyllobates terribilis “Mint”
Phyllobates terribilis "Orange"
Phyllobates bicolor "Uraba"
Oophaga pumilio "Black Jeans"
Oophaga pumilio "Isla Popa"
Oophaga pumilio "Bastimentos"
Oophaga pumilio “Mimbitimbi”
Oophaga pumilio "Rio Colubre"
Oophaga pumilio "Red Frog Beach”
Oophaga pumilio "Rio Branco"
Oophaga pumilio “Valle del Rey”
Oophaga pumilio "BriBri"
Oophaga pumilio "El Dorado"
Oophaga pumilio "Cristobal"
Oophaga pumilio "Rambala"
Oophaga “Vicentei” (blue)
Oophaga sylvatica "Paru"
Oophaga sylvatica "Pata Blanca"
Oophaga histrionica “Redhead”
Oophaga histrionica "Blue"
Oophaga lehmanni "Red"
Oophaga histrionica "Tado"
Ranitomeya variabilis "Southern"
Ranitomeya imitator "Varadero"
Ranitomeya sirensis "Lower Ucayali"
Ranitomeya vanzolinii
http://www.fernsfrogs.com
https://www.facebook.com/ferns.frogs
based on your description I would say they are h. Boettgeri. I have raised a previous set from the same parents which are now 4 months old and healthy.
These appeared healthy too until 2.5 weeks. They are 3.5 weeks now and all have legs and arm buds. One by one they have increasing difficult swimming over a few days then die.
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