SLS Determined Froglet?

[Purrdoc]

Hi All,

First off, let me be clear that I have zero experience breeding and raising tadpoles. This is my first batch. I have about 50 RETF tadpoles, all seem to be doing well, eating well, and morphing normally.

I have one little guy that I moved from the "morphing tank" (half water, half land where they are placed when they develop 4 legs and stay until they absorb their tails) into the "froglet tank" (fully morphed, where they are fed dusted fruit flies and pin head crickets). When he was moved, he was relatively weak in the back legs, and they didn't seem to quite work properly. It is almost as if they would get stuck and he didn't have much control over them. He was a bit thinner than the others. A couple times I found him upside down. I really thought he wasn't going to make it, but, doggone it, that was a week ago, and he is still hanging in there. He has put on weight (or at least is not losing weight) and is able to move around better. He is still not as active as the other froglets- he mostly sits on the bottom of the tank (a few others do also, but they are hiding in the moss, he basically stays in the same spot on just a paper towel area) and doesn't move as much. When I encourage him to hop, he does move better and doesn't tip over or get stuck like he did.

I know SLS is typically a front leg thing and in dart frogs. This sounds to me like a developmental thing- he was just slower or something, and just taking time to catch up? I don't know. I am watching him closely. Ok, hovering over him is probably a better description. I cannot tell if anyone is eating (darn nocturnal creatures!), much less him specifically, but I would assume he would be either a skeleton or dead by now if he wasn't.

Any thoughts or comments? I have at least 10 froglets so far to compare him to with another 7 in the "morphing tank" right now. I just want to make sure I am not doing something wrong or there is worse to come.

Thanks.

[LazyEyedFroggie]

In nature, there are always a few "runts" - especially so in the case of frogs and tadpoles. His slowness to gain strength may be due to a low tolerance for the slightest problems in his environment, or he could simply be one of the weaklings that are usually picked off early in the wild. You could turn on red or black lights so that you can monitor feeding and have him feel like it's fully dark. A few pictures of his weight and stature would be much appreciated. I'm sure that with care he'll gain strength. Also, how large is the tank they're currently in, and are you planning on keeping all of them together?

[Kurt]

I have raised a few batches of red-eyes, Agalychnis callidryas and I find that the froglets will feed during the day, very much unlike thier parents. Chances are this little guy is defective in some way and will not make it. In the wild, he/she would've consumed by a predator by now. Sorry.

[Purrdoc]

Thanks for the replies. That is what I figured. I have not seen them eating during the day, and it sure isn't from lack of watching! I have them in a 12"dx 24'lx 12"h tank right now with paper towels all across the bottom, high quality sphagnum moss about 3 inches wide on both sides for moisture, a pothos plant in the middle, under tank heater on one side, and day light on top for a light cycle. Right now, I am just trying to get them to morph, make sure they are healthy, and start finding them homes ASAP. I am only planning on keeping a couple of them- I really don't have room for all of this! : ) I am hoping that as the tadpoles morph, I currently have them in 2 10 gallon tanks, so I can hopefully combine them at some point and make another froglet tank out of one of them so the current tank does not get too crowded. I know it would be better if it was taller rather than wider, but I figured I could get away with 12" for now since they are tiny.

The biggest challenge I am dealing with is, as usual, trying to make sure the food has enough calcium and isn't completely gone by the time the froglets get around to eating the bugs. I have a banana in that the FF and pin heads gather around, so it is kind of a feeding station. They are dusted when they go in the tank at night, but they lose the dust so quickly, I don' know how much is getting consumed. Also, I don't know how many insects the average froglet will eat each night, so there are quite a few left in the tank, when I thought I was putting in an appropriate amount. Maybe they are all starving and I don't know it.

OK, yes, I am a stress case, hovering mother, overprotective proud grandmother, worst nightmare about these little guys. I am a perfectionist vet- I can't bear the thought of screwing them up, especially when this is what nature does, well, naturally. I am used to just dealing with the medicine aspect on ones I am not intimately attached to. My brain checks out when it is my own (my boss has to take care of my pets- I can't even take blood samples on them). I have actually been late to work on more than one occasion because I got caught up making sure they were ok, temps were ok, taking pictures, etc. Pathetic...