Dropping like flies...

[WhatsHoppin]

A while ago I found a puddle in a construction zone that had thousands of tadpoles, took a bunch to *save* since I knew the puddle was going to be plowed over. I thought after a bit of research this seemed like an easy venture - apparently not! Once my tads have been reaching the point where their tail is almost absorbed, they die. This has happened for about 10-12 in a row so clearly I'm doing something wrong. I have 11 left, and I'm hoping I can get the remaining survivors to make a little more progress before I release them back to the outdoors!

I put them in a 10 gal tank, which has a floating shelf for turtles in it. The tads loved to go to the edge of it and practice their breathing. Once they started losing their tail I realized they didn't have the leg strength to kick to the surface anymore so I have lowered the water level and built up a rock path to the floating shelf. I've lowered it further so that about a quarter of the tank is land (either from the shelf or rocks), and the rest is water (which only gets to about 3-4" deep). I leave a light on all day and turn it off at night - it doesn't appear to be too hot in there but I've read they are susceptible to overheating so I only have the light on periodically during the day. I change some of the water every 5-7 days, have been feeding boiled spinach to the tads (which they love). I asked the local petstore what food works best for the little froglets and they suggested bloodworms. I'm not even sure if that's the best option, but if it's suitable, should I put the bloodworns in the water or on the land? (Currently, I'm doing both). I'm am hoping that since last night I made it even easier for them to get out of the water that this will have resolved things but I'm not sure. Since then, some of the froglets have stayed out of the water the whole time now, which they hadn't done before.

I've felt guilty everytime one of the little guys doesn't make it since it seems like they might have just been simply drowning? Any thoughts on what I could do differently or better?

Thanks in advance...

[Heatheranne]

How big are your toadlets? Any idea of what species?

[WhatsHoppin]

They are really small, about 1/4" long and I'm not really sure what they are since, could even be more than one type for all I know. I live in central Ohio and I'm pretty sure the most common frog is the northern leopard frog around here (if they're frogs). Would a pic help at this stage?

[Heatheranne]

Sure. Link one and I'll take a look. I am currently feeding mine boiled (in dechlorinated water) romaine lettuce, dried seaweed sheets from the pet store in the aquarium section, and tadpole bites which are found in the dried fishfood area. They love the seaweed. I also put 1/2 teaspoon of liquid amphibian calcium supplement into their 10 gallon aquarium water.

As soon as they get their front legs move them to another tank or cricket keeper. Mist with dechlor water and provide a small water bowl with very shallow water. Just enough water to wet their bellies. I use paper towels as substrate, misted. I feed the toadlets flightless fruit flies very lightly dusted every other day with calcium/vita D3 powder. I also have a small plastic lid filled with the moistened seaweed, tadpole bites, and a few fishfood flakes and a smidge of water. Looks like mush, wet food. They sit in it, and I am guessing, perhaps absorb the food. I have a nylon stocking over the top to keep the fruit flies in and an apple slice in the corner for the flies. It helps keep the flies off of the frogs.

I too am not sure what mine are. I have only lost one so far. After he became a toadlet, he went back into the water and before I could scoop him out he drowned himself. That is why I chose to move them out of aquarium once they can hop.

My thread is Raising Tadpoles.

[dglazier1]

I've had this problem too. The only thing that worked for me was to use a small air pump and do a partial water change every other day. I also feed them tadpole/frog pellets. Good luck to you!

[WhatsHoppin]

Here are a couple shots... i tried to zoom in as much as my lens would allow so hopefully it gives some clarity as to what they are. I really do like your suggestion of moving them to another tank, it'll help them the most while the other slow growers get a chance to catch up. I still have the 3 little guys on land, one of which I had to scoop out of the water as it was just floating around in the middle of the deep end. I'll look to adding the calcium and feeding them the fruit flies, etc once they're moved.

I have a couple questions:
- Does it matter how much light you give them and/or the remaining tads?
- Is there a balance of how long you should raise them in a tank versus let them free? I don't want to keep them too long if it means they won't be prepared for hunting on their own, but I also want to give them a decent chance to mature.

[lilblack94gt]

those look like the froglets I have! I started out with 10 tadpole and 6 made it to the froglet stage. I found out that the couldn't swim very well so I transitioned them to a vivarium setup with a shallow dish with moss in it to let them get moist without drowning. I have tried feeding mine mini meal worms and flightless fruit flies. I am down to 2 live frogs. the others died with in the last day or so. I think they are starving to death. I have moved them to the food bowl when i add insects for them, but they hop away. I too am at a loss. : (

[Heatheranne]

I figured it out ... . The fruit flies were too big for my babies. I took a white cup and skimmed the surface of our grass. We do not treat our grass. I got tons of tiny bugs. I picked out any large bugs and spiders. Pretty much left me with aphids (tiny green bugs) and gnats (which look like bitty flies), and they love them. No more have died . I've only lost about 4 so far out of 25 toadlets. They are surprisingly great hunters.

I too have very shallow water for mine and I mist their tank in the morning and at night. I too added moss. I rinsed the dirt off, boiled the moss for ten minutes, cooled it, and then rinsed it well in dechlorinated water.

As soon as the tads have 3 or more legs I move them to the large shallow water bowl. They climb out when they're ready. I also use paper towel substrate in this tank, misted, so they stay moist and can see and catch their bugs.

I'll load some pictures .

[Heatheranne]

I too use a nylon as a lid. Keeps the frogs in and doesn't let the bugs out .

[Heatheranne]

[Heatheranne]

Eating bitty bugs...

It amazes me that even this young they have attack instincts. I love watching them crouch down all sly and then sloop them right up .

[WhatsHoppin]

lilblack94gt - I feel your pain, it's stressful when you get them all the way out of the water just to watch them slowly die. Once I moved the froglets into another tank, bought some flightless fruit flies (apparently hydei are too big), paper towel substrate, calcium, and all the other suggestions I was given. I even placed an apple in the corner to keep the flies off the frogs, but as it turns out, one of the frogs stayed on it for 3 days straight and the flies were nowhere around it! The most developed ones were out of water for about 7-9 days. I don't know if I didn't give them enough time or they were not interested in the fruit flies, but either way they didn't seem to be eating. Hard to tell when you can't exactly count the flies in the tank.

Since my intention was not to keep these guys, I released the first batch of froglets. I also checked with Ohio law and it states that you must keep any amphibian that you hold for over 30 days to avoid possibly introducing parasitic infections back into the wild that the general population wouldn't be able to handle. So, I figured I wasn't confident enough my methods were going to give them a better chance of survival so I I found a great spot for them to try their luck with mother nature. They all seemed pretty active once I let them out, so in my mind, I am going to continue thinking they are all thriving, eating their fair share of bugs!

Hopefully your two remaining froglets are fighters and are still hopping! Did they ever start eating?

[WhatsHoppin]

Heather - Thanks for all the info and pics, it's been very helpful! Looks like you're going to have your hands full with all the stealthy little hunters. For some reason, I had a couple little ones (still absorbing their tail) drown on me yesterday. That was a big disappointment after such good success as of late. I do think your suggestion of moving them once they have 3 legs is a good one for this (and maybe most) species. I only have 3 left so I'm hoping they stick around long enough for me to try out your suggestion of catching my own bugs. I did add the nylon on top to keep the bugs in but I had some explaining to do when my wife apparently missed the nylon on top of the tank but found the remaining nylon on the floor! Not very proactive planning on my part

Every night for 3 weeks now I have been soaking up info/ideas on various forums/sites. Once I do a kitchen remodel in my house, I'm planning on building a terrarium or paludarium next year so that I can have a permanent fixture to my house. Frogs are awesome!

[Heatheranne]

Lol! That's funny!!! :P

You're welcome . I hope they make it for you. They are great little hunters if you can find bugs small enough for them to eat. You can also order springtails online. I love watching them eat . I've been taking mine out as soon as they have 3 legs, even though they still have their tails. Their water is very shallow, so if they sit up their heads can peak out. I also have random rocks to hop onto in the water. I mist the tank too, just in case they don't soak.

They're so cute .

Good luck!

[Heatheranne]

Frogs ARE awesome! We have three red eyed tree frogs and 3 pacmans, also

[lilblack94gt]

Heather,

My frog-lets seem to be just a tad bigger than yours, but appear to be the same type of frog. As of today, I only have one frog left. I cannot tell if he is eating or not. I did put him in a small plastic cup I had from buying a Betta, and put some fruit flies in with him. He was definitely not interested in eating them for me last night. I have been misting the cage and I have a small bowl with water in it. I have sphagnum moss in the bowl so the water isn't deep and I don't have to worry about him drowning. He seems to be pretty active though, so I am hoping that he is eating the flightless fruit flies I have been dumping in his cage at night. I guess all I can do is cross my fingers and hope he is a fighter. I would be heart broken to lose him. It is so small that he fits on my thumbnail perfectly.

[Heatheranne]

Awe ! You could try scooping a few grass bugs. Just be careful not to give him any ants or spiders. I don't feed them beetles either bc I can't tell what kinds they are. I feed them the gnats and aphids .

[frosty]

I had two tadpoles and then i woke up today and they were dead I KNOW HOW U FEEL

[Heatheranne]

Awe , I'm sorry.