Tadpole Identification Help??

[froglover27]

Hi guys(: I happened to come across a puddle that was quite shallow and noticed some little tadpoles...of course I RESCUED them!! I am just curious to know what type of frog they are? I'm positive they aren't toads because they are gray and speckled.....maybe gray tree frog? I will try to get some pics up soon, but who knew tadpoles were so hard to photograph? Thanks for the help in advance guys!! I know you will be so helpful!!!(:

~Justine

[Heatheranne]

Where are you located? Sounds like greys but it's tough to guess without a picture. I'll be interested to see what yours look like. How big are they?

I too am raising some tads. Tiny ones .

[froglover27]

Im located in Virginia, and I know!! they are just so darn hard to get a pic of:/ they are about 1.5 inches.

[Heatheranne]

Awe . What are you feeding them?

[froglover27]

First and Second pics are close-ups of two of 'the tads' Third pic is the enclosure(for now) Fourth is the food I have been giving them, I also give them som tropical fish flakes from time to time(: Last pic shows some of the tadpoles under the lily pad(: Any of these help Heather?

[Heatheranne]

Nice . Still hard to tell their species. Cute though .

You can feed them dried seaweed from the fish section and boiled romaine lettuce too . I freeze the lettuce in the ice cube tray then and toss the cubes in a baggie in the freezer. I use similar tad bites. My tads are only about 4 to 5 mm big though, lol.

[Heatheranne]

These are mine . Tiny little fellas. I move them to the terrarium once they have 3 legs. They stay in the big grey water bowl for about a week then hop out them selves.

So cute .

[froglover27]

aww they are reeeally cute!! Do you know what kind yours are? and also how long do you boil the romaine lettuce?? thanks for the reply!!!

[Heatheranne]

You're welcome

Mine are toads...either American toads (bufo americanus) or fowlers toads (bufo fowleri). It's tough to tell yet. Thanks!

We are not going to keep them. We rescued them from a tire track that filled in with rain water that we knew would dry up, and did. There were hundreds of them. We only saved about 50 or so. It's the best I could do at the time.

I have lost about 4. One drowned itself when I shallowed the tank water in the aquarium tank they started in. I shallowed it with a rock mound in the middle. It didn't work well so I started pulling them our when I saw 3 or 4 legs. Two died when I was trying to feed them flightless fruit flies and realized they were too big for them. One got stuck in the aquarium filter even with the netting over the intake tube. The rest are doing well.

It's going to be tough, yet rewarding, the day we set them free.

I'm trying to feed them the way they'd hunt in the wild. I toss the bugs in with a bit of grass. Their natural instincts are awesome . We love watching them .

[Heatheranne]

It has to be romaine, not ice berg lettuce. Boil it in dechlorinated water for about 20 to 30 minutes. It will look mushy and limp when it's ready. I froze it in ice cube trays and used the water I boiled it in as the ice. That way the nutrients are still partially in it.

They love it . It's been toasty here lately too, so the cubes cool the water a bit.

I change their bowl water daily and do partial water changes in the tank every few days.

I can't wait to see your grow and morph .

Do you have a filter in yours?

[froglover27]

no i dont have a filter....which causes the water to 'dirty up' real fast! but its all good they are a pleasure to have!! Anyway...... I discovered this morning when turning on their light that one of my tadpoles has four legs!! SURPRISE!!!!! What should I do different to its daily life now??

[Heatheranne]

It's time to take him out of the aquarium and into his regular tank.

You can use paper towel as substrate. Provide a shallow water dish that's easy to climb in and out of. Put in just enough dechlorinated water to barely cover him and put in some rocks they can climb out of the water onto.

It's time to get some bugs. What size is he now? Flightless fruit flies work well. Mine are too small to eat them yet. I am feeding scooped up aphids and gnats from our grass. I ordered springtails today though, bc it's tedious work scooping the yard for bugs.

Dust the bugs with calcium/vita d3 every 2 or three feedings. I do it twice a week.

They'll begin hunting once they absorb their tails. Change their water daily or every other day in the water bowl. Mist twice a day.

Congrats!

[Heatheranne]

Oh, you may want to use a nylon as a lid to keep the bugs in .

If you can't get bugs at your local pet store, joshsfrogs.com sells them in their food section.

[Heatheranne]

Peek at my middle picture above. The larger pond is where I have the new toadlets still with tails. I do still put the seaweed in but not much bc they usually don't eat much if anything until their tails absorb.

[froglover27]

okay, so I should put 'him' into a shallow water dish that he can climb in and out of? with a moist paper towel substrate? Also, they are about one and a half inches. so could they eat fruit flies? thanks for the help guys!!

[Heatheranne]

I took the substrate from my big viv bc it has a few natural tiny bugs in it, but not enough to keep up with their big appetites .

Do you have any pics of him with legs?

[Heatheranne]

Wow! At 1 1/2 inches they should be able to eat fruit flies and baby crickets . That should be even easier .

[Heatheranne]

Yep, just set it up like a mini vivarium or terrarium. At that size you should Be able to even add plants.

That's awesome!

[Heatheranne]

Put the misted paper towel on the bottom of the tank and the water bowl in a corner. That way he has room to hop around in case he's terrestrial.

Be sure to have the top covered. You'd be surprised how well they can climb. Even my tiny toads climb to the top of their 10 gallon.

[froglover27]

should I place him in the bowl for now? I REALLY don't want him to drown:/ thanks for the replies heather