Breeding

[Teh Frog Whisperer]

I've thought about starting a Budgett's frog breeding project, so I need to know the following things:

-All of the necessary supplies and equipment
-Any humane ways to cull the brood size
-How to maintain all of the babies and how to care for the tadpoles

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[John]

You just asked for an entire article on Budgett's frogs, more than anyone has actually written about them in regards to breeding.

Question 2 is the easiest to answer: Caudata Culture Articles - Euthanasia

[Teh Frog Whisperer]

Wow. I really had no idea I was asking for more then anyone's written about them.

[John]

I may have over reacted - it sounded like you wanted a walk through. Here's a quick response.

Equipment:

- Aestivation equipment - you can read this in the African Bullfrog article
- 20 gallon aquarium with recirculating water pump to simulate a rain chamber
- Aquarium heater

Maintaining the offspring: I believe the tadpoles are carnivorous. This means you'll have to feed them very well to avoid mass carnage, or raise them individually (not practical). Other than that, their maintenance is the same as Ceratophrys tadpoles - keep them in the late 20s Celsius (early 80s F), keep the water relatively clean, give them a lot of space and have a lot of food available - they grow fast and metamorphose in a few weeks.

[SethD]

These are usually bred with hormone injections. Not saying it couldn't or hasn't been done without hormones but it would certainly be an advanced level project for a skilled hobbyist.

[Teh Frog Whisperer]

How much room would I need, at the minimum? And is it acceptable to allow the bigger tadpoles/froglets to eat the smaller ones? Because the way I see it, I think the result will be a much larger ratio of strong frogs to smaller, maybe even weaker frogs, as well as a smaller brood size. Also, I've heard that baby horned/ Budgett frogs are very cannibalistic in nature. But I'm not sure if I should do that or not.

[John]

I can't give you a number on the room because I've never raised strictly carnivorous tadpoles. I would imagine that you couldn't have too much room - no matter what you do, some will eat others. Whether or not it's acceptable for some to eat others, you can't raise them on that alone. There are good reasons as to why not many people breed these big Leptodactylids.

[cricketfrog30]

you could email the people at frog ranch they breed em.

[Deku]

You could get a 40breeder just for this. Or a rubbermaid of equal size. You put a sandy bottom for comfort. Use a small non powerful filter to help clean up. Do weekly waterchanges or when you see that they neeed to. Check for ammonia readings daily. You do not want an ammonia spike. One little spike can kill your whole breeding project. If these are carnivorous you "Could" try feeding these sinking pellets made by hikari called "Carnivore sinking pellets". Just a thought. Or you could make your own food. Like gel suspensions. Which is get a "jello" with no additives. YOu know the transparent one? They sell these boxes at some supermarkets. You may wanna research the tadpoles diet in the wild. Get a blender(a strong one that can liquify). Add 1-2 cuttlebones for suplemental calcium. I would add some trout or other highly nutritious fish. Get uncooked white turkey meat(just a bit of it). Since they are canibalistic, as cruel or gross as this sounds. Get some bullfrog tadpoles and euthanize them(anyone reading this dont shoot me for the idea its j ust a suggestion), get crickets or locusts. I would say locusts are better quality. Add red wrigglers, wax worms. Stay away from mealies, because they are like chewing gum(they are not ready for them). Add a few plant matter for balanced diet. You can add some mysis shrimps, and silversides too(both are extremely healthy). Crabs if you want to. And whatever else. Just make sure to boil them for atleast 5minutes to kill anything unwanted. Uhh make sure that any of the foods you use does NOT contain any enzymes. Enzymes prevent jello from forming. So Add these all to the blender put em up for liquid. Make sure its liquidy. Then put it in a place to mix in with the jello. Make sure to read the jello packaging so you know how much jello to add. Put the em up in a bakers pan. You know the ones that are a inch deep and are made for cookies? Put em on a fridge and then cut up to pieces appropriate for eating. The tadpoles will have a balanced diet. I would cover this though. Because it tends to stink and can pass on the taste to other foods in fridge. So I would make sure to put this in a safe compartment where its sealed but can befrozen.

You can add whatever foods you want to it that is appropriate for the tadpoles or frogs. This was just an example. This works for tadpoles, frogs(some frogs if they take non living food or rely mroe on scent), turtles, iguanas, etc. Doesnt have to be fully meaty. It can be made of anything. K? J ust remember
DO NOT ADD ENZYMES! enzymes prevent formation of jello.

[Kurt]

Most tadpoles feed upon vegetable matter, fish flake foods work well, as do dried Indian almond leaves, which also add tanins to the water.

[Deku]

Most tadpoles feed upon vegetable matter, fish flake foods work well, as do dried Indian almond leaves, which also add tanins to the water.

yeah but I figured if they do the gel extensions it would be healthier and give the tadpoles an extra boost in color and "strength" by giving calcium, minerals and vitamins, oh and proteins too.

[Kurt]

They get all that from the fish foods I feed them. Plus the go to town on Indian almond leaves.

[opistoglyph]

For those wishing to raise large numbers of carnivorous tadpoles. Me, I go wiith live foods- microworms, whiteworms, dapnia, freshwater fairy shrimp in the beginning- gel foods etc can be tried later.

Once tads are actively free swimming, they can be transferred to sweater boxes with 4" of water. I've silicone sealed powerfilter fittings (with adjustable flow rate)into the boxes with one end of the box raised a half an inch, and a hose bringing the return to the high end, the intake drilled into the lower end side near the bottom. Use foam over intake, clean foam twice a day.

To prevent cannibalism, make plastic screen tubes 5-6 inches long, 3" across- depending on screen material you can sew it, glue with silicone seal, staple it, whatever. I tad per tube. 48 of these fit in the sweaterboxes I use. I never try to raise thousands of tadpoles, I select a couple hundred of the most active, and ones I see feeding before I transfer them. The rest are euthed.

Depending on size of food and screenmesh size in tube, you can feed each tad individually or just dump food into bin. I prefer adding food to each for best chance of success. Experiment to see whether your species feeds day or night or doesn't matter.
Clean filter frequently, add leaves or whatever other conditioning material you use to filter box or cannister.

I do 25-50% water changes daily, with conditioned water held in 5 gallon pails, prepared days ahead of time. For most tads I use 6.5-7.5 water, low level hardness. Buy a good test kit, check daily for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates.

A little tip: when tads look like they are ready to metamorphose, raise temperature 2-5 degrees fahrenheit, as most tads metamorphose in shoreline waters that get a lot warmer, they seem to develop better this way (for me).

If you are doing this with climbing frogs, let me go back and ensure that when you cut your tubes you do it with precision, all the same height. That way the sweaterbox lid can be placed over the tubes to keep the frogs from climbing out when they do metaporphose, which they usually do en masse, either before you get up in the morning, or while you are at work.

Whole spawns of cannibals may be reared but the volume of food and water used is kind of excessive for the hobbyist.

The above method also works to raise saltwater shrimp and crabs once the larvae become benthic, water scorpions, lethoceros nymphs, caddis fly larvae (I used them to make natural jewelry this way, able to control building materials easily), salamander larvae, many kinds of fresh and saltwater fishes, dragonfly and damselfly nymphs, etc.
It is easy, with help, to do this on a commercial scale- the labor intensive part is making the set-up, once you have it it is good for years.

Hey, I'm adult ADHD, nothing better to do when you sleep 3 hours a day.

[Mercedesherp]

This species can be frustrating. I wll however remind you of JC's ABF article. There are some things that cannot escape what we wish to do, and how things actually work. (less, and including hormone therapy).
You will need to grow a group of young animals, or, you wll need to provide proper amounts of nourishisment to recent adult imports. They will need a dormancy period,
which allows a completion of Endocrine system maturity for successfull spawning.
Its not any more difficult than it is easy, you do however need an idea of normal biology, and species specific requirements.
My attempts with these resulted in 3 females consuming 3 males. After which the females released ova in the breedng chamber. ( husbandry errors )
They produce large eggs with low numbers < 300, so even a moderately prepared hobbyist would be able to manage the larvae.
As far as food for the larvae, stick wth live blackworms, tubifex, and have lots of frozen bloodworms, as you can afford, and investigate other protein sources cautiously.
Besides the frogs you need to accomplish this, you need dedication, persistance,
and patience.
GO FOR IT !!