Tadpole ID? D.C. Area U.S., pics

[Psychotic]

I agree. He looks like a bullfrog tad to me.

[Tadtholemew]

Thank you both! I think you're right, and I'm just waiting to see how he turns out. Here's a picture from this morning:


Caspian, thank you for the care guide! I wish you'd posted it before I bought his tank. I bought the coconut substrate...but I didn't get the sealant (actually, I didn't even see any in the pet store...). My first terrarium attempt turned into a giant dirt mess all over the bathroom. I have all of the recovered substrate drying in the window, and I set up the rest of the tank, including some structures for him to climb onto. However, he's been acting a little odd since I set it up. He keeps jumping everywhere, like hyperactively. Yesterday, he jumped out when I was trying to get him into his new terrarium (...four feet onto the wood floor). I got him right back in the water and he was a little dazed for the next few hours...but after that, he's gone right back to excessive jumping everywhere - which was a relief at first, but now it's getting a little concerning. I thought that maybe with the amount of water and the filter, there might not be enough algae for him to eat...so last night I turned off the filter and gave him twice the number of recommended food pellets and a tiny piece of lettuce. He's been a little calmer since (and I turned the filter back on), but every ten minutes or so I'll hear a splash. I had a recurring series of nightmares in which he jumped out of the tank last night because he kept splashing (and the tank is by the bed).

I'm worried that he needs more air now (he has cute little legs now!)...but he doesn't seem to be using the climbing dock or rocks in the tank. Is this normal? Or do I just have a hyperactive tadpole? Is is the food, do you think? Or maybe something with the tank (he seems to be gravitating towards the corners, where they are glued together, so I'm a little worried he's, I don't know, eating the glue or something). I'm also worried that he will beach himself on the rock. Do you think that should be a concern?

Thanks for your replies! I hope I'm taking care of him okay. I felt really terrible after I let him jump out.

[Psychotic]

He may not like the filter. I have the same filters in my frog tanks. However I don't use any filters at all for tadpoles. The current was too strong and they don't like it at all! I just did 20% water changes once a week until they turned into frogs. I always had pretty shallow water too. For deeper water I would prefer an air stone.
My bullfrog tadpoles have always been lazy and like to just lay around on the bottom of their tank. So you could turn the filter off for a few days and see if he calms down. He also might feel exposed without plants to hide in. Though with my own tadpoles I never provided plants, but I think they were used to that because they never had plants from the time they were born.

Once he finishes developing his legs and starts to loose his tail, he should climb out of the water himself. However you can keep an eye on him and remove him to land once his tail starts to shrink. My last batch of frogs eggs that I hatched out were wood frogs. Once they started loosing their tails I removed them to damp paper towel set ups for a few days until their tails completely disappeared. Then moved them to a terrestrial set up. But with my bullfrogs I left them in an aquatic set up with plenty of rocks and ramps to climb out on and they did just fine. As a frog they still like to swim and hang out in the water. Mine spend more time in water than on land.