Need Help with New Leopard Frog Tadpoles

[MsBlueRose]

I thought I was ready for my new babies to arrive today but it turns out I was just excited... I am in a state of confusion. I feel like I am going to do something wrong and kill my new Leopard Tads on their first day home! I am sure I am only over exaggerating, but thats how I feel at the moment. ANYONE at all who has had experience with tadpoles please give me some pointers? They should be here in about an hour or less at this time. I am trying to have a temporary home set up for them before they get here and I can not figure out what to do as far as the water...? I have dechlorinator and heavy metal remover for the tap water but I am reluctant to use it, I think I am gonna go with the bottled spring water instead; though I have read that I have the best combo for water treatment right now for frogs. I have AmQuel Plus water conditioner which removes Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Chlorine, and Chloramines; and I have NovAqua Plus water conditioner which adds a protective slime coat agent to the water, detoxifies Chlorine and Chloramine, and removes Toxic Heavy Metals. I originally bought the combo for my tree frogs because I lost one from heavy metal poisoning and since I got them all from the same source I did not want to take the chance with the remaining 3. SO I bought these upon recommendation from another site that deals with frog ailments and was instructed to stop using tap water and add these to their pools and change their water daily for several months so that they could slowly remove the metals from the frogs, the toxins removed would not be reabsorbed, and they would have a better survival rate. Should I use these in the spring water I am going to use for the tads, too, or is it not necessary to add such things to spring water for tadpoles? Also, I have some plants that I ordered with my tads, I am going to put these into their enclosure but should I put some of my fake plants leaves on the bottom for them to hide in and do they need a branch yet. I don't know how far along they are in their development yet, I am just guessing but I don't think they are very old... I will know for sure when they arrive this afternoon. I know as they grow they will need to be able to climb out of the water. I have a 55 gal in the process of being set up for them as a permanent home, but the build is going slower than I had wanted it too, so I can not put them in there yet. Also, should I let them stay in the smaller enclosure I am setting up today for a longer period of time or will they be happier in the bigger tank as they water side of the tank will be between like 5 - 10 gals when set up. The temporary home is just a plastic small tote that will hold about 2 gals of water. I am not sure which they will be happier in as baby tads? Any help or information I can get would be fantastic! I looked through the care sheet section of the forum and I did not find what I was looking for. I found a page on Leopard Frog care and one for Dart Frog Tads, but the Leopard Frog page did not say anything about tad care and I don't know if the Dart Frog Tads need the same requirements as Leopard Frog Tads...? I look forward to hearing from anyone that has useful info for me and my new babies. I will post pics of them as soon as I get them! So long as my camera does not die on me, I am still waiting for my new cable to arrive, I can't charge my camera... Thank goodness I have a card reader to get the pics off the camera or I would be in trouble as far as that goes, lol. Talk to you all again soon! Thank you in advance!

[Ted]

Ms blue rose hello,I've kept many tadpoles of all kinds,leopard frogs also...go with the spring water and no chemical removal anything...it should be aged but the tadpoles wil take care of that,,you can add a little safestart to get it going..you don't need that much water as you are going to make water changes and the tadpoles will change to..throw in some silk plants for cover,,,tadpoles are tough they live in shallow water on the bottom in mucky canals and dirty vernal pools etc..

[MsBlueRose]

Thank you Ted, I did set them up a small enclosure yesterday afternoon when they came in. I forgot that I had a bad of sterile sand in a box in my basement so I rinsed a little bit of sand and put it in the bottom of a small tote and filled it about 2/3 full of spring water. I had ordered a live plant with the tadpoles so I put that in the tote with a sturdy branch that I use from time to time in my tree frog habitat. I also scattered a few handfuls of small stones around the sand. I let the water settle before I added the tads to their new home and they seem to be doing great! I have two distinct personalities I can already tell! One is a little smaller than the other but they are always together and folowing one another around. I have a fairly timid little guy and one that does not seem to let anything bother him. The little timid one is easily spooked and swims frantically around the top of the water if anything spooks him but settles down again just as fast once he finds his buddy. I winder if their personality will change or if he will always be like that? I can't wait to watch them grow and change. I think they are pretty close to growing back legs, they both have what appear to be hind quarters on their body. There are no sign of real legs yet, but I am thinking that may be the beginning of the legs? I have never kept Tadpoles before so I am not sure what the body looks like right before it starts to change. I will take some pics soon and post them for everyone to see. I am going to post my tree frogs, too. I hope I can do right by these little guys, I already love them so much! Oh, one thing more... I can't tell if they are eating or not. I have not seen them eating yet but I am giving them a pellet or two each in the morning and at night, is that too much or should I be giving them more. They are about 3 inches long, the biggest may be 3 and a half inches or close to it at least. Thanks for your help!

[Ted]

Hello msbluerose..your tadpoles are doing fine,,but as a tadpole,most eat plants and algaes,so some lettuce leaves wont hurt,they'll also eat anything,so maybe a little frozen bloodworm to get them going.their diet is going to change as they do.pollywogs hang out ,carpeting the bottom in shallow areas,they are prone to automatically freak out when shadows pass overhead,so that behavior is normal.i have seen 6 in. Bullfrog pollywogs take right off into deep water when spooked.

[MsBlueRose]

Well we are on day three with the new additions and they finally ate for the first time this afternoon. I am a bit worried that one of them is over eating though. We have named them cookie and chip (temporary names), cookie has a circle between her eyes that looks like a chocolate chip cookie, lol. Anyway, cookie has been eating nonstop all afternoon. Is this ok? She seemed to have eaten so much that she was floating for about 2 hours earlier today, but now she can dive and stay submerged with out floating back up again. I was really worried for a while there. Due to my negligence, I put way too much food in their little home. I was feeding them twice a day and they were not even eating any of it until today. So there was 2 days worth of food in the tank. I reread the care sheet today and it said one pellet would be enough food for one tadpole for 3 days... opps. I hope I did not make a grave mistake! Cookie has cleaned up almost all of the food in their pond by now and she seems to be ok - for now. Should I let them eat as much as they want or is there a limit to how much I should let them eat daily? Any input would be helpful, thank you for your help.