Please help, do tadpoles shed their skin?

[MsBlueRose]

I don't have my camera cable and my camera is dead... I will try to borrow a phone from the neighbor and send a pic that way, I just hope it is clear enough to help. They look like they are wrapped in a clear gel that is attached to their skin and there is a spot on their side that looks like it is starting to peel off. And if that was not enough, there is a hole in the middle of the smaller ones side where the skin looks like it is coming off... it is a tiny hole, barley the size of a straight-pin and about a millimeter or two deep. The one with the hole in the side is also not eating or I have not seen him eat yet, and I have seen the other eating, quiet happily as well. I am really worried about them. Any starter tips would be great until I can get a "good" pic of them up for everyone.

[UncleChester]

How big are the tadpoles? The skin might appear semi transparent at earlier stages.

If you are unable to get photos, you might want to do a google search for leopard frog tadpoles photos and compare yours with other tads that way.

...They look like they are wrapped in a clear gel that is attached to their skin and there is a spot on their side that looks like it is starting to peel off. And if that was not enough, there is a hole in the middle of the smaller ones side where the skin looks like it is coming off... it is a tiny hole, barley the size of a straight-pin and about a millimeter or two deep...

Are these in flaps/holes in the same locations on the tadpoles? One per tadpole? If so, they could be the spiracles (an 'exhaust').

A wood frog tadpole is pictured below, the spiracle is clearly visible on the left side of it's body and looks like a flap of skin waiting to peel off. I believe Leopard frogs keep theirs in the same location:

[Jayzie Greenfrog]

Im so sorry you are having problems with your little ones I do so hope it proves to be nothing nasty but I am sure you are in the right place to get the best advice. Best wishes Jay

[Ted]

They do shed their skin..as they are developing to change,,so do their mouth parts ,their tube turns into a mouth and they get lungs.dont take them out of water,just lower the water and put some rocks or something in with them to crawl on..

[MsBlueRose]

OMG! Thank you so much! Brian, yes that is exactly where the skin flap is on both of them! Thank you so much. I was worried because I can only see the spiracles on the smaller of the two tadpoles and immediately thought something was wrong because I could not find the same thing on the other. Yes they are older tads about to morph also. I just got them so I was not sure what was going on. I just hope that the gel like scattered patches of skin are normal too. I going to go a partial water change today and take it from there. Thank you to all 3 of you for your help. I am not so worried now. I just hope I can get them to adulthood.I know they'll be ok then. Thanks again. I just wish I knew exactly how old my tads are? I am still waiting for the shop I ordered them from to answer my E-mail on that question...

I just reinspected the tads with a bright light and nothing has changed. I also got a response from the shop I bought them from. They don't know how old they are exactly, but they are at the stage that they will start morphing soon. She also said she sees the skin shedding and the hole in the left side all the time in the shop. She did however bring up that the new environment they are in is probably the cause of their shedding right now. They have never been in an environment with nothing but other tadpoles and water their whole life until I got them and put them in a more natural setting. So with in a few days they should look normal again. Let's hope anyway! Thanks again to everyone that tried to help. If you have any other info that you think I might need so I don't have any more surprises that would be great. I don't think I can handle too many more surprises...!

[Strider18]

Any updates on your tads?

[MsBlueRose]

Actually, I do have some updates on them. Sadly, I lost the first one that morphed. She, I think, died of either an impaction or was not fully developed correctly. Either way she only ate one tiny red runner and 4 days later she passed away. I noticed she was gaining weight but did not think anything of it since she was supposed to be growing. But she never passed the roach she ate and also stopped eating after the first feeding, even though I tried to get her to eat several times a day. It was very heart breaking to lose my newly morphed froglet. I have some pics of her and Chip before she died. I will post them to the thread soon. On a happier note. Chip is still doing good and growing strong. After what happened to Cookie, I am actually glad to see he is taking his time to grow up, I don't want him to suffer the same fate because he grew too quickly... I also have new babies, I am not sure what they are yet, but I think they are grey tree frog tads. I know for sure they are tree frogs, but have not confirmed identity for sure. I was only able to compare them to tadpoles on the Conservation web page. I am thinking that the biggest of my new babies and Chip may morph with in the same week. They both seem to be at about the same stage of development. I will post a pic of the biggest one here for everyone to see, but I also have a bunch of pics of Chip and Cookie in my albums if you are interested in looking at them. Thanks for asking about the babies, I am praying that the 4 I have now all grow up healthy and happy. At this point I just want them to take their time. I do everything they need to ensure they get the proper nutrition fro good growth. SO fingers crossed that they will ALL be ok? Enjoy the pic of the new babies, and if anyone has any suggestions about what they may be, I am open to ideas! Thanks!