Guess it's that time of year again...

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Since a lot of people have been finding toads, I decided to add myself to the list when my dad had caught a (presumably) Fowler's toadlet, which I have decided to keep. Soon enough, I will try to order some springtails for it and Draco my California Slender Salamander, so that's an update on my life right now. I would have made this thread earlier, but yesterday we were very busy with trying to plan out father's day, and I would have made it this morning, but I almost had a very bad accident, I almost poured water into my bowl of cereal instead of milk. Anyone else have non-pet problems? (mine probably won't compare to some of yours)

[Sunshine]

Pics!!

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Don't have any pictures yet, but I will hopefully get some today, when we take the puppies back to their shed where all the pets in my family go now. It has air conditioning and everything, so kind of proud of it

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Well today not only did I find a unknown species of tadpole, I found this bright orange toadlet! Not painted or anything, a natural complete orange color! I don't typically name my animals right off the bat, but little Fireball is an exception! Hopefully I will get some photos of him/her soon!

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Just so you know, I have researched, and ironically, not only is the new toadlet an American Toad, the tadpole is too! So would it be bad for me to keep it with the fowler's toadlet, especially if they are very closely related?

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Yeah, definitely American Toadlet, and an American Toad tadpole. Is it bad to keep the toadlet with my Fowler's Toadlet? It is with it for now at least, which is why I am asking, so please respond!

[UncleChester]

Even if they were the same species I would separate them since they were collected at different times. At this tiny size they don't need a huge living space, so the extra work in separating them is pretty small and the potential drawbacks of not separating them could be large.


Aside- if you consider pouring water on your cereal a very bad accident, you lead a charmed life.

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Okay, I have a tank divider, and I went to check on them, the one that I caught first is larger than Fireball by a centimeter, so I will separate them, and maybe I will move him to the tank infested with springtails, if he does not eat crickets like the other one

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Pics!!

Soory it took so long, but I do not have photos of the Fowler's Toadlet, the pictures messed up so I have to take new ones. Just of the two Americans, Fireball and the yet-to-be-named tadpole, so here they are!

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Oh, and the pictures don't do Fireball justice, he was so orange when I caught him, I thought he was a coin at first!

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Aside- if you consider pouring water on your cereal a very bad accident, you lead a charmed life.

Well I did lose a tooth in an Ihop restaurant once, but that is a different story for another day!

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

I finally got it working, and here is Snowball! (He's not a color morph like an albino, more like a fire and ice thing )

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Also, I am confused. Now I am not sure if it is a toad tadpole anymore. Does anyone know if it is a toad tadpole or something else?

[gut]

He seems a little pale for a toadpole, at least in my experience?? All the ones I've seen nearby have remained very very dark even after growing legs. Like never any lighter than a blackish olive color. He could just be a little pasty though

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

He seems a little pale for a toadpole, at least in my experience?? All the ones I've seen nearby have remained very very dark even after growing legs. Like never any lighter than a blackish olive color. He could just be a little pasty though

Yeah, that's why I was saying, when I googled American toad tadpoles, all of them except for one were very dark. This led me to for some crazy reason to now think it's a southern leopard frog tadpole, does anybody know what southern leopard tads look like?

[UncleChester]

Yeah, that's why I was saying, when I googled American toad tadpoles, all of them except for one were very dark. This led me to for some crazy reason to now think it's a southern leopard frog tadpole, does anybody know what southern leopard tads look like?

The vent location will separate toads from leopards. Details in the links below:

A complex tadpole key: USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center "Tadpoles of the United States and Canada: A Tutorial and Key"
The tutorial for the above key (explains the anatomy bits): North American Tadpoles
A small chart of common tads with brief descriptions: Tadpole Identification Table

Here's a dichotomous key for larva of Indiana http://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/vernalpools/...al_Key_IND.pdf. You'll have enough overlap that it should still be useful. It has a 'quick guide' at the end as well as tons of other detail.

The Southern Leopard is also in the SEARMIT tadpole guide (lots of pictures): http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/armi/Guid...dpoleGuide.pdf

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Okay, gone back to thinking it being a toad tadpole, just very weirdly colored

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Okay, last one I promise! Last night I caught one last Fowler's Toadlet, it looks like an exact clone of Snowball, except larger by a centimeter or so. I have it in another separate enclosure that the others and names are most welcome! (Oh, and I finally came up with a name for the tadpole, Waterball, to keep the theme)

[gut]

i'd love to see more pics if you're thinking about taking any!!

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

It is thunder storming right now so I can't go to the shed, but once it stops, I will go take photos of still nameless toadlet