What Was I Thinking?!

[herpdoc]

Regarding how to get the fruitflies in the container, I would encourage them to come near the top of the jar where I kept them and then quickly open and then tap some into the frog feeding container then quickly close up both containers. You have to be quick and accept that a few fruitflies will get loose. Hopefully these are the mutated flightless type.

[Wood Nymph]

Regarding how to get the fruitflies in the container, I would encourage them to come near the top of the jar where I kept them and then quickly open and then tap some into the frog feeding container then quickly close up both containers. You have to be quick and accept that a few fruitflies will get loose. Hopefully these are the mutated flightless type.

Oh yeah - these are the flightless types. Both melanogaster and hydei. I feed the melanogasters to my dead leaf mantis nymph and use much the same procedure as you described. A slippery funnel makes it easier for me. So does putting the culture in the fridge for 5 minutes beforehand. Slows those puppies down a bit! But not for long. Those escapees are swept up by the edge of a piece of paper before they can get too far.

[Marinecrab]

Wish I could give you advice, but we were lucky enough to not have tree frog tadpoles, just Florida Southern Toads. But yes, its funny how even the most cheapest species of frog can end up costing you hundreds I feel like that's the catch, having you spend more money at their stor I have Four Fire bellied toads, my girlfriend named them all. They all cost 7.15 per frog and ended up costing me more than $400, the main cost was the gravel and decorations. We actually picked up the 55 gallon tank with its stand and screen for 55 bucks at our local family owned petstore, was great and looks great. We plan on adopting the last Fire Bellied this weekend.

Excited to see how it goes and I will check up on this thread every day or two!

[Wood Nymph]

Wish I could give you advice, but we were lucky enough to not have tree frog tadpoles, just Florida Southern Toads. But yes, its funny how even the most cheapest species of frog can end up costing you hundreds I feel like that's the catch, having you spend more money at their stor I have Four Fire bellied toads, my girlfriend named them all. They all cost 7.15 per frog and ended up costing me more than $400, the main cost was the gravel and decorations. We actually picked up the 55 gallon tank with its stand and screen for 55 bucks at our local family owned petstore, was great and looks great. We plan on adopting the last Fire Bellied this weekend.

Excited to see how it goes and I will check up on this thread every day or two!

Fire Bellied Toads are a riot to watch. I have four as well (all named - LOL!). They didn't cost me as much as yours. Picked up a $5 used aquarium at Goodwill complete with light strip and filter. That setup was turned into a paludarium complete with two green cory cats and a couple minnows to clean up the watery world beneath. The most expensive parts were the screen cover and locks. Those little devils are escape artists! Good luck with your new FBT this weekend.

The Tadpole Team still seems to be thriving. My boyfriend and I collected algae covered rocks this last weekend. I added them to the setup, and the tadpoles are munching away. There are faint bulges where the front legs will appear on some of them. Still no casualties. A water change is due today. I have to wonder about some of the tadpoles that are so much smaller. A different species perhaps? We shall see ...

[Marinecrab]

Fire Bellied Toads are a riot to watch. I have four as well (all named - LOL!). They didn't cost me as much as yours. Picked up a $5 used aquarium at Goodwill complete with light strip and filter. That setup was turned into a paludarium complete with two green cory cats and a couple minnows to clean up the watery world beneath. The most expensive parts were the screen cover and locks. Those little devils are escape artists! Good luck with your new FBT this weekend.

The Tadpole Team still seems to be thriving. My boyfriend and I collected algae covered rocks this last weekend. I added them to the setup, and the tadpoles are munching away. There are faint bulges where the front legs will appear on some of them. Still no casualties. A water change is due today. I have to wonder about some of the tadpoles that are so much smaller. A different species perhaps? We shall see ...

Thank you and hah, we picked up the tank, stand and screen for only 55 bucks I looked it up and find out that it was originally 500 bucks brand new so i'm pretty happy. I'm really excited to adopt and rescue that fire bellied toad from the perils of a 6 year old child. We're thinking about adopting the chubby White treefrog from the store since he's a loner too. Might set him up into the verticle tank I had originally for the toads when I was a beginner, once I do some research.

[Marinecrab]

Fire Bellied Toads are a riot to watch. I have four as well (all named - LOL!). They didn't cost me as much as yours. Picked up a $5 used aquarium at Goodwill complete with light strip and filter. That setup was turned into a paludarium complete with two green cory cats and a couple minnows to clean up the watery world beneath. The most expensive parts were the screen cover and locks. Those little devils are escape artists! Good luck with your new FBT this weekend.

The Tadpole Team still seems to be thriving. My boyfriend and I collected algae covered rocks this last weekend. I added them to the setup, and the tadpoles are munching away. There are faint bulges where the front legs will appear on some of them. Still no casualties. A water change is due today. I have to wonder about some of the tadpoles that are so much smaller. A different species perhaps? We shall see ...

That's great news, and yes. They are escape artists, we had a casualty due to one escaping in the middle of the night only to find him shrivled up. We fixed that problem now of course.

[Wood Nymph]

That's great news, and yes. They are escape artists, we had a casualty due to one escaping in the middle of the night only to find him shrivled up. We fixed that problem now of course.

Yup. I had one escape as well. Still haven't found it. It's a goner for sure by now. That paludarium is well locked now. That was "Moe" of the Eenie, Meanie, Miney, and Moe team. Then there was no Moe. I replaced him with New Moe. I'm such a dork.

[Marinecrab]

Fire Bellied Toads are a riot to watch. I have four as well (all named - LOL!). They didn't cost me as much as yours. Picked up a $5 used aquarium at Goodwill complete with light strip and filter. That setup was turned into a paludarium complete with two green cory cats and a couple minnows to clean up the watery world beneath. The most expensive parts were the screen cover and locks. Those little devils are escape artists! Good luck with your new FBT this weekend.

The Tadpole Team still seems to be thriving. My boyfriend and I collected algae covered rocks this last weekend. I added them to the setup, and the tadpoles are munching away. There are faint bulges where the front legs will appear on some of them. Still no casualties. A water change is due today. I have to wonder about some of the tadpoles that are so much smaller. A different species perhaps? We shall see ...

We just adopted the Tree frog, he's a very calm chubby fellow, Girlfriend name him Opal.

[Wood Nymph]

We just adopted the Tree frog, he's a very calm chubby fellow, Girlfriend name him Opal.

Glad you got the White's. Is it your first? I have five and they are almost as much fun to watch as the fire belly crew.

Okay! Here's an update:

Things have been happening rather rapidly in the tadpole tank. On Friday, I had two froglets pasted to the glass and more changing. By Sunday, I had two full-fledged frogs! Here are some pics:

On Friday




Sunday!

Looks like herpdoc was right: green tree frogs. Yer good!! I have a cup that I fill with fruit that maintains the attention of the flightless fruit flies for the frogs. But just for sure, I laid a line of diatomaceous earth along the upper lip of the aquarium. Next up will be pinhead crickets.

Since I last posted, I've done quite a bit of research. It seems that tadpoles can go into hibernation if they are in good health. So, I picked out the least developed of the whole mess. They were released in the spring that feeds a huge equisetum (horsetail) swamp alongside the creek that runs through the forest on my property. That leaves me with 8 - 10 (???) rapidly developing tadpoles, froglets, and frogs. That is a manageable number to feed and care for until release in the springtime. Sure hope the released tadpoles will be okay. Next step will be to enlarge the terrestrial area of the tank.

Their new home








For scale: My creek is 20 to 30 feet wide.

[Wood Nymph]

It's been a week full of changes. In addition to adding the rocks from my creek that had natural algae, the tadpole tank has been modified from mostly water to 3/5 land. By the way: I cheated and used mesh-covered plastic crates beneath the gravel so that I wouldn't have to use as much. That stuff's expensive and heavy.

All but one or two of the tadpoles have become frogs and are feasting away on fruit flies and pinhead crickets. Not all are green tree frogs. There are a few grays as well. And ... there are more than I originally planned to hold onto until spring. There are at least 15. Maybe more. Tough to count with all of the hiding places I've provided.

Here's what the expanded setup looks like now:

Left side of expanded tank (distance)



Right side of expanded tank (distance)



Left side from above





Right side





With screen lid closed and hood over basking area



One favorite hunting area is atop the wood slab. In the distance is a small dish of gut load chow for the crickets.



Small dish of banana with fruit flies. Froggie on leaf.



Two frogs hangin' out by the steps



They love climbing the horsetails.



One late bloomer