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Thread: Introduction. Tadpoles as Homeschool Science Project

  1. #1
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    Default Introduction. Tadpoles as Homeschool Science Project

    Good Morning Board Members,

    We are a special needs homeschool family of four. I am captain of the ship, AKA Mommy. I have autism and speak very literally. Sometimes I come off as rude even though I am not trying to be rude. My husband has severe ADHD. My almost five year old son has moderate to severe autism. My three-year-old daughter has mild autism and severe ADHD. Our lives are pretty hectic with all of our regular therapy appointments every week. We started homeschooling at Age 3 with our oldest child. Right now we are on a home school break for the summer. I thought it would be a great opportunity for a metamorphosis science project. We collected tadpoles from the pond at my grandfather's house a few weeks ago. I did a lot of research on the internet to make sure that I set up the environment that we placed these tadpoles in correctly. I'm a very thorough, analytical and organized person.

    We have somewhere between 9 and 13 tadpoles. We've been watching them grow for several weeks and now we have two frogs approximately the size of a pinky fingernail. As the tadpoles have grown I've done much research on the internet to find out exactly what species of frogs we have. I have determined that we have mostly Southern leopard frogs as well as a few bullfrogs. The bullfrogs are still in the tadpole stage and are growing much more slowly than the southern leopard frogs. I am here to gain more insight and knowledge as to the best possible ways to take care of our frogs before we release them back into the pond from which we collected them at my grandfather's house.

    If I'm feeding the tadpoles goldfish flakes as well as changing out root plants every few days. All of the water exchanges we have done in their current housing have been dechlorinated as well as some rain water. They are currently housed in a 12 gallon kiddie pool with screen covering the top. The land area for the tadpoles is built up tall enough so that the screen makes a sort of teepee over the whole pond. There is an air pump in the water but no filtration. We exchange about 2 gallons every other day as well as rain water that comes in naturally. The pond is in a section of our yard that is shaded by large trees all but one hour out of the day.

    I've researched the southern leopard frogs and found that they take 85 to 90 days to go from egg to froglet. I have also researched the larger tadpoles which are darker in color and they seem to be bullfrogs. The bullfrogs take approximately 12 months to turn into frogs, so soon I will need to change the housing to avoid the cold months. I'm assuming that they will not survive the winter if the temperature drops too low.

    My children have enjoyed watching the tadpoles grow. Now that we have two frogs I need to know what to feed them. Any suggestions and advice are greatly appreciated.

    Thank You,

    AutismADHDMom

  2. #2
    100+ Post Member Animallover3541's Avatar
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    Default Re: Introduction. Tadpoles as Homeschool Science Project

    Small frogs can be fed springtails, fruit flies, or pinhead crickets. Welcome to the form!
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  4. #3
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    Default Re: Introduction. Tadpoles as Homeschool Science Project

    Quote Originally Posted by Animallover3541 View Post
    Small frogs can be fed springtails, fruit flies, or pinhead crickets. Welcome to the form!
    Thanks for the welcome. I love making terrariums. Ive had several different exotic tank dwelling pets in the past. I love making their environment as natural as possible. Doing the research on their care and habits, etc. But i always pass whatever pet to someone more interested than me in the end. Exotic pets always prove to be too much maintenance for me. So i think this frog farm science project is perfect for me. We just release the frogs back where we collected the tadpoles once they've grown up enough, my kids get to witness first hand the miracle of metamorphosis, and we have several months in between to improve the habitat for the next summer science experiment. Right now im working on a 10 gallon tank for the tiny young frogs. Yesterday one of them jumped out and I had to catch it in the yard. It was so hard because the Frog was so tiny. Transferring the new frogs to the 10 gallong is to better avoid escape. Now we have a total of four Southern leopard frogs tiny enough to fit on a pinky nail with the first two that emerged being just a tad bit larger than the second two. It's amazing how fast they grow when they're that tiny. It's a really good opportunity for my children to observe growth.

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