gray tree frog -- habitat questions

[meganmcnerney]

Hi all! I'm very new to raising frogs. Right now, I have 6 tadpoles (not sure how old, but no legs and length ranges from about 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inch). I've lost 2-3 tadpoles since Friday afternoon (5 days) when they were given to us by a friend who has a gray tree frog pond in her yard.

Okay, so here are my main questions:
1- how often do I need to change water? I have them separated into 2 large critter keepers and their water gets dirty pretty quickly. I've done 2 1/4 water changes and one major water/tank change when I separated them 3 days ago. Water still looks dirty even though I just did a partial change.

2- how far in advance do I need to get the froglet tank ready? If all 6 survive to froglet stage, what size tank do I need for them?

3- when do I switch them to their permanent habitat and how early does that need to be ready?

4- should I be concerned that my tadpoles don't rush for their food and are fairly "lazy"? My latest tadpole death took about 2 days to die---would float on back or side and then furiously swim then dive and float back to e surface. Should I be concerned about the rest of the tads in that tank and remove them?

Anyways....I love this forum and have already found lots of into and ideas that I want to implement!
Megan

[LilyPad]

I don't have much advice about tadpole care, but you could probably start the froglets off in a 10 gallon until they are a little bigger. Then, ideally, you should do 10 gallons per frog. I do have 4 of them in a 35 gallon though.

I am sure someone has a lot more advice about tadpole care though.

[John]

Have you read the care article? It covers raising tadpoles of these guys in detail.

1: That's hard to say and really depends on how many you have in the tank, how often you feed, and how warm it is. As a general guideline, if the water is starting to cloud a little then you need to change it.

2: I would get it ready sooner rather than later. You could keep 6 froglets easily in a 10 gallon (40 Liter) terrarium no problem.

3: Kind of answered that in 2 I think.

4: It sounds like your water quality is bad, and the temperature may be too high too. They start floating due to over activity of bacteria in the gut. The stress of floating kills them after a few days.

[meganmcnerney]

Thank you both for the quick advice. I have a stupid questionnthat I'm pret sure I know the answer to already....but I have to ask so I can prepare myself.

Is it okay that one of my tadpoles "sleeps" occasionally upside down on it's back? I noticed this 2x in the past 2 days, and when I think it's died, it flips and swims again.

Also, another quick question...will ammonia detoxifier work with tadpoles? I don't want to treat my tank with more problems than it already has.

Thanks!
Megan