Gray Tree Frog - morphing questions

[meganmcnerney]

I have 6 tadpoles getting ready to go thru "the change". One sprouted his back legs about 3-4 days ago and 3 more just started their budding of hind legs today. The last 2 are still smaller and haven't shown any signs of sprouting legs yet.

My question is regarding Labor Day weekend (coming in 8 days) and what to expect by then. We are supposed to go out of town for 3 days (technically 1 1/2 days, leaving on Sat and returning on Mon) and I'm not sure where in the process of changing into froglets they will be. I hate to postpone seeing my parents, but I don't want to lose any of my frogs. I have my separate containers ready to go, but how much work would it be for my next door neighbor to check on them and move them from one tank to the other?

Does anyone have some guidance for while I'm gone?
Thanks!
Megan

[John]

Cool them down into the teens Celsius (about 60 F). It will slow their growth rate and should keep them from developing front legs before you get back. I wouldn't let my neighbor near my frogs...

[meganmcnerney]

thanks John! sounds like you've had some bad experience with your neighbor! Mine has taken care of my cats with no problems...but I consider cats very low maintenance. At least my cats are low-main, as he never sees them when he comes over. just checks to make sure there is food in the bowl and that's about it. (litterbox is automatic and we run fresh water from the faucet) Have a feeling that frogs are a little bit more work than he will be prepared for!

how do you recommend cooling them down? I live in Atlanta and the temp has been in high 90's. we have an older house and even running the a/c nonstop I haven't been able to get my temp down lower than 72 (even at night). Also, does this mean that the current tadpoles with hind legs will not grow their front legs for at least another week if the temps are low?

[John]

The temps slow their metabolism so it should slow down their growth rate. As for cooling, I don't have any short cuts for you. Definitely want to get them out of the 70s though. Do you have a basement? I find the floor of the basement to be the coolest place in the house. Some parts of the basement are a couple of degrees cooler than the others.

[Lynx]

I had the same problem this July...the house is 124 years old and not insulated except for the ceiling and the bathroom we gutted. Ironically, in my friend's care the tadpoles were fine, but the cats got out . Do you have a friend or neighbor with a cooler house that would be willing to take them, if the basement suggestion doesn't work out? If they only just started sprouting back legs, you do have a bit of time, depending on water temperature. My water was always between 74 - 80 degrees F. Let me check my log and I can give you a time frame between when they got back legs and when front legs appeared.

I do have another idea, but I still strongly recommend cooling them, and even then there's a possibility of drowning if they morph. I had to resort to it on my camping trip, but all did just fine.

[Lynx]

Okay, of the original batch of 7 hatchling tadpoles I had, back legs had emerged on most by June 9th. By the 17th, three of them had front legs and all had morphed by the 5th of July. That's about 8 days at the soonest. However, they'd been kept in a very small tank for most of that time, which made it more difficult to control the water temperature and quality. It often approached 80 degrees F, which made me move it around the house until I was able to find a cooler spot until I was able to move them to a larger tank (Yes, I was ill prepared in my spontaneous decision to raise tadpoles, and this forum was a godsend)
The second batch of 23 were caught from a later hatching, kept in a bigger tank, and developed a little more slowly. Temp was still in the low 70s though.