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.

[meganmcnerney]

thanks for your personal info! I went back and read the grays care sheet (duh - I find something new each time I read it), and your time frame was pretty similar to the care sheet (aka John).

At least your decision was spontaneous! My hubby brought home our tads and I'VE been the one doing all the research and work on the tank! I don't really mind, just like to be super prepared! (This forum is a godsend - I get consistent suggestions versus other sites)


I had a thought...the care sheet does mention transferring tadpoles to a shallow container with a slope when the 4th leg pops out. So, can I do that "early" to be on the safe side while I'm gone? I have enough containers that I can split them up so that they have their space to morph. The concern I have is tank quality at that point...my guys poop 24/7 these days! It is reminding me of my goldfish keeping days! I've read that I shouldn't disturb them so much because they are really fragile at that point.

Anyways...just a thought.
Megan

[Lynx]

John's care sheet is awesome and has helped me so much!Yes, tank quality turned out to be an issue when I tried that with the toads. I was amazed at amount of poop those guys put out! And it doesn't stop after metamorphosis either

How big is the tank that they're in now? You can try to make a "beach" area, like a stack of slate rock, and/or place some sticks in the water so they can climb out, but you still run the risk of drowning. It'll also decrease the water volume in the tank. I did do that for the first 3 that morphed, and didn't run into problems except for constant worrying.

Oops, forgot that you mentioned you had containers on hand. Okay, would said neighbor be willing to do partial water changes if you left a couple jugs of dechlorinated water on hand? Then there'd be no scooping involved...and they are hard to catch, hehe. And the water wouldn't be so yucky. On the plus side, they seem to stop eating after the front legs come, so less poop.

Did you find a way to cool them down?

[meganmcnerney]

right now, I have a medium or large "critter keeper" with two tadpoles in it and another sterilite container (it's about 2-3x bigger) with the remaining 4 tadpoles. I'm keeping the 4 tads with hind legs separate from the ones who haven't sprouted yet so that I can keep a closer eye on them. I've already noticed that 2 of the tadpoles with hind legs are now able to use them and they will crawl around the smooth rocks that I have in their tank.

I've got a couple of options for building them a "landing" zone -- I found a really flat/smooth rock and bought a floating island to test out. I'm also thinking that I may just go out and get one of those round "ramp" style aquariums and take a few of them with me! (my hubby thinks I'm nuts, btw) I've also got a real pothos and some fake plants that I can use as well.

When do they start jumping? I don't have lids on the tanks right now, but when they are resorbing their tails, will they start jumping?

[Mineau]

Hi, this is my first post here, I have a problem with my grey tree frog tadpoles, i currently have about 50 tadpoles that I have had since august so its been like 4 months and there not morphing to froglets and i don't know what I am doing wrong, I have done this 3 times before and everything went fine but now these tadpoles look just like they did the day I caught them? The only thing I can think is different is that I saved these towards the end of the season when it was starting to cool? please help in any way you can, much appreciated - Eric