Close
0%
0%

Raising Tadpoles 2020

raising some tadpoles that I rescued from my ditch

Similar projects worth following
I didn't have the opportunity to raise tadpoles till around 2018 due to not having standing water usually lasting for more than a day or two at most. This is my most recent round of raising tadpoles, I tried earlier this year to raise one from an egg, but apparently it wasn't actually a tadpole egg.

I've never raised tadpoles this young before, so hopefully things will still go well for the most part as they have in the past.  For feed, I'll be using what I've used in previous classes, some crushed box turtle food.  When they're almost ready to leave the water I'll transfer them into an animal container.  I've got what I think are some tadpole eggs this time in another jar, hopefully they will hatch.

The tadpoles are likely green tree frog tadpoles (all the previous classes, turned out to be green tree frogs.)

  • Final sad occurred on Friday

    mcu_nerd12/06/2020 at 03:02 3 comments

    Yesterday the final Musketeer passed away.  On Wednesday, I noticed the fella was mostly staying on the bottom of the container. On Thursday, I could tell he was really struggling and thought I would lose him that night.  He made it to Friday, but was barely responsive and passed later on in the day.  I felt a bit helpless on what to do. I tried supplemental air and such, but that didn't appear to have a noticeable effect.  

    And so the 2020 tadpole school closes. Hopefully things will go a bit better if I have any tadpole classes in 2021.  At least the first group had a perfect graduation rate.

  • Happy Thanksgiving (and legs sighted!)

    mcu_nerd11/27/2020 at 01:02 0 comments

    I wonder how many tadpoles have celebrated Thanksgiving.  On last Wednesday, I noticed that the Musketeer has very tiny rear legs.  I'm not sure if they've been there for quite some time and I've only spotted them recently as I had to be at just the right angle to see them.  I've been too busy for the past week to get a good picture of the legs.  Hopefully the fella won't complete metamorphosis until next spring vs becoming a froglet in the middle of winter. 

    Anyways here's a quick photo of him:

    In this photo you can see them as little bumps on the sides of the tail, but not very well:

  • The Musketeer still not giving up

    mcu_nerd11/07/2020 at 00:18 0 comments

    I'm happy to say he still appears to be doing well.  I'm hopeful that it's just a case of metamorphosis pausing until next spring.  I wouldn't mind having my little pal spending the winter with me. I gave his container another cleaning earlier this week and a new hiding leaf.  

    Anyways, a clip of him:

  • The Musketeer still appears to be doing well (apart from pausing metamorphosis)

    mcu_nerd10/26/2020 at 22:32 0 comments

    The fella still appears to be healthy.  Due to the algae buildup, I gave his container a good cleaning. As seen from the below photo, he really likes to use the hiding leaf whenever possible.

  • Well I can at least say that The Musketeer is still doing well

    mcu_nerd10/08/2020 at 20:00 0 comments

    Yes, more sads. On late Tuesday/early Wednesday I lost the larger of the Two Amigos and this afternoon I lost the other Amigo.  The larger of the Two Amigos seemed normal up until the end. The other Amigo starting showing signs this morning of something not being well by often being stuck upside down when swimming.  I feel like I've let this poor fellas down. I really wish I knew what has been the root cause of them pausing development.

    The Musketeer seems fine, for now at least.  Some happy pictures and a video of the fella below:

  • Moving day!

    mcu_nerd09/29/2020 at 18:15 0 comments

    In a last ditch effort to encourage growth (and also because the jars were really getting dirty) they have been moved to larger containers.  The Musketeer got his own critter container.  The Two Amigos got a presupposed storage container. It works well, but sadly isn't nearly as transparent as the critter container.   Both containers contain the new amenity of hiding leaves which everyone seems to love.  Everyone still appears to be in good health. 

    A photo of the Musketeer masterfully using the hiding leaf:

    A photo of the Two Amigos are using their hiding leaf:

    And of course a video:

  • "We like this getting fed and taken care of thing, so we've decided to pause our metamorphosis"

    mcu_nerd09/22/2020 at 22:36 0 comments

    The three remaining (the Musketeer and the Two Amigos) seem to be enjoying the tadpole life. So much so that they have have apparently paused metamorphosis.  They should have all have made it to the froglet stage by now.  I've read about some species of tadpoles sometimes doing this then resuming next spring/summer but I haven't read that about this particular species. 

    A photo of the Muskateer:

    A photo of the Two Amigos:

  • Still no legs on anyone else yet

    mcu_nerd09/06/2020 at 03:11 0 comments

    I'm starting to get a bit more worried about the remaining members.  On late Monday/early Tuesday the 4th Amigo passed away.  I don't know the root cause of what's causing them to die off on me.  They seem to stop growing and then after a while show symptoms of illness.  The three remaining members appear to be healthy but not much in the way of further development.  

    First image is of the remaining Musketeer and the second is the Two Amigos.

  • The Amigo that has rear legs continues to grow, still no legs from anybody else yet

    mcu_nerd08/26/2020 at 22:43 0 comments

    They're continuing to grow.  Some sad news once again though, the small one of the remaining Three Musketeers passed away late Sunday/Monday morning.   Three are nice and healthy, I'm a bit worried about the 4th Amigo as while the fella is larger than the one that passed away he's still a bit small compared to the three others.  There's another mosquito larvae in the 4th Amigo's jar I need to evict.

    The Two Amigos:

    The 4th Amigo:

    Uninvited guest in the 4th Amigo's jar:

    Of course the videos:

  • I spy something new . . .

    mcu_nerd08/22/2020 at 01:51 0 comments

    . . . a pair or rear legs developing on one of the Two Amigos!  Wasn't surprised that one of them would be the first since they're overall the largest/healthiest of the class.  It was hard to get good photos of the legs as they're small still small but if you look closely at the photos below, you can make it out.

    An update of the smallest of the Three Musketeers.  The fella appears to be doing better after changing out the jar(and some prayer) and such. I'm caustically optimistic. 

    And of course the video clips:

View all 47 project logs

Enjoy this project?

Share

Discussions

Saabman wrote 10/08/2020 at 20:43 point

Weve got a bunch of tadpoles weve stuck in an old aquarium to watch grow out at the moment as well - I was thinking the progress was slow but looking through your logs we must be doing ok. My son found them in the old sheep dip at the farm so we might end up with mutant frogs God only knows what used to get put in that back in the day...

Food wise we boil up some lettuce and then chop it up ends up looking like the sludge that came out of the water with them. Algae growth in our take has been pretty good its outside and gets a bit of sun late in the afternoon which helps - unfortunately it makes it harder to to see them.    

  Are you sure? yes | no

mcu_nerd wrote 10/15/2020 at 13:33 point

Thanks for sharing your tadpole story.  The algae buildup has been an issue for me as well, since the containers I use are fairly small it's easy to simply move them into another container. 

  Are you sure? yes | no

m12lrpv wrote 08/20/2020 at 04:49 point

It's good to see people raising tadpoles.

I'm doing tadpoles at the moment too with my kids (13 & 4).

We've got 18 of the little swimmers that we scooped out of a local "wet" area.

Built a special enclosure from a 14ltr plastic storage container tilted up with 3d printed feet on one end to create deep and shallow areas.

The food is some water plants that we got from the local aquarium store as well as some that we took from the area where we found them. Subsequently it's a self sufficient ecosystem which is convenient.

  Are you sure? yes | no

mcu_nerd wrote 08/22/2020 at 02:49 point

And I thought I had quite a few tadpoles on hand!  Sounds like you have a plan. Hopefully it doesn't also turn into a mosquito breeding pond if it's going to be kept outside (I have enough trouble with them getting inside my house and finding the tadpole jars.)

  Are you sure? yes | no

kristina panos wrote 06/30/2020 at 21:05 point

I've never raised tadpoles, so this is amazing to watch!

  Are you sure? yes | no

mcu_nerd wrote 06/30/2020 at 21:33 point

Glad that you're enjoying it :)  When I first started to document it here, I wasn't sure if people would be interested. 

  Are you sure? yes | no

Craig wrote 06/30/2020 at 00:56 point

About 55 years ago my brother decided to raise tadpoles --- in the baptismal at our church.  Once the tadpoles were discovered, it took the minister a very short amount of time to narrow it down who put them there.  Funny, but i don't remember what happened to them after that.  Probably just back into the irrigation ditch.

  Are you sure? yes | no

mcu_nerd wrote 06/30/2020 at 18:39 point

Baptized tadpoles.  I bet your parents didn't let your brother forget about that for a while!

  Are you sure? yes | no

Dan Maloney wrote 06/19/2020 at 23:22 point

I did that once when my kids were little! They had so much fun collecting the tadpoles and watching them grow in a shallow tub on the porch. Someone suggested frozen chopping lettuce was a good food for them, and they seemed to like it. Have fun!

  Are you sure? yes | no

mcu_nerd wrote 06/30/2020 at 21:47 point

I used romaine lettuce and used  a mortar and pestle to make it into a mush.  People driving by probably thought I was nuts when they saw me at the ditch by the road with a net.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Similar Projects

Does this project spark your interest?

Become a member to follow this project and never miss any updates