Does Anyone Have Experience Raising Tadpoles?

[Gazoo]

I recently "inherited" a tadpole and put it in a 1/2 gallon container with a small power filter. It's about a 1/2" long, has a long tail and only small back legs. I'm feeding it a pice of tropical flake food or a tiny pice of algae waffer per day. At this point, I'm not sure when I should add something that floats for it to rest on. Any tips or links woud be appreciated.

If people think I should release it where it came from (when I find out), I could do that as well.

Thanks.

Edit: spelling

Edit: added picture

 

[b.c.f.c]

probly best to release it or even dig a small hole in your garden and put some sort of container in there and fill it with water and he will probly live very happy until he develops into a frog and will be able to hop out and do his own thing. and then if your rearly lucky he may come back and lay some spawn next year

ive known a lot of people to keep tadpoles in tanks and from what i have seen a lot of them die so its best to leave them in a pond etc.
but if you want to keep him your best bet is to put him in the your garden in a small container.

 

[LucyHurst]

You need to find out what sort of frog/toad it is, because if its not native you do NOT want to release it! As its a lone tadpole it might have been brought as one of those 'raise a frog' kit things, in which case it could be an african clawed frog.. so dont release it!
What colour is it?
I'd feed it a bit more, maybe 2-3 times a day as its growing and needs lots, tadpoles eat like pigs!

 

[Milo]

I've kept lots of tadpoles before and they all turned into frogs/toads. Just toss them some juicy fruits like pears and they'll do fine. It's better to add some floating plants as frogs don't like being in water all the time.

 

[Gazoo]

Thanks for the tips everyone.

I found out the tadpole was collected locally. What you can't see in the picture is that I have a small power filter and a floating plant for when it's ready for it. At this point, its front legs haven't started to grow yet. Does anyone know how long it will take for them to develop?

 

[liz2]

Trouble is when they are in an un natural environment they grow differently. I had toad spawn in my pond this year, and the neighbours children put some in an old sink in the garden with rain water and weed. Theirs grew so much quicker than mine did. I think I would find it a pond now, so it could have a better survival chance.

 

[babybell911]

In school we used to keep tadpoles in a tank in class they had rocks to climb out on and then when they became frogs we released them It's fun to watch them grow so if you wanna keep it then go for it IMO

 

[NinjaSmurf]

It's a toad. It shouldn't be too much longer before it gets its legs and is ready to go. They need sunshine though (don't put them in it too long that it warms the water up too high). I had two groups of tadpoles once and the ones who got lots of sun grew a lot faster then the ones that got mostly shade, also, if you have a creek or pond around use that water instead of treated tap, I notice they don't do as well with flowing water either. I used to raise mine in a small deli dish with a rock in the middle so once it got it's legs it could get out of the water. Algae tablets work really well for feeding them, I always used it and they devoured them, some lettuce would work well, and if you do have a pond around get some plants to put in with it.

 

[Gazoo]

A couple days ago the tadpole developed front legs so I set up a new home for it to get out its water only enviroment. I took a 7 gallon tank and sloped the substrate and added about 4" of water.

Today it ate a few flightless fruit flies for its first live feeding.

Here's a picture from today.

 

[babybell911]

Ahhh thats sooo cute..... for a tadpole. Bless i want one now.

 

[RESGuy]

Wow looks cute

 

[mollygirl7]

What a cute frog!! No idea what kind it is though... I'm far off in CA, only coastal frogs here. Yours looks alot like some Pacific treefrogs I have. Since mine are teeny tiny also, they need very small food that stays low to the ground. However, flightless fruitflies are a bit on the expensive side so I have found some free alternatives in my backyard- whiteflies. I don't know if they live in Michigan but they love hibiscus plants. Every two or three days, I pluck a whitefly covered leaf or two from the hibiscus bush and squirt the flies with water (so they can't fly away) I then agitate them a little so that they hop and crawl around and then I wait for the frogs to notice that lunch has arrived. They all jump over to the leaf and have a feast! Hope I helped and good luck with your frog!

p.s. If you don't have whiteflies in your yard, any other small bug will work as long as it doesn't have pinchers or a stinger that can hurt your frog. (below are whiteflies on a hibiscus.)

Adult Giant whitefliy (not actually gigantic- more like 1/8 inch long):

Adults on hibiscus leaf:

Egg Spiral on hibiscus leaf:

Sometimes you find waxy tufts of "hair" around eggs. Adults almost always clustered inside these tufts. (After you squirt the leaf with water, just pull off the strings) :

Hibiscus plant:

Again, you will find the flies on the underside of the leaf. They almost never fly around and swarm when you pluck the leaf. They're too busy laying/garding the eggs.