Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi there:

I keep many herptiles in a miniature zoo. Many of these are frogs, including a good old-fashioned American bullfrog. Anyway, today at my local pet store, I saw a horrible sight. A large tank crammed with tadpoles on sale for feeders. Some were big bullfrog tadpoles. Others were leopard frog tadpoles, and some were bizzare and looked exotic. In the midst of all of them, I spied a small frog floating on the surface. It measured less than an inch. It was dead, so I decided to buy it and offer it to my ribbon snakes. After leaving the store, the frog came back to life! It kicked like crazy and jumped all over. It is a tiny little leopard frog, although I dought it is a northern leopard. It is shaped like a bullfrog, and is muddy brown with the markings of a leopard frog. It is NOT a leopard frog! It has a ghastly bruise on one of its legs. Now what do I do?

DAVE

Keep it in it's own terrarium to minimize stress. At least until the leg heals. I would use paper towels and a shallow dish of water-changed daily, if the wound is bad. The paper towels will help prevent infection.

Also I highly recommend Tetra Aqua "AquaSafe" water conditioner. It not only removes the chlorine and chloramine, but also enhances a protective "slime" coating that will help with wound healing. Absolutely safe for frogs. Use as directed for water.

Frogs generally recover quick from wounds. I have a pet toad that was pretty bad shape and it's healthy as a horse now. and spoiled rotten

JadeFox

While I usually see tadpoles for sale in the feeder section of the pet store at this time of the year they are not typically being sold as feeders but are intended for ponds.

Ed

Hi there:

You are correct. Many people buy these large tadpoles to stock their ponds with. That's a relief. I wondered, what kind of fish, or even snake, could down something so huge? Thse are 5 inch tadpoles! Nontheless, the poor little frog probably would have died. The tank was full to the rim with no land. It was totally barren, and their were large fish and things in with him as well. He has already shed, but refuses to eat. I will probably let the tired out thing go in one of my local ponds. They are quite common in this area, and its been nice out lately. I have named him Lucky.

DAVE

Hi,
I would strongly recommend not letting the frog go into a nearby waterway unless you know the tadpoles came from that location.
This is currently believed to be one of the ways that chytrid has been spread into some areas where it is decimating the amphibian populations.
It is also possible to transport iridioviruses (which can cause 90% mortality in nonresistant locations) from one site to another with devestating consequences.
I would also suggest checking with your state regulations as it may be illlegal to release the frog into one of the waterways as opposed to a artificial pond.

I've seen stores where the metamorphing frogs were allowed to drown in the tadpole tanks and I have seen other stores where these froglets were moved to a shallow aquarium to finish their transformation at which point they were sold as a pet.

Just some thoughts,
Ed

Water snakes can take them down no problem. So can large Thamnophis. I am sure large oscars would be quite easily able to swallow a catesbeiana tadpole as well.
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Andy Maddox
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If you steal in hunger, I will kick you when you try. These stand for me. Name your god and bleed the freak. I'd like to see. How you all would bleed for me.-Alice In Chains

I personally would suggest to the people working there, and tell them to get a land area in there or at least a plant that the newly morphed frogs can float on. I would have to restrain myself from knocking a few people out for Gross Frog Negligence.
I'd keep the frog you brought home. Letting it go back into the wild could be bad for the local population if the "feeder" tadpole/frog were to introduce foreign bacteria. And a frog who's spent his tadpole life in a "sheltered" environment, like a pet store tank, may be more "sedate" than a wild froglet, causing it to be an easier prey target.
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2.2 Python regis, 1.0 Boa Constrictor Imperator, and the frogs.