Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 2 leopard frog tadpoles that I have had since Tuesday. They have not yet eaten anything, and I have now had them over 24 hours. I took care to make sure that their water was room temperature and was spring water and that they were introduced to their new environment gradually. The tadpoles are still and sometimes lie tilted to one side. My son received a "Planet Frog" kit for his birthday, and these are the tadpoles that go with it. I realize that this is probably not very popular, and I am not very fond of this idea either. I am a total frog lover, though, and someone thought that I would love this, so I really want to try to keep these little tadpoles alive and as happy as I can. I have never raised tadpoles before, so any and all advice will be greatly appreciated!
Tina

try different foods. the food they gave you may be very cheap. try something from the pet shop. you could also try something alive like blackworms, many pet shops carry these live. as long as their water is clean and the temps are right there isnt much else you can do with a planet frog, you cant put filters on those things can you?

No, you definitely can't put a filter on the ridiculously cheap piece of plastic that they call a "rain forest habitat". I hate to ask too many questions, but what should I put these poor tadpoles in? Do they need to be in an aquarium instead? If so, how much water, and what do I put in there with them for when they begin to change? What type of food would you suggest that I look for at a pet shop, goldfish maybe? They have begun eating a little bit finally, we gave them 2 pellets today and they ate both of them. They pretty much just lie around and don't move at all. They also each have something that looks like a little air bubble on one side. Does that sound familiar? What temperature does their water need to be? I can get a thermometer. I moved them from my son's room to the kitchen and they are getting more sunlight now. One final question, do they need light at all times, or is it ok for them to be in the dark at night? Thanks in advance for your help. Sorry to be such a bother. My tadpoles and I appreciate you very much!

i would put them in a 10 gallon tank w/ screen. in the wild it is dark at night and it helps them maintain their day/night cycle. if you havent been turning the light off at night they may just be stressed. a regular light is fine, no need for ful spectrum or anything fancy. at best i would get a small heat dome with a daytime bulb. not a heat bulb. the daytime bulbs are shaped like a regular house bulb, but are blue and give off "full spectrum" but it is not really full spectrum in reptile terms. this bulb would be fine, just turn it off at night. keep the water level in the tank at about 3" deep. pile gravel up to one end so they can get out when they want/need to. in the water end put in a whisper 10i. it is also called a micro filter. and it is also the reptofilter, only the reptofilter is green plastic and has a top over the filter cartridge, but is made by the same company and probably costs a little more, so go with the micro/10i. this filter is great for little animals and only needs about 2" of water to run. i dont have any preferences or any that i wouldnt recommend as long as they are made for tadpoles and not "all aquatic reptiles and amphibians". variety is always good and like i said, they might love live foods like the blackworms. pet shops keep the live blackworms in the fridge so you will probably have to ask for them. room temp is fine. dont give too much sun, small bodies of water can heat up pretty fast and tadpoles will want it cool if anything, unlike most reptiles. i dont know about the air bubbles on their sides, but if both have them in the same spot it might be their stomach or some other internal organ. im not sure if tadpoles have a swimbladder like fish but it could be a modified lung or something. basicly if it doesnt look like a disease(white fuz, red splotches, open sore) dont worry, but it obviously wont hurt to keep an eye it which im sure you would do it anyways. if you have any other questions just post them. i will be more than happy to help.

Thanks a lot for all of the info. I will go tomorrow and try to find the stuff to replace the plastic junk. For what was spent on this kit they could probably have bought me a lot of that! I was just doing a little research online and found a website that suggested that the air bubbles on the sides of my tadpoles may be a symptom of a disease, so that makes me a little worried. I tried to call the company that sent the tadpoles today to ask them, but they were closed, naturally. I emailed them yesterday and asked about them not eating and they responded that tadpoles are nocturnal and that I shouldn't be too worried about their lack of activity. I emailed again about the weird air bubble thing so I am curious to see what they say about that. Thanks again for your help. I really appreciate it.

The airbubble thing may be a leg sprouting, which would explain their lack of initiative to eat.

Your post is rather old so I won't type much, but if you still need some help feel free to contact