Gray tree frog tadpoles....... HELP!!!!!!

[Ladydragon]

Okay... went over to a friends house this past Sunday to help them open up their in-ground pool. When we removed the cover we all stopped to stare in surprise at the "bog" that lay before us. Speculation is that not enough Shock was put into the pool before it was closed last year.

Sitting on the sides of the pool were several adult Gray tree frogs and thousands (I'm not kidding!!!) of tadpoles swimming about. I grabbed a small tupperware container to scoop up some tadpoles so that my kids can watch them change and grow.

Here is my problem, I have no clue on how to take care of them. I've searched around a bit but I'm not finding the information I need. I stopped at the pet store and picked up some frog/tadpole food but I'm clueless on the rest. I have a small 5 gallon tank I can set them up in for now. Can I put a fluval filter into the water to help keep it clean or will that be bad for them?

any other info would be greatly appreciated. Or point me in the right direction.

Side note: I didn't have a camera with me so no pics of the "bog" but I will get pics of the tadpoles up soon. thanx.

[wolfy-hound]

You can do water changes to keep the tank clean. I just got a lot of advice on my new tadpoles..
"Hi.
Tadpoles will stay tadpoles in cold water or start to metamorph in 76 or above water, either way you have a couple months before theyre froglets. they eat
Rinsed green pond algae
Duckweed
Elodea/Anachris
*Algae Wafers
*Goldfish & Spirulina flakes
*Frozen mixed greens, they can be fed just the last 3 and be fine...
10 gal. 3/4 full is fine for a few tadpoles. Froglets do good in 1" water w/ floats or 20 % land area.. use bottled spring water or well aged dechlorinated tap water only - and filter or better yet change often w/ tadpoles "

That's what I was told for mine. I hope this helps you out!

[Ladydragon]

thanx theresa... it does help me. I have the fluval filter and a small tank heater which I can set up for them as well. I also found out that you can use one of those dechlorination products you use for fish so I'll do that too.

[kc261]

I have raised tadpoles twice in my life.

Once was WAY back when I was a teen or maybe even a pre-teen. I kept them in a bucket that I refilled with water directly out of the hose. I'm sure the water had to have chlorine in it, but it didn't seem to affect them. I do not remember doing anything to change or clean the water, just topped it off when needed due to evaporation. I kept them out in the full sun (looking back, I'm amazed they didn't cook), and enough algae grew that apparently they did not need any additional food. They appeared to my unknowledgeable eyes to be perfectly healthy, and they did grow legs, climb out of the bucket using a stick I put in there as a ramp, and disappear back into the wild. I believe they were toads.

Once was about 3 or 4 years ago. I kept them in a 10 gallon tank, kept their water clean, dechlorinated, and fed them goldfish food, based on info I found on the internet. They also appeared to be perfectly healthy, grew legs, luckily did not climb out of the 10 gallon tank since it was kept in our house, and we released them into the wild. We did lose a few that seemed to drown once they had grown their legs. We did have rocks for them to climb onto, so not really sure why the ones that died didn't use it or maybe it wasn't drowning. I really don't know. These ones were frogs.

So, based on my experiences, they are pretty hardy and a wide range of things will work. Of course, I'm sure some species would be more delicate than others.

Good luck with yours! They are really amazingly cute when they first change!

[asplundii]

The info here has been pretty good so I will only gently revisit it.

Tropical micro pellet fish food (little granuels that sink rather than float) is good. Algae wafers are great if you can find them. I also recommend at least one attemp with dried bloodworms, even the "veggie" tads of some species will occasionally take these and the variety can be good for development.

Weekly water changes. Some people recommend keeping some of the old water in at each change but I prefer to do a full change

If you can get your hands on some java moss that may help you. It works great when rearing Dendro tads and I imagine it would work for greys too.

Also, just a personal preference of mine, but I prefer to use deli cups and do one tad per cup. That way you know that each tad is getting a share of the food. Plus, when they start to morph, if they are on different schedules you can work with individuals rather than trying to accomodate all ranges of conditions in one tank for multiple stages of development.

[Ladydragon]

so I put them into a 5 gallon I had sitting around doing nothing. I filled it last night about 1/2 way, and I found a jar of Stress Coat with additives to remove chlorine and metals in water (used it for my betta fish) and let the tank sit over night. Put the tads in this morning and they were all swimming about nicely. I go to move the tank and "crack" the glass breaks... thank goodness not a huge gush of water, but a steady drip so I was able to transfer them to a small fish bowl I had. so now I need to get a new tank for them. But I will try to find algea wafers and the java moss to make it more friendly for them. thanx for the help everyone and keep it coming.

[littleindiangirl]

Chlorine will evaporate if you leave it uncovered.

[Ladydragon]

well.. update on those tadpoles... I had 9.. and now only have one.. the others vanished over night but i couldn't find them anywhere including inside the filter.. which led me to believe that the remaining tadpole was the culprit. Hope his siblings tasted good to him.... (if that is possible I couldn't find them anywhere and I couldn't find anything about tads eating other tads). So, now the remaining tad has turned into a frog and he is tiny and green (thought he was supposed to be grey).. either way he is cute. Please ignore the not so great pics but here are a few pics of the hopper...

[musicalKeyes]

I have seven grey tree frogs at the moment, and they are about three weeks old. I got them just out of the tadpole stage. Grey tree frogs have the ability to change color from grey to green to brown, depending on what surface they are on, and are often referred to as the "chameleon" of the frog world. I have my guys in a twenty gallon now, and on small crickets.

If you don't know this already, your little guy should be eating anywhere from 1-3 ten day old crickets every day or every other day. Pinheads work, but he'll need to eat more of them. Make sure you get a calcium powder (I use rep-cal) to dust them with. With any luck, he'll be his adult size within the year (anywhere from 2 to 4(!) inches).

Good luck, I hope this helped. :]

[cinderbird]

omg so cute and little!

if they are the same species of grey tree frog that i am thinking of, then the adults have an irritating layer of slime/coating on them. I have no idea with juveniles. The irritant can cause burning and stinging if it gets in the eyes so just make sure you wash your hands after handling (not that i should have to tell you).