Bull frog tadpoles

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JedisonsDad

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May 3, 2012
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My wife and I went into our local pet store looking for some fish, and ended up walking out with a 12" pleco, a 5" jack dempsey, and 2 "unknown" tadpoles.

I got everything home and settled in, and have determined that these are bull frog tadpoles. They are both about 2 1/2", dark olive to almost black in color, and one has some extremely tiny back legs.

I will admit that the tads were an impulse buy, but I had a tank set up, and I couldn't beat the price of free. So far I have found out that they can be tadpoles for up to 2 years, need to provide them with a somewhat cold water temp, feed them flake fish food and lettuce, and provide them with lots of slopes incase they decide to make the change so they don't drown. Anything else I need to know?


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I too came home with a free tadpole the other day. Yours still alive? I have an outdoor tank. Overnight lows in 40s sometimes, but never freezes here. Worried about algae. Any advice?
 
Hi all,

Kale would be a better choice than lettuce; soak it in hot water for 5 mi n or so to break down cell walls. Any staple diet fish food can make up balance, but best to mix it up a bit - algae tabs, shrimp pellets, etc. Normal room temps fine; treat as a fish re ammonia, partial water changes, etc. They can transform right out of deep water if proper floats/plants provided, but easier to move to a shallow tank; let me know when you are ready. Will likely transform in 6-8 months if legs showing, but depends on temp, diet. Care of metamorphs a boit more complicated, CA deficiencies common, let me know when you are ready for that; here's an article on care in ponds, just as an intro; young ones do fine in tanks also. Enjoy, best, Frank
 
if they are bullfrogs....when they transition into frogs you can pellet train them if they never see live food.
 
syddakyd said:
if they are bullfrogs....when they transition into frogs you can pellet train them if they never see live food.
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Thx for the feedback; they will lunge at anything moving nearby, esp. if habituated to people..will also take rolling pellets etc. even if fed live foods, as long as they are hungry (when are they not?!); I don't know of any long term studies on effects of pellet only diet, but trout chow or a cichlid pellet would do no harm on occasion; I have seen frequent CA deficiencies when fish are excluded from diet. best, Frank
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I've kept quite a few of these guys and the higher the water temperature the quicker they changed. Mine were about 3in 80 degrees and a group of 5 started to change within 2-3 months.

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bulldovii said:
I've kept quite a few of these guys and the higher the water temperature the quicker they changed. Mine were about 3in 80 degrees and a group of 5 started to change within 2-3 months.

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Yes, very true; in the north they can take 2 yrs in wild, south 1 season. related note comes to mind - Dropping water levels will spark some amphibs to transform (although not bullfrogs, as they tend to breed in permanent water bodies); Did some work with tiger salamander larvae - as water level falls, some but not all will develop wider jaws and sharper, longer teeth, so that they can take other larvae as prey and transform faster.. and, it has also been shown that they preferentially feed on non-relatives! Really unbelievable! best, Frank
 
Right now I've got the little guys in a 20g long, bare bottom, with about 3 or 4 inches of water, and some sloping rocks for them to crawl out onto if the need arises. I guess I should throw a heater in there as well.

I would love to get my hands on some tiger salamander larvae.


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JedisonsDad said:
Right now I've got the little guys in a 20g long, bare bottom, with about 3 or 4 inches of water, and some sloping rocks for them to crawl out onto if the need arises. I guess I should throw a heater in there as well.

I would love to get my hands on some tiger salamander larvae.



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You can warm or leave at room temp; some believe it's best to let them take time, add size, but I imagine this depends on source of tads, as they vary so much over the range. I have a few sources that sometimes stock tiger sal larvae in spring; thet are protected in NY and some other staes, used as fishing bait elsewhere; pl send me a reminder ioina month or so, best, Frank
 
I've had several batches and the ones that turned quicker seemed scrawnie and less lively than the ones that took 6 mos to turn.

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