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Original poster

Our stunted tadpoles

18 replies

Rodeo · 31/05/2006 19:27

We've had our bloody tadpoles for ages now in a tank in the kitchen (around 6 weeks) - seemed a good idea at the time - and they hatched and got bigger and we fed them boiled lettuce and fishfood, they had rocks and weed. But that's as far as they got! Today dp poured them into anunused small leafy paddling pool at the bottom of the garden, as TBH I was sick of the sight of them. Has this happened to anyone else? I thought I'd have a few cute frogs by now....what did we do wrong?! Please don't alert the RSPCA Blush

OP posts:
kid · 31/05/2006 19:36

We had some at our school for the kids to look at and see how the change. Unfortunately ours only lasted a week before they all died. Sounds like you are doing a better job than we did!

Original poster
Rodeo · 31/05/2006 20:12

Bumping for my poor little stunted taddies!

OP posts:
JanH · 31/05/2006 20:14

Did any of them get remotely froggy looking? Only tadpoles are carnivores and frogs are veges, and if you leave the froggy ones (with 4 legs) in with the tads (with no legs) they get eaten Sad Angry

Original poster
Rodeo · 31/05/2006 20:29

No none have grown legs but numbers have decreased, did see one dragging/eating another one last week, dirty little things. I love frogs too but I've gone right off tadpoles Grin

OP posts:
snorkle · 31/05/2006 20:43

we have some cute froggies and toads and a few tadpoles that are close - but quite a few died just after losing their tails :( I think they drowned, despite having a log and a rock to climb on. Ours developed quite fast, but dd says the ones they had in school last year didn't. I have heard that the water and what's in it can affect their growth a lot.

snorkle · 31/05/2006 20:47

Oh the taddies are vegetarian - start on algae, then bigger plants e.g.lettice/ fish food. Then some turn carnivorous and will eat each other if not enough food. Cat food works as does ant eggs/ daphnia. The froggies like dead flys, mealworms and crickets when they are bigger. During metamorphosis they don't eat as their guts are rearranging themselves, but they get nutrition by reabsorbing their tails.

Original poster
Rodeo · 31/05/2006 20:56

Thanks snorkle - funnily enough I posted on MN about a snorkle today (well the mask part rather)! Never had to type the word snorkle so many times before, heehee :)

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NotAnOtter · 31/05/2006 21:05

where are your taddys - Janh??? Know any local taddy pools as well??????

JanH · 31/05/2006 21:14

Blimey, snorkle - are you amphibian? Shock

Sorry, NotanO, we haven't had taddies for years and I think they came from school (infants - my baby is 13 now!) the last time we had some. Do you know anybody with a pond in their garden?

NotAnOtter · 31/05/2006 21:15

in my grandmas residential home there are millions and the tarn!

snorkle · 31/05/2006 21:33

checks herself for slimey skin - nope, not yet! Grin. We've not kept them before this year, but despite the losses (row of tadpole graves in the garden) it's been quite fun.

arfur · 01/06/2006 17:42

We had some last year and they took literally months to turn into frogs and hop off so dont despair it just takes longer than you think it will. We did have a problem with numbers dwindling then DS saw in his creepy crawly book a critter called a great diving beetle which eats tadpoles and sure enough we had two of the little blighters in the water, tho how they got there I dont know. Fished them out pretty quick! BTW make sure they have plenty of shade if poss and top up the water regularly with water butt water or let a bucket of tap water stand for a couple of days and add it.

SoupDragon · 01/06/2006 17:48

We got ours after easter and they're bigger but have no legs yet!

Original poster
Rodeo · 02/06/2006 23:13

Oh good-o I won't give up on them just yet! I though it would take about a month.... Soupdragon, where are you keeping yours?

OP posts:
1Baby1Bump · 02/06/2006 23:17

i know youll all laugh but some tadpoles get 'peter pan disease' and never turn into frogs.
its totally true.
what a raw deal!

Original poster
Rodeo · 03/06/2006 12:30

OH NO!!

OP posts:
WriggleJiggle · 18/06/2006 19:57

We always found that unless we fed our tadpoles bacon rind they didn't develop properly - don't ask me how we discovered this out though - I've got no idea!

NotAnOtter · 18/06/2006 20:09

well at my Nanas home they are all still shiny tadds and that cannot be right in june!!

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