One of my Gray Tree Frog(hopefully) tadpoles sprouted his front legs this afternoon. Earlier today he only had two bumps where his front legs were going to be.

Now my dilemma - I have 3 tadpoles in a small aquarium set-up (including this one) and only this one has his front legs. From my experience with my current Gray Tree Frog, the change from tadpole with all legs to froglet will not take long. What should I do?

Should I lower the water level in his current aquarium so some of the rocks are exposed and he has a place to climb out? Or should I move him into Clyde's habitat - in a water dish that can accommodate him until he climbs out - and how much water does he really need? (2" - more?)

Or are there other suggestions? You'd think I would be prepared for this since I was so shocked at how fast Clyde morphed!!!

Thanks,
Frognut

Add a few rocks and sticks to his current tank so he can climb out. He won't eat for about the first week out of the water, so he will be OK with the tads for a bit. If you lower the tank level to 3" your other tads should do just fine.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

When would it be safe to move him/her into Clyde's habitat?

Thanks,
Frognut

If Clyde tried, could Clyde fit the new froglet in his mouth?

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Here are some pics - Clyde at the stage my tadpole is currently in, and the new tad and Clyde as of a few minutes ago.

http://gallery.me.com/stephaninie#100048

Just in case someone can identify the tadpole or it helps with the question about when I can move the new guy.

Thanks again!
Frognut

This tadpole is smaller than Clyde was at this stage, so when he becomes a froglet I imagine he will be smaller than Clyde was at this stage, but I'll have to wait and see when the new one actually becomes a froglet.

Thanks Liz
Frognut

The general rule is they can go together as soon as clyde can't eat the new one. It looks like they should be OK, but I don't want to say so until I can see a photo of the new one next to a penny too.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Ok - I lost my reply. If there is a strange reply that sounds something like this in another thread - I apologize.

My second tadpole has sprouted bumps where his front legs will be - probably by tomorrow based on my other two.

I get you a pic shortly, but when the froglet loses its tail it will be close - he is pretty small. He is out of the water and sitting on the lip of the aquarium (I put screen over the top the second his front legs sprouted - I'm learning )

The second one is much bigger and will probably not have a problem joining Clyde, and who knows by the time he loses his tail the other one will have grown enough. Then I'll just have one tadpole left.

Is it too long to wait until Saturday to get the wingless fruit flies? Do they really not need to eat for a week while they are absorbing their tail? I'm pretty sure I saw some new containers of fruit flies locally I could pick up if waiting would not be a good idea.

Thanks,
Frognut

If you want, I have a bazillion pin head crickets. I could give you a bunch. It might be a good idea to offer food a few days after they get out, but if I'm remembering right, they really won't eat.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

I think I'm going to have to split the two new froglets into their own place for a week or two - until the little guy gets big enough to move into Clyde's habitat because the last tadpole is still tadpoleish.

I can't attempt to feed the froglets with all the water for the last tadpole in the tank. Maybe I'll move the tadpole into a large tupperware container and keep the froglets in the small aquarium - they should be able to handle it for a week.

Clyde is growing fast - he is liking the larger crickets. The newest froglet still might be able to go into Clyde's habitat sooner because it is much larger than the first one, and I'm fairly certain he will be larger than Clyde's mouth. -- But I will obviously wait and see.

Meanwhile I will be searching for a bigger habitat for all of them when they can become a happy family!

Frognut