Caring for Tadpoles
How to take tadpoles into happy frog-hood.
Chow Time!
How to feed your tadpoles
People are always wondering what tadpoles eat.
They eat almost anything you can think of: bacteria, letuce,
algea, insects, fish food, feeze-dried
flys, freeze-dried tubefex worms, and, to an extent, eachother.
If there's any dirt or rocks in what your keeping them in,
they'll eat some bacteria off that. But they still need fed. If
there's no algea, you can find fish food, feeze-dried
flys, and freeze-dried tubefex worms at a pet store.
But one of the best foods is lettuce. It'll go
bad and make the water icky if you give it to them fresg, so try
this: Boil it (so it's easy for them to break apart), drain it, then
stick it on a pan and freeze it so it stays fresh longer.
Estimate your number of tadpoles and break off about a square
inch of frozen lettuce for every 10 or so tadpoles. Store leftover lettuce
in the freezer.
Keep in mind, if the tadpoles don't get enough food,
they'll try to eat eachother. If their envoroment is to crowded,
they won't be able to find food and they will die. If a
couple do die, the others will eat them.
Home, Sweet, Home...
What's the perfect enviroment for tadpoles?
Tadpoles have gills so water is a major
nessesity. Each tadpole needs roughly 4 cubic inches
of personal space to stay comfy and well-fed.
If you want to get rid of them after they become frogs,
a bucket of water with something small and flat floating on
the water will suit them fine.
The best home for a tadpole is a pond or small pool.
It's big, and natural-like, and they clean the water.
But if you want them in an aquarium,you should put a divider
in to keep the water from soaking into the dirt and creating
a glass tank full of mud.
A divider is a flat, water proof thing. You can buy
a nice divider at the pet store for about $75. What's
that? Too expensive? Then make your own! It's easy:
Go to a hardware store and get a peice of glass that's
the width of the tank and 1/4 inch higher than the top
of the water. Remember to have about 6 inches left from the
top of the tank because those little froggies tend to
jump. Cover the top of the divider with rubber or clay
to prevent the frogs from getting injured.
Some plants and grass keep frogs happy. Some dirt or graval
in the bottom of the water keeps tadpoles from being
homesick. Frogs like to lay their eggs on sticks, so if
you find some straw or pond grass to put in the water,
they'll love you.
One Fish... Two Fish...
Red Fish... Blue Fish...
Are they fish?
No tadpoles aren't fish, though they are similer.
Like fish, they can die if they are mess with too much,
tossed from different waters too frequently, or their
water's temp. changes too much.
While we're on the fish subject, remember to keep
your tadpoles away from carnivorous fish that are bigger
than them. Goldfish and insectivours are fine, but some
fish eat tadpoles.
If you want to create a pond, but are worried about
mosquitoes, get some "Blue Eyes" fish. I don't have a
clue as to what they look like (aside from blue eyes),
but they eat mosquito larvea and don't hurt your tadpoles.
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