Reluctant Tadpole?

Hi all, here's a weird one. Last summer I put 3 each of American Toad and Leopard Frog tadpoles in my pond. When I cleaned the pond this week I found a tadpole that seems to have never developed! It looks exactly like when I put them in the pond, still swimming around with no arms or legs! Do tadpoles sometimes just refuse to develop???

K

They can take years to develop, depending on species, I think the speed at which they develop can have a lot to do with availability of food and probably also water temp. I would be surprised if any of them developed already since you only put them in last summer.

awwwwwwwwwwwwwww poor little tadpole....................... how sad

How interesting! I thought that they would have all grown into frogs/toads within a couple months. Right now they're hibernating, but this fall I had a handful of little toadies hopping around the yard at night......and the best part....I no longer have a slug or snail problem! I haven't seen a leopard frog though, so I assume I got toad tads labeled "Leopard Frog". But that works for me.

K

Yeah, he's pretty pitiful, eh? Poor guy, maybe he'll grow up this year!

This message was edited Feb 17, 2007 11:40 AM

Yeah, sorry, I was thinking frogs......toad tadpoles should turn very quickly, not being aquatic animals and all, their tadpole stage is short. So yes, your tadpole was for the leopard frog.

Aha! So I might get one Leopard frog after all? Cool! The tad body is about 3" long and 2+" wide, then a tail. I didn't get a good look at legs, next time I change the water I'll scoop him in the net and check him out. What do Leopard frog taddies eat? Won't they eat the koi food?

K

Tads gobble up flake food. be it for gold fish or tropical. That tad sounds kind of large . I had one change last summer that was only 3" long including the tail. and only about 1/2" wide. When it lost it's tail it started hoping out of the aquarium. After the third time it was out to the pond.

You can leave him in the pond, he'll eat whatever is on the bottom and sides, whatever he finds.

Good, if he's eating the koi food and the algae, he has plenty to eat. He is very large, they all were when I bought them at the pet store. Hopefully he'll change this year and we'll all know what he is! I do love a mystery!

K

3" long and 2" wide? sure it's not a bullfrog? I thought leopard frogs were smaller than that. I saw bullfrog tadpoles for the first time last summer at my friend's lake. I have never in my life seen tadpoles that big.

He was jammin' around while I was cleaning, so he may no be quite that big, but he is very large. 2.5" on the length of the head? He's the same size the toad taddies were, and I sure hope he's not a bullfrog cuz he'll eat my koi! I'll have to keep watch on him. I know for sure the other taddies were toads because suddenly I have them hopping about the patio after dark, and I never had them before. I read up on the Leopard Frog taddies, and 3 of the ones I got DID have spots and a "clear-ish" tummy (the others were just very dark, brownish black). Perhaps the Leopards grew up and "migrated" away. I didn't get a good enough look at this last tad to see if it had spots or not. Next time I clean I'll take his pic and we can try to figure him out!

K

Pixy makes a very good point, leopards are smaller frogs and smaller tads, could be a bullfrog. I hope not though, I always hate finding out a supplier can't be trusted :o( Oh, and for your fish of course. We have bullfrogs and they did do me a favor this year........DH talked me into putting some comets in the pond and they have kept their population down, I only had a few adults to catch this winter and that was it, all comets gone now. I was expecting to have to catch 50 or so small fast fish, but it was so easy to catch the adults and there were no babies!

Perhaps they were all toads of some kind, mislabled as you said, because I surely have toads....which is a good thing. This last guy will have to be watched as the water warms to make sure he won't clear the pond of all his roommates! LOL

K

(edited to add) Uh oh, I just read up on the bullfrog lifecycle. They remain tads for 1-2 years, the longer they stay aa a tad, the bigger they will be when a frog. I will keep a VERY close eye on this guy!

This message was edited Feb 19, 2007 12:58 PM

Yep, they take much longer to develop. That was another clue to the possible 'bullfrog' problem. Around here bullfrogs are definitel not welcome. They are not native and they eat our native frog and toad tadpoles. Unfortunately, they are making themselves right at home, though.

I've downloaded the bullfrog "lifecycle" so next time I clean the pond I will take a very good look at him. If he looks anything like a bullfrog he will be set loose in a nearby irrigation canal to fend for himself! Sounds so mean, but I've had my koi for 4 years and they are spawning. Life is tough!

K

(edited to add) I WOULD miss that big "BAAAHHHRUUUMMPP" though! I'm going to have to find some sort of frog that makes a nice "night sound". I just love that!

This message was edited Feb 19, 2007 9:59 PM

We have one frog in our pond - my DH caught a glimpse of him last weekend and said he was small and very dark/black. He has a lovely croak. I've noticed in the past week or so the tempo has changed - he's croaking in double-time now. Does that mean mating season or something? I'll have to look up our natives and see what to watch for.

Kathleen

Ahhhhhh...the sounds of spring.........

Our neighbor comes over once in a while to check the pond progress. Last weekend he couldn't tell us often enough how he loves the frog. :-)
Much better than coyotes hunting.


There is a great video here http://www.sdnhm.org/fieldguide/herps/video_treefrog.html

Then I found this site for ID purposes - they have great sound files for California frogs. http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/frogsid/frogs.id.html




This message was edited Feb 20, 2007 7:24 PM