Question: Tadpoles as axie food?

We have millions tadpoles (Motorbike frog) in out hothouses now normally we would collect as many as we can and release them back into the nearby river to keep population numbers up which apparently is working as we get more and more males in the hothouses every year (as well as a few permanent residents) and consequently more and more eggs and tadpoles We've even given them away to friends with frog ponds but have exhausted all those now. For those of you going "You're not allowed to move tadpoles" you are allowed to relocate them to places and people who have what's required to raise them ie. a frog pond in Perth. You can't in most other states but here in West OZ it's just fine.

So I was thinking maybe, since we have so many of them, I could throw a few of the bigger ones in my adult tank as snacks maybe even a couple of the little ones for sweet little "Fish".
Tadpoles are entirely vegetarian feeding on algae so they won't hurt the axies and I can't find anything saying they are toxic to animals that may eat them.

What do you think? Anyone heard anything about motorbike frog (Litoria moorei) tadpoles being toxic?

The tadpoles could possibly harbor parasites or diseases that would kill the Axolotl. I do not know if the tadpoles are toxic, but I certainly wouldn't recommend them as a food item.

Psychopathic963 said:

The tadpoles could possibly harbor parasites or diseases that would kill the Axolotl.

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Fair point.
Oh well it was just a thought.
I know where these ones have been :happy: They have been sitting/growing happily in a glass tank outside with a tight fitting lid for almost 2 months now since they hatched. They don't seem to be in a hurry to grow legs and leave their permanent "pond"

Still, it's not worth the risk since while researching for taddie bugs I discovered that copepods, specifically Lernaea cyprinacea L., have been found in the river we release into (not near me but they have been found) and while it's rare they attack tadpoles, unlikely they could have survived the journey to our place on the back of a frog and almost a certainty that I would have seen them by now, it is possible that they are there. Looks like it's another trip down to the waters edge in the next couple of weeks with a bucket full of tadpoles. darn!

sounds interesting, I bet the axies would still eat them, lol. But I don't see how tadpoles that have lived their entire lives inside a hot house could have been exposed to such nasties.

iChris said:

sounds interesting, I bet the axies would still eat them, lol. But I don't see how tadpoles that have lived their entire lives inside a hot house could have been exposed to such nasties.

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I have no doubt they would eat them given the chance and if they came across them in their natural habitiat I imagine they would be a tasty meal for an axie.
I've read a LOT since I posted before and aside from the hookworm I mentioned earlier my concern would be whether or not they had been exposed to and are carrying lungworm. If any adult frogs that had gotten into the tank, like their parents, had lung worm at the appropriate stage of the life cycle then they could have pooped out the larvae into the water which could easily be consumed by the ravenous tadpoles.
I can't find anything about lungworm in tadpoles, just in frogs with lungs, but they could conceivably still be a threat in the water. I would assume that if frogs can be infested then it's a fairly short leap to Axies being an acceptable host as well.

Now as you said given their accommodation the chances are slim and I don't believe that they are infected with anything but it's the way my luck goes that no matter how slim the chance I'll have the little nasties present I would hate to expose them to this nasty for the sake of a little free food especially since they produce such interesting offspring :happy: Besides the worms are pretty much free anyway, all it costs us for them is a few scraps and the water and soap it takes to wash my hands after digging for them in the worm farm and the worm pee is AWESOME fertilizer for the plants growing in the hothouse so I guess technically the worms (which we got solely to feed the axies) are making us money You gotta love that

I too have a worm farm for my axie, it works great, and mum uses the worm pee on her tomatoes and potted plants.

today has been rather hot, I thought ahead last night and decided to give my axie a break from the heat and I put him in the fridge for the day.

it went well because I just got home from work and the power was off! so atleast he is nice and cool.

I feed my axolotls (all 17 of them) tadpoles. They absolutely go nuts for them!

As stated earlier they can harbor parasites so it's a "use at your own risk" food. Knock on wood but I've never had an issue with them,

Haha good call on putting him in the fridge :happy: we haven't lost the power here thank goodness, not sure what I'd do today without the air con waiting an hour up at school in this heat for my middle son was NOT FUN!!! and I have 100ish babies to worry about as well and they are at that stage where they are taking the odd bite out of each other. There wouldn't be enough room in the fridge to keep them all separated out.

Thank you Justin I'll bet they love them and I hope you never have an issue with them.
I may see if I can find a frog expert somewhere who can tell me more about lungworm and if tadpoles can carry it.

MereB said:

Haha good call on putting him in the fridge.

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yeah, I guess, I came back a few hours later and he had deposited numerous "presents" for me. I had another container at the ready to swap him into though, but I will wait until later tonight when the weather cools and I will warm him up and put him back into his tank.

They say pets are like their owners, I love the cold (I'm a butcher by trade) so were I work is refrigerated.

It would be great if I could take him to work with me on the hotter days

Ken-I thought feeding other amphibians was a very bad thing to do!
Guess not...Oh boy now you guys are tempting me to raise tadpoles as feeders!

Psychopathic963 said:

Ken-I thought feeding other amphibians was a very bad thing to do!
Guess not...Oh boy now you guys are tempting me to raise tadpoles as feeders!

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I would assume this was directed at me? As far as I know, or have seen, parasites seem to be the only real issue with feeding tadpoles. I breed a couple species of toads strictly to use their tads as food to eliminate the chance of parasites. For WC tadpoles qurantining for 30 days isn't really an option due to how fast they grow so I keep them seperate for about 2 weeks. This is usually enough time for any problem to show itself.