Tadpoles (UK) - identification and care questions.

We have a relative who will soon be leaving her premises. She has a pond in her garden, the future of which is now uncertain. There is a possibility it might get filled in. My daughter and I rescued some toadspawn from this pond which is now in a small tank in her bedroom.

The spawn has hatched into small black tadpoles but unexpectedily we have some other tadpoles which are brown and very small, about 5mm long.

I have a few questions - could these smaller tadpoles be newt tadpoles? Should I put them in a separate container to the toad tadpoles in case they end up being dinner?

The toad spawn we collected was in single strands, my research on google suggested that this is natterjack toad spawn and is rare. Is this correct?

Also - when should we add food and what type? We do have some pond weed in the tank and there are various small creatures in there. We have been putting a single flake of fish food in the tank per day.

Finally, as these are toads not frogs, at what point should we change the tank to a terrarium and is there an established procedure for doing so?

Many thanks in advance.

I believe brown/maroon coloured tads are Toads, whereas black are Frogs. Umm, it is most likely just Common Toad spawn (Bufo bufo), but it could be Natterjack spawn. I'd be wary about other critters in the tank, damsel and dragon fly larvae can and will eat tadpoles.

When tadpoles are young, they feed solely on algae. I feed my tads algae wafers which contain Spirulina, alternatively you can feed Spirulina Flakes. I drop 2-3 wafer in when there are none left, and I do 100% water changes each week as well as 20-30% water changes every day or two. Boiled lettuce is also another option, I've never used it but I'm sure it would be fine. I would suggest finding a tadpole care sheet online.

And regularly white eggs are newt eggs, black eggs are frog/toad eggs.
Have a nice weekend!

morphyrichards said:

The toad spawn we collected was in single strands, my research on google suggested that this is natterjack toad spawn and is rare. Is this correct?

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Although common toad spawn has two rows of eggs, it will separate into a single row if it's stretched. You're unlikely to have natterjack spawn in a garden pond unless it's right next to the seaside- they almost exclusively live on coastal sand dunes in the UK. They also spawn a bit later in the year than common toads, and probably haven't got started yet.

morphyrichards said:

Also - when should we add food and what type?

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They shouldn't need feeding for a while after they first emerge, certainly not until they're actively swimming about. The easiest thing to feed is blanched lettuce- just pour boiling water on a piece of lettuce leaf, and put the leaf in their water when it's cooled. This should last them for several days. Fish flake is OK, but will foul the water more quickly.

Thanks for all this :happy:
I'm still unsure what the really small tadpoles are. They certainly look like tadpoles but they are so small I mistook them at first for very small (gnat?) larvae.

They hang around the corners of the tank mostly and swim by rapidly making themselves into a kind of figure 8 shape.

photos might help did you try asking the pond owner?

Tadpoles hatch strange, they hatch much less developed than newts. If you see arms growing after 2/3days after hatch they are newts. But yeah, with pics its easier, at least I like to see them I usually feed mine on spirulina powder, you can now buy it as a food suplement, much more cheap than in pet shops, they love it and grow damn fast!

I did try to take take some pictures but it they are only a few mm in size. I will try again tomorrow.

morphyrichards said:

Thanks for all this :happy:
I'm still unsure what the really small tadpoles are. They certainly look like tadpoles but they are so small I mistook them at first for very small (gnat?) larvae.

They hang around the corners of the tank mostly and swim by rapidly making themselves into a kind of figure 8 shape.

Click to expand...

undoubtedly gnat larvae/pupae, not tadpoles