Why is this guy turning down blackworms?

[jeff]

I was in a shop on friday and I ended up buying one of these huge tadpoles they had in a chinese fish shop. I assume they were useing them to feed large fish, as the guy only cost a buck, but I wasnted to try to grow one up to adult stage anyhow and place him in a large planted tank. I have a problem, I actually found some really nice live blackworms, and I thought that they would be perfect, but the frog wont touch them at all. The guy there said they eat bloodworms, but if that was true I would assume live blackworms would be just as good. Also, the frog supposedly came from north carolina, any ideas to what specie it may be? its about the size of a ping pong ball right now and is spotted. thanks

 

[joseph]

Post a photo and try crickets or similaer

 

[jeff]

I wish I could post a photo but I have no camera here, I am begining to think its a bullfrog, but the small black dot pattern is curious and looked similar to lepord frog pictures but the size is huge. I doubt a cricket woudl work, as the guy is aquatic and not coming to the surface. He's really pale right now, and I am having trouble deciding what to do about water temp, I have it low but I hope its not too cold, it may have dropped to 50 when i was floating some ice in it last night.

Any ideas on food/feeding? Temp? What the lack of pigment means? he was a brown/black/grey mix when i got him, now more white. This is proving to be more of a challange then I thought.

 

[kyle]

I'm not exactly sure... but I believe bullfrogs and leopard frog tads are algea eaters. Try some flake type fishfood or those algea eater tablets for algea eating fish, see if that works.

Don't worry about keeping the temps so low, just keep the temps steady. They can survive in lower temps, and sometimes even take 2 or 3 years total to morph, surviving through winter - but most ponds I've ever found bullfrog tads in reach temps up to 85 degrees or more. Set the tank close to some natural sunlight and get something growing in there. Remember to not let it cook up in temps too high though. Good luck!

 

[jeff]

Well I found some poo in the water, which I guess is a good sign (horray for poo!!

) I did know that many tadpoles are herbivors for some time, but given the fact that this guy has feet I was assuming that a diet of meat/worms and bugs was more appropriate.

Any ideas on the sudden loss of colar? stress perhaps?

 

[kara]

The big tadpoles at my petstore are bullfrog tadpoles...perhaps yours is as well...use google images and type in bull frog tadpole, you can't mistake it if yours is a bull frog.
I think I might get one tonight and set it up in my 5 gallon and see "what happens" It is so cool to see them change through metamorphosis

 

[mark]

A word of warning. I bought some some bullfrog tadpoles many years ago to see "what happens".

What happens is you end up with enormous frogs that keep the whole house awake with a call that's not dissimilar to a cow in distress. You then have to go through the palaver of getting rid of them before you go mad from lack of sleep. Not the best pet for indoors.

 

[joseph]

Dumb me...I thought it was a frog already.

Try fish flakes, algae tabs, or algae covered rocks from inside. Agreed with Mark if you keep one indoors you will need a big tank. I actually like the call though.

If anyone wants to help me rid my pond of bullfrogs I'd happily send you some for cost of shipping(either to you or to the compost when I bop them which takes forever...think I could use a Airsoft gun for this job). They are keeping away the treefrogs which are supposed to use this pond(in CA, where they are invasive species).

(Message edited by fishkeeper on August 09, 2006)

 

[kara]

I saw a documentary once that actually described bull frogs as "a rape to indiginous species" basically compared them to locusts ravaging the land, leaving everything destroyed and unable to regenerate.

 

[jeff]

Well I suppose things are going well with the guy, I left for a few days to dael with the newt larvea and when I got back, the frog had arms! I was checking even on friday for them and saw not even a bump. He must be eating enough from that kind of growth. I also saw frogs today at a pond while on a daphnia mission, huge bullfrogs and one tadpole that was twice as big as mine. Also a family of woodfrogs, 2 parents and about 50 good sized 'poles'. Nice to see them coming back in this area.

 

[joseph]

Once they get to the point when they have are ready to pop arms they don't eat...live off the nutrients in the tail which is gradually absorbed. Don't bother with food until the froglet is a few days out of water at least.

Kara: They are pretty bad. When you find them in abundance you generally can't find any other frogs/toads.

 

[jeff]

Well he is doing pretty good, I wnet out and picked up a mid-sized tank for him with a really nice wet/dry gravity feed filtration system in the hood and a bunch of plants. He is hanging out on the bottom, and sometimes doing the frog "eyes above the waterline" hangout mode. One thing, he is moving his mouth alot underwater when stressed, constantly opening and closeing it. I was thinking it had something to do with his lungs being almost ready to go to air mode, but then when he chills out or i leave for a while and don't mess with his plants he doesn't seem to do it. I have an airstone in the tank but I turned it off last night and I think i will reemove it alltogether. His tail is getting quite shrunk and small, and he seems to be ready to come out. I am going out today to get some driftwood so he can come all the way out if
needed.

I decided not to go "tarrarium" with him. I wanted to go artificial pond rather then a gross dirty muddy mess of a tank. I think just some wood floatinf around would be fine to add to the plants. I was going to add a "pot island" with moss or a combo of vegitation in the middle that could at as the cricket "sanctuary of death", but what else could work for feeding? will he try to eat the blackworms as an froglet/adult? they are at the bottom so I assume he will never see them so I guess not.

He still is pale. One explanation would be the non-dechlorinated water he was in for a little while, but the color fading was so fast, it only took a few days. Its hard to think that low levels of chorine or chloramine could be the cause, has this happned to any one else and could give some insight?

Well thats about it for now, any help is greatly appreciated

(Message edited by newtsrfun on August 19, 2006)

 

[elliot]

um yeah i kept a few frogs and toads myself b4 these axies, its good not to put drift wood well it depends on how high ur tank is an how much water u got in it, what happend to me was that me frog was on a piece of drift wood and it jump up and clinged onto the mesh wiring on the top of the tank and on the place where u can open for lid it came out, then i had to chase it all over the room to get it back and after the first time they seem to do it more often, thats when i got sick of chasing it around and getting told off by mum with the mess in the living room i just stayed of water and just gave it a water bowl and peat about 2inches (instead of the water and drift wood of 8-10 inches) but hey thats just my experience, u can do what ever with urs ^^