[Dillon Wascher]

Hi, it's me again. My third tad (the completely non-buoyant one) just popped his second front leg this morning! I have tilted the tub so he can get out of the water if he needs to, but he is still living underwater. I read in this thread http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/breeding-eggs-tadpoles/59448-leuc-tad-morph.html that the approximate time from front legs popping out to morphing was about nine days. However, I wanted to get the specifics on what to do between now and then, and how to know when to put him into a froglet tank if the time comes before nine days. (I keep my tads at about 75 degrees so I think it might be sooner) My questions are as follows:
1. When during the nine days will he become unable to breath underwater? Will that signify when he morphs out?
2. How much dry land should I give him in his tub? Enough to get his head out of the water or his whole body?
3. What should I feed him till he morphs out, and when should I make a food transition? Should I start supplementing his food with calcium/D3 or vitamin supplements?
4. How will I know when he has "morphed out" & ready to leave the tub?
5. When I put him into the froglet tank, should I just set him in, or let him crawl out of the tub when he is ready?
6. Other than staggering humidity, what characteristics should the froglet tank have? (By the way, I will be keeping him individually in a little 2 1/2 gallon aquarium initially)
7. And finally, what should I feed him initially as a froglet?
I will start setting up the froglet tank today and ordering FF's & culture supplies ASAP. Any advice will be appreciated, and thanks as usual for reading through my copious amounts of questions. I want to make sure I do this right!

 

[Tadbit]

Leuc and Tinc rearing are the same.

Check out this gem of a post by Zoomie. It's informative and a fun read:
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/be...y-hobbyist-breeder-beginners-perspective.html

Next go to Josh's Frogs and check out this section first to answer more of your questions. Watch the video about 3/4 down the page as well as it, again, will answer almost all your questions.
http://www.joshsfrogs.com/catalog/blog/category/poison-dart-frog-care/

There's also other great vids there that will get you going in the right direction.

Best of luck.

 

[james67]

1. When during the nine days will he become unable to breath underwater? Will that signify when he morphs out?

i wouldnt expect it to follow any sort of schedule. once the front arms appear and the mouth parts develop its anyones guess when it will decide to leave the water.

i personally like to drain off most of the water at this point and tilt the cup at a 45 degree angle. when the little guy is ready it will simply walk out.

2. How much dry land should I give him in his tub? Enough to get his head out of the water or his whole body?

im unsure what you mean by "tub" the most successful method ive used is raising the tads in the small circular glad containers (filled with water) when the tad pops its fronts the water level is lowered and the cup is placed into the grow out container at a 45 degree angle (as noted above) i use only long fiber sphagnum moss to line the bottoms of the grow out containers (which i nuke in the microwave and cool with frog safe water)

3. What should I feed him till he morphs out, and when should I make a food transition? Should I start supplementing his food with calcium/D3 or vitamin supplements?

i feed the tad normally until it leaves the water. while the mouth parts have changed during this point im not disturbing the tad to look for the change and feeding or not it will undoubtedly morph out fine at this point.

since this is a leuc it will accept FFs right out of the water.. it will not feed while the tail is being absorbed though so do not attempt to add FF at this time as it will stress the froglet.

when its ready to feed (the tail is completely absorbed) feed only a few FFs (dusted just as you would with adults) at a time. its best to do multiple smaller feedings and it also helps to add a small piece of fruit to give the flies an area to congregate. this way they dont constantly climb on the froglet and stress it.

4. How will I know when he has "morphed out" & ready to leave the tub?

again im not sure what you mean by "tub" but it will leave the water and generally stay close. it may go back and forth between water and land and will use the water as refuge when startled. for this reason i leave the tadpole cups in the grow out until its clear that they are no longer using them.

5. When I put him into the froglet tank, should I just set him in, or let him crawl out of the tub when he is ready?

once again im not exactly sure what you mean by "tub" see my above posts for info on transition to the grow out container.

6. Other than staggering humidity, what characteristics should the froglet tank have? (By the way, I will be keeping him individually in a little 2 1/2 gallon aquarium initially)

lik i said before, keep it simple. long fiber sphagnum and one or 2 large leaves is all you need in this tank.

7. And finally, what should I feed him initially as a froglet?
I will start setting up the froglet tank today and ordering FF's & culture supplies ASAP. Any advice will be appreciated, and thanks as usual for reading through my copious amounts of questions. I want to make sure I do this right!

do you not already have FFs? you need to get melanogaster and asap. also your supplements. dust FFs and feed them as described above.

best of luck.

on a side note the bubble tad issue can sometimes be fixed by ceasing all feedings and changing the water frequently until the problem resolves.

james

 

[Dillon Wascher]

Thanks! By tub I meant the little round plastic container he is being raised in. It's about 5" in diameter and about 1 1/2 in. deep. Should have been more specific, sorry. The tad/froglet seems to be morphing out with no problems. He still has about 3/4 in. of tail left, but has started to venture out of the water! (I've had the plastic tadpole raising container tilted as you described ever since he popped his front legs). No worries about the food; I will be picking up a culture of melanogaster today from a local reptile shop, and it's five minutes away so I can pick up some loose flies too if need be. I already have Rep Cal calcium & D3, as well as Rep Cal Herptivite. Because of the shape of the current plastic tadpole rearing container, I am considering carefully transferring the water and froglet to a tall cup more conducive for for making a gentle slope for him to climb out on and into the froglet container, similar to what is shown in Zoomie's thread, but I'll have to wait and see.
p.s. James, Pumilo referred me to your advice on what to do for the tad with the air bubble about a week ago, and it's doing much better, so thanks for that too!