Tadpoles: Nature’s Way
Most people with pet frogs wonder about tadpoles. Can I raise them? How do you do that? Everyone says it’s really hard. There are many ways to successfully raise tadpoles and it doesn’t have to be difficult at all. I’m going to provide the basic understanding of what is happening in nature and how I replicate that in the aquarium before exploring other methods in a separate file. You may find your unique situation requires a combination of methods.
Breeding
Mating in frogs is called amplexus. The male has nuptial pads on his forearms that he uses to hold onto the female’s waist from behind. The female swims to the surface with the male holding on, they both breathe, she lays an egg, he fertilizes the egg and they swim back down. They repeat this for anywhere from a few hours to a few days occasionally taking time to rest.
Amplexus in adult African dwarf frogs can be initiated by simulating drought/flood conditions. When we perform a water change we naturally provide these conditions and some frogs will mate after a standard water change. To increase the likelihood of mating we can stretch out the water change to more closely resemble nature. In my experience, drawing out the process over an hour or two gets excellent results. To provide drought conditions we want to reduce the water level and allow it to warm up a couple of degrees. To give you a baseline the temperature my frog tanks are kept around 75ºF. Next we make it rain; replace some of the water with conditioned water that is a few degrees cooler than the tank water. Add cool water once or twice over the next couple of hours to simulate rain starting and stopping. It helps if the water is just a little deeper after the water change to mimic flood conditions.
When evening comes and the lights go out you can begin to observe the social behavior that indicates your frogs will mate. The males will chirp and patrol their territories. If an intruder enters their territory and sings then they may engage in battle. The females will begin to swim to the surface and then to the bottom in a circular pattern and the frogs will start to couple off. You may even get to see a female stake claim over her mate as another female crowds around them. If you observe any of this behavior then there is a good chance you’ll find some eggs on the surface come morning. To increase your chances that the eggs won’t get eaten give them something to hide in. Dense floating plants on the surface or roots from terrestrial plants are ideal. If there is enough surface cover several of the eggs may hatch and survive into the swimming stage. Some may even survive up to full metamorphosis when they start to occupy the bottom of the tank. It is unlikely any will survive to adulthood if they aren’t separated from the adults.
Some people prefer to breed their frogs in the tank where they plan to raise the tadpoles and they move the adults out after they find eggs. Others prefer to move the eggs to another container to grow them out. Although I have moved eggs in the past and probably will again I prefer to use a turkey baster to move tadpoles when they enter the swimming stage which happens around day 5 after the eggs are laid. I get about 20 swimmers each week and find its ok to collect swimming tadpoles from a series of matings over about 3 weeks without losing them to cannibalism. If you plan to separate the eggs and adults and want as many eggs as possible then plan on waking up early to rescue them. Adult frogs love to snack on the little morsels they create.
Nature’s Way
In nature most frogs lay their eggs in shallow areas with lots of surface cover (marginal plants, floating plants, and roots.) The simplest way to care for them is to establish an aquarium or vase that mimics this environment. A shallow container with lots of live plants and all of the tiny creatures that come in with plants when we buy them. Infusoria, copepods, daphnia, seed shrimp, and detritus worms are all on the menu. This micro fauna feeds on algae, bacteria, decaying plant matter, decaying animal matter, and nutrients remaining in the feces of the animals that live in the tank. This method does not require a traditional aquarium filter although a cycled sponge filter is highly recommended and (if room temperature is at least 68ºF) it does not require a heater. Decay happens faster at warmer temperatures causing more pollution, higher temperatures increase the need for food, and low temperatures allow us time to notice and respond to changes before they become problems. If the temperature is lower than 68ºF we need to heat the water. I have experimented with temps ranging from 68-80ºF. 75ºF is the highest I would set the temperature.
The more tadpoles we plan to grow out the larger the water volume we will need. As is the case with all aquatic pets more water volume gives us more room for error and buys us time to change course when needed. For our purposes we want to sustain a diverse live food culture within the aquarium itself and a greater volume of water will better support this environment. I don’t mean to say this can’t be done in smaller volumes–that is my MO–only that larger water volumes can make it easier.
If we notice any nipping or aggression between tadpoles then the live food population is probably dwindling a little and we can feed the tank small bits of nearly any kind of frog food to increase the population. We can keep live freshwater cultures on hand to replenish the population from time to time or we can use one of the many other feeding options to supplement the tadpoles’ food source while it replenishes. Soon after we see legs forming it is wise to put the tiniest bit of adult frog food in the tank every other day or every two days and keep an eye on their willingness to eat. What they don’t eat directly will feed the animals they like to hunt and snack on.
This is the sit back and watch approach to raising tadpoles. I have raised two small batches of tadpoles in a small planted vase using this method. I set up a second small tank using this method and currently have 8 tadpoles/froglets growing in it. I have ramped up the light intensity and duration to produce algae to feed all of the micro organisms. Right up until the last of them began developing arms the only food I provided was an occasional bit of frozen mysis meant to feed the cherry shrimp and micro organisms. It has been fascinating watching the tadpoles hover around the mysis to hunt the seed shrimp and daphnia that are enjoying a mysis meal. Nothing like live stuffed shrimp to snack on. I’ve noticed at the final stage of transition the tadpoles begin to pick at the mysis a little here and there but even as young froglets they still vastly prefer the micro live foods.
Set up a natural aquarium ahead of time for low maintenance, low stress, and easy-care so you can sit back and enjoy watching them grow and change in a beautiful little micro environment that provides them with nearly everything they need.
Warning! This method works!
Be prepared for this method to work very well. Are you prepared to keep all 10-50-100s of frogs that you raise? Can you find homes for them? I recommend reducing the numbers at about two to three weeks into raising tadpoles. Simply move them back to the adult tank or an aquarium with fish and allow nature to take its course.
If the ones you keep don’t make it you can try again.