First soon-to-be froglet

[ZenMonkey]

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This is the first of my auratus tadpoles I'm raising instead of giving away to good homes. Today was the first day I noticed the coloration, which will be turquoise & dark bronze. It hasn't been eating much, but I understand that's usual if it's absorbing the tail, which it is. That bump definitely looks like the right arm ready to come out, but the left one isn't as pronounced nor does it look symmetrical (hard to see in the photo under the leaf). Does this polliwog look okay to anyone who can tell from this photo?

[joneill809]

Looks good to me Joey! I always look for symmetry at this point, and signs of 4 limbs. Not much more you can do before they morph out. Looks like this one is pretty far along. I'd imagine those front legs will pop soon. Keep us updated!

[Philsuma]

Looks good. Keep in mind, that one arm may come outa the straight jacket sooner than the other. Don't be alarmed at a one-armed tadpole for a while - until the other one pops.

[ZenMonkey]

Thanks for the input, gentlemen. The tadpole does actually seem more symmetrical today with the right bump even bigger, so from what I can tell (which isn't much) the left arm is growing, just slower than the right. And thank you for the warning about the one-armed tad! I vaguely remembered reading that but good to know for sure. :-)

[ZenMonkey]

Here's the big guy in its morph-out container. I put it in on the same day I had to euthanize my tiny 15-year-old kitty. Weird juxtaposition.

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[DianeCarter]

So sorry about your kitty! Great pic of the big guy!

[ZenMonkey]

Thanks, Diane! It's getting close. I didn't quite understand why it wasn't as active as usual, and then I watched it swim. Or rather try to. It's more of a frantic flailing of limbs now, probably compounded by the loss of all but an inch or so of tail. I feel kinda bad watching it forget how to swim, but in a way it's also wonderful, which I know you folk understand!

[ZenMonkey]

This is the most I've seen it out of the water! (Its face is refracted a little oddly here.) Hoping it's considering a move pretty soon. Sorry the quality isn't great; I had to take it through the plastic.

If it comes out of the water still with some tail, will it wait to eat until the whole thing's absorbed? Also, is it still called a tadpole at this point? Seems like more of a pre-froglet or something.

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[joneill809]

Nearly there! I have not seen a froglet with a tail hunt. I leave them in their morph out containers until they are tailless and climbing regularly. I've been using small pieces of cork bark in my grow outs that the newly morphed froglets can crawl out on - when I see them perched regularly on the cork then I pull them. It should go pretty fast now - I've always been amazed at how quickly resorption of the tail occurs. Exciting stuff. Congratulations Joey!

[ZenMonkey]

Well, it hasn't made its way to land yet, but I'm calling "froglet" now.

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[Philsuma]

Take him out and put him on land in a grow out tank.

[ZenMonkey]

He's actually in the tub where he's been morphing out and where I will watch him for a little while before setting up a real grow-out. There's some water and it's tilted. Should I remove the water and scoot him over to the sphagnum then?

[Philsuma]

Yep...he's ready for prime time. I've even scooted out tads with small tails from their cups.

[joneill809]

Congratulations Joey!

[ZenMonkey]

Thanks Phil, for some reason I was thinking he had to come out on his own. I did as I said above and evened out the springtail-infested sphagnum substrate. He's hiding under a leaf right now.

[ZenMonkey]

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Nice view of the limbs -- look good so far! Glad my new supplements are coming tomorrow.

Do you recommend dusting flies for the froglet with more calcium than the adults get? I don't think it's big enough for melanos yet, but I have a few in there just to give it an idea. I did catch it hopping and pecking a bit; not sure but it looked like it was eating springtails. I'm about to press a piece of banana into service as a feeding station.

[Philsuma]

Is it getting big?