I've got one tadpole that is consistently inverted. It's been growing, developing at the same rate as its clutch-mates, but it's ALWAYS upside down. It can right itself for short periods and it can get to the surface for air and eat. Overall, it seems like it is ok, but I am concerned if there is anything else I should be doing for it. I feed it a rotation of tadpole bites, algae wafer fragments, and NLS 0.5 mm cichlid pellets. Here's the best shot I could get of it:
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It's in about 2cm of water in a deli cup. I change the water about every 2 weeks, even then, the water is not that nasty. I thought it might be a "bubble tad" at first, but I cannot see any obvious gas pockets. I did have a bubble tad from an earlier clutch that developed two bubbles on each side, but it developed normally. Here's a shot (poor quality) of that tad; the bubbles lasted less than a week (NOTE - this is not the same tad - just illustrating the bubble I have previously witnessed):
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So can gas pockets be more internalized, or is something else at work here with this current tad? Thanks!
Yep, bubble tadpole. I bet it morphs out just fine as you doing right now.
Still inverted, but managing to eat, breath and develop at the same rate as the balance of the clutch:
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Updating the development of this tad. It's coming along nicely, growing at a similar rate to it's clutch mates.
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Snapped another photo of the tad tonight through the sidewall of the deli cup. This one is a little blurry, but it shows you the position of the tad at rest. If I jostle the cup it shoots around the cup in a corkscrew manner before settling down again.
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some breeders would still cull it, but me.....I'd grow it out to see just how it turned out.
Yeah I'm curious to see how it turns out. I figure I am not treating it any differently than the other tads (other than monitoring it more closely) - it's fed at the same rate, same foods, same water changes - so it's either going to make it on its own or not. So far the only observable difference from it's clutch mates is it rests on it's side.
The inverted tad is still developing at the same rate as the other tads. Seems to be spending slightly less time inverted. I'm not giving it any special treatment other than its cup is up front so I can keep an eye on it. It is fed on the same schedule as the other tads.
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A few more development shots. I suspect its front legs should pop next week based on the development of other clutches.
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Here's a shot illustrating how the tad can move about for feeding and coming to the surface.
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Definitely a curiosity [for me at least].
"Life" is strong and persists, doesn't it ?
Yeah that is probably my main fascination here. Life finds a way ...
Yep, he never would have made it in the wild - would have been culled by any number of hundreds of methods...
Great shot of him in his 'straight jacket' ! I once, got to see a tad wrestle and wrestle and pop his fronts out. Wish I would have had it on video, it was really neat.
Great documentation Jim. Thanks for contributing so much to the hobby in such a short time !
Glad to contribute Phil! The first front leg emerged 1/14, the second on 1/15. I'd say that it's inverted 1/4 of the time now. I can coax it into flipping over by shifting my light source around - this allowed for better documentation. Overall though it's spending more time in a normal position now that the front legs are out.
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A few days after breaking loose its last front leg it was no longer inverted. Here is a shot with the tail 10 days ago:
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And resorption nearly complete:
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Here's a shot with a US quarter underneath for reference:
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OK last milestone for this little guy
It's been consistently climbing a vertical cup wall:
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How is it doing Jim ? Healthy ? Same size as similar or siblings or smaller ?
I ended up putting it in a communal grow out and honestly I did not track it beyond that. The group that morphed along with this one were all about the same size.
What I have noticed is my tads raised in viv morph out larger than cup raised. But that is likely a topic for a different thread