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What could be more amazing than witnessing the miracle of metamorphosis? Frogs are happy creatures that are a lot of fun to watch and care for. With a little care and planning, it is easy to raise tadpoles into frogs.
In early spring, mother frog hatches clumps of floating eggs in the shallow edges of lakes, ponds and swamps. These eggs look like transparent bubbles that are connected in chainlike fashion.
Once these eggs hatch, it is possible to collect the baby frogs; called tadpoles. They are not afraid to be caught when they are only a few days old, and can easily be scooped out of the water with a coffee can or a tropical fish net.
The best places to find your pollywogs or tadpoles are along the weedy edges of ponds or lakes in the springtime.
To identify a tadpole, look for groups of tiny little round balls the size of a pea or larger with little squiggly tails. The tadpole’s color will vary depending on the species. Sometimes the tadpoles will be black, sometimes brown with spots. They can also be as large as a quarter in diameter.
Use an old coffee can to scoop out a few. Please be respectful of Mother Nature, don’t be greedy and take more than five or ten of the little critters. Any more than that number are hard to feed. Too many tadpoles make a tank environment overcrowded and ecologically unbalanced.
While you are at the pond, it’s a good idea to scoop up some plant life for their new environment. When collecting live pond plants, make sure you get enough of the plant’s root system to sustain the plant’s life. Collecting plant life for the tadpole environment is crucial to the survival of the tadpoles. The plants will provide oxygen as well as food for them while they grow.
Also collect about five gallons of pond water.
Fill your ten-gallon fish tank, with the five gallons of pond water. Add aquarium gravel and the weeds from the pond, making sure to bury the plant’s roots under the aquarium gravel.
Find a large rock that will stick out of the water about an inch or so.
A rock with a nice flat surface is preferred. As the tadpoles develop their legs they will want to climb up on the rock to practice hopping. Tadpoles enjoy hopping on the rock and diving back into the water.
Garden and pet supply stores both sell commercial food you can sprinkle into the tank for them to eat. But feeding tadpoles goldfish flakes works nicely too. Also try a water garden store; many have actual tadpole and frog food called mealworms.
You can also attract live food for them to catch themselves. Hang a banana peel over the edge of the tank.
The banana peel will attract fruit flies for the baby frogs to catch with their tongues. Do not let the banana peel touch the water! The bacteria that ferments the fruit peel will contaminate the water and kill the tadpoles.
Now that the tadpole habitat is complete, make sure it isn’t placed in direct sunlight. Too much sun can kill them, and also cause too much algae to develop in the tank. However, a little bit of algae is a good food source for the baby frogs.
First the baby frog’s tails will shorten. As the tails shorten you will notice tiny back legs begin to grow from both sides of the tail.
The tadpole’s back legs will be fully formed, but may still have a very short tail. Front legs will begin to grow too.
The baby frogs will begin climbing onto the rock you have provided for them.
After four months, the tadpoles will have completely changed into tiny frogs. Once the frogs are completely developed it is time to set them free. Take the frogs back to the same place you found them and let them go. They will be very happy to be home!
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