Raising Tadpoles (Day 80) - A Lost Tail

ribbitingscience (63)in #nature • 6 years ago (edited)

Day 80

The damaged part of the injured tadpole's tail membrane fell off. I can't say I'm too surprised since it was barely hanging on by the end of last night. Only that part fell off and the tadpole seems to be able to swim fine now. I'm going to continue monitoring the injured tadpole for any signs of abnormal behavior but the little fellow seems to be acting normal for the most part now. Due to the fact that 'injured tadpole' is also a bit clunky to have to repeatedly use for a tadpole I'll continue to provide updates on and since @epicdave asked that I name one after him, we'll now be referring to the injured tadpole as simply 'Dave.' It'll be quite a while until Dave becomes a froglet since the little fellow hasn't developed more than faint leg nubs at this point.

If there had been no improvement, I was tempted to invest in an aquarium aerator, commonly known as an air stone. I've seen people recommend using aerators with their tadpoles for water movement and oxygenation, not a bad idea. Just make sure to take out the tadpoles as they become froglets, aerators are very bad for frogs as they can cause Gas Bubble Disease due to the water becoming supersaturated with gases. Though I'd imagine they'd also help with oil from the food forming a film on the water's surface due to a lack of agitation.

I'll try adding 1/2 a gallon to Dave's tank tomorrow since it'll be time for the weekly 30% water change for the main tank. I recently added another water gallon which should give a bit of breathing room in regards to water changes. Previously, a 30% change on the main tank combined with the 50% water changes in the tadpole tank has been exactly the maximum amount of water I can store, meaning that I can't afford to either spill any water or have to add water to the froglet tank. I should now have one gallon of water as a backup now.