It all started with a science class my boys attended two Saturdays ago. They were each sent home with a bullfrog tadpole. The tadpoles were already rather large, at about two inches. They were living in small plastic containers with about an inch of pond water. On the way home that day in the car, Alivia removed the lid from one and spilled the water and the tadpole in her lap! We rescued the tadpole, but decided when we got home that they needed a more permanent residence. So Dustin and the boys set up one of our fish tanks and started feeding them algae tablets. In need of more good (scummy) water, Dustin went down to the pond in our neighborhood and scooped a bucket full. Little did he know, he brought home some hitchhikers - five more tadpoles. But these were little ones, not bullfrogs. A couple of them already had back legs forming. I thought for sure they would get bigger, because I had never seen frogs so small. Unfortunately, not all have survived. Two of the small ones tried to pull a "Finding Nemo" and got sucked up into the filter. We've placed foam over the end of the tube now to prevent any more jail breaks.
Just a few days ago, we noticed that one of the small tadpoles had all four legs and his tail was almost completely absorbed. So we put a log in the tank sticking out of the water a bit. I guess they can drown once their gill functions go away. It wasn't long before we noticed that he'd climbed out of the water and was sitting on the log. And he's just about the tiniest frog I've ever seen. He's not even a 1/2 inch long! He sat there for a few days, occasionally taking a swim. We decided that we should probably let him go, because we didn't know what to feed him. Then I read online that you can give them pretty much any small bugs or larvae. So I went out into the forested part of our yard and flipped over some rotting logs. Bugs galore! The first thing I spotted were some termites. I thought they looked pretty appetizing (to a frog), so I grabbed a bunch of them, threw them in a cup and brought them inside. I dropped a few onto the log in front of Bob (as we've come to call him). It didn't take more than a second for him to lunge and flick one with his tongue. That termite didn't know what hit him! And then a minute later he ate another one. I think he was full after two, because he didn't eat any more after that. That was yesterday. I gave him some more fresh termites today, and he ate two again. He does seem much happier with a full belly (if you can really gauge the emotions of a frog).
In the meantime, there are still two more small tadpoles with legs coming on. The bullfrog tadpoles haven't changed all that much. They are just big heads with tails. I'm assuming the larger the frog, the longer the development. More to come once they start changing. Here's pictures of our first frog.
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| Meet Bob, the frog |
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| That's a penny and a termite, for size reference. |
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| Hunting a termite. |
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| Going for a swim. |
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| Just chillin' on his log. |
