Dart Frog Tadpoles

[Aqua360]

Hi all,

I received some dart frog tadpoles at the end of August, thought it might be of interest to document their progress as I strive to raise them to adulthood. This is my first time raising tadpoles, so it's been a continual learning process, but so far so good. The basic premise is growing them out in tubs, to then morphing them into a grow out tub, before finally transitioning them to their tank. The species is Ranitomeya Variabilis Southern, otherwise known as 'thumbnails', due to their small size.

I'll attach pics of them in order, where you'll see the difference in growth from small, black tads, to where they are now with developing legs, colour, and size. I estimate they are about 2-3 weeks from morphing fully, but again this is purely estimative.

 

[Nuno da Silva]

Hello,

What a great project! I'm very curious to see the development of the tadpoles.

What are you feeding them? How do you keep the water quality?

Can I ask you where did you get them? I'm thinking of getting some frogs next January for my terrarium project!

 

[Aqua360]

Hello,

What a great project! I'm very curious to see the development of the tadpoles.

What are you feeding them? How do you keep the water quality?

Can I ask you where did you get them? I'm thinking of getting some frogs next January for my terrarium project!

Hey,

I'm feeding them a mix of tadpole pellets 'Quappen-Futter', Repashy Soilent Green, and some squashed fruit flies.

They get fed approximately twice a week, with weekly water changes with 'tadpole tea', essentially bottled water stained with catappa leaves and/or other botanicals.

I got mine from a breeder down south, the one thing about the dart frog hobby here is that it is very niche, so sourcing frogs can be a real challenge.

My tadpoles have been growing for 70 days, and are just about to enter the most dangerous stage (morphing fully). In hindsight I don't know if I would buy tadpoles again, as there is more risk involved than getting grown on froglets. In my situation there were no froglets available at the time, but patience is definitely the best thing in this hobby.

If you want to chat more, feel free to DM me or stick more questions here, and i'll help as best i can 🙂

 

[tam]

I've always fancied frogs, but I'm not keen on culturing flies for feeding them. There is a reptile shop near me that has some froglets at the moment they are very cute. Good luck with the conversion!

 

[Nuno da Silva]

I'm definitely buying young frogs, not tadpoles but it's very interesting to see that it's an option, I've never seen it before!

I will have to find a breeder somewhere around me and wait until he has available frogs. Don't really matter which ones, they are all so beautiful

 

[Aqua360]

All going well, I will hopefully end up with the below froglets! (Image isn't mine)