TADPOLE HELP

sulcata101

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2013
Messages
381
Location (City and/or State)
Sebastopol
So recently i have been raising tadpoles from my yard. I got them from an outside bathtub which was over crowded with tadpoles, so i tried to make room. I relocated a good amount of them into my 20 gallon tank. ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1427132489.744690.jpg

(I put some of their other water into the tank to make sure it wasn't too much of a shock for them) for food i have been feeding them mostly boiled lettuce and occasionally beta food. Almost all of the tadpoles are eating and healthy, and are beginning to sprout legs. Although, i have noticed a few are sick and dying.

I found about 3 or 4 tadpoles with their long intestine completely hanging out of them and were nearly dead. ( if i find any others like this i'll put the picture)

A few i have noticed have strange red spots throughout their body. ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1427132295.213902.jpg ( you can see it has its on its eyes.)

I have also noticed a few are a bit bloated and can seem to swim straight. Im not too concerned with this because it often goes away a few days later.

Does anyone know what these sicknesses could be or what caused may have caused it? If you know of have an idea please leave a comment, your help is appreciated. :)
 

sulcata101

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2013
Messages
381
Location (City and/or State)
Sebastopol
Have you seen any water beetles in there with them? Some kind of predator or parasite?
I have noticed mosquito larva and a some small black water beetles, but i dont really think the beetles are doing any harm. To me it looks like some kind of disease...
 

sulcata101

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2013
Messages
381
Location (City and/or State)
Sebastopol
ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1427137554.359443.jpg here is a picture of one with its intestine out. I found a few like this at the bottom of the tank. Does anyone know what may have caused this?
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
It might very well be sucking injuries. They eat each other, you know.
 

junebugsmom

Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Messages
40
Location (City and/or State)
Orlando Florida
A little off topic, but I had some tadpoles in my redfoot's little pool and I fed them just regular flake fish food and they seemed to like it and did well on it
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
It might very well be sucking injuries. They eat each other, you know.

This is what I was thinking. SOme species are herbivore and feed on algae and plants while other species are more carnivorous. If the diet of the carnivorous species is lacking protein, they will certainly eat each other, which could explain the red marks and intestinal thing.

The swimming thing sounds like bacterial infection. What sort of filtration and water change routine are you using? Tadpoles eat a lot and generate a lot of waste. Its a lot of work to maintain decent water quality.
 

sulcata101

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2013
Messages
381
Location (City and/or State)
Sebastopol
This is what I was thinking. SOme species are herbivore and feed on algae and plants while other species are more carnivorous. If the diet of the carnivorous species is lacking protein, they will certainly eat each other, which could explain the red marks and intestinal thing.

The swimming thing sounds like bacterial infection. What sort of filtration and water change routine are you using? Tadpoles eat a lot and generate a lot of waste. Its a lot of work to maintain decent water quality.
I tried to match their habitat from where i got them out of, since its an abandoned bathtub, the water is stagnant and pretty murky. Every year the frogs place their eggs there and the tadpoles do fine. I tried to match this habitat for them so the water is stagnant but i do clean out their water when it gets too murky, which is a few times a week.
I think the red blotches is ranavirus. Ive taken all of the infected tadpoles out so hopefully no ,ore will get sick...
 
Top