I've got a tadpole!!!!

poochie · #1 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006, 05:03 PM

Hi.

About 3 weeks ago my mom was looking in the wildlife pond in her garden when something caught her eye. There was a tadpole, almost white, complete with little legs swimming around. She's now got it in the house in some pond water with some weeds, living on the window sill.

It doesn't seem to be developing any more, but is quite happy to swim around in his casserole dish pent house. Problem is we're not sure what to do with it now.

Don't know about you, but I've never seen tadpoles in November!!!

Garden Carpet · #2 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006, 05:09 PM

Hi Poochie.. welcome to WAB.. what a great find at this time of the year.. any chance you can post a pic of this little creature.. .. on second thoughts...perhaps it is Santa in disguise

jaki

Wild-Woman · #3 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006, 06:34 PM

Sounds like you've got a neotenous tadpole there. (Neoteny-persistent stage of larval or fetal features in the adult form of an animal).
Think there's a newt like this in the Gallery.

Btw.welcome!

deelcee · #4 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006, 08:18 PM

hi!
welcome
i can understand the interest but i should put it back where it came from
cos it will die!!1

you don't know what you've got until its gone

poochie · #5 (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 08:21 AM

Garden-Carpet - tried to get photo, but it is almost white in colour and it wouldn't show on the photo's. Will try to think of way round this later.

Deelcee - Did think about putting it back in the pond, but grown quite attached to the little fella, think he'll freeze if we put him back. Our wildlife pond is not very deep, and the big fish in the main pond will probably eat him!

Wild-woman - thanks for your "neotenous" theory, that is what we thought as well. Poor little Fluke (as I have started calling him).

Is the general consensus that I should put him back in the pond???

yellowhammer · #6 (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 01:51 PM

Poochie -

I'd think about putting him back in the pond as long as it's not a massive jump in temperature. Perhaps you could lower the temp. in his penthouse over a couple of days so it won't be such a shock? The problem is if you keep him in tap water with no filtration he may well die anyway. If you know someone with a coldwater aquarium maybe they could take him for the winter although they may not fancy introducing potential parasites into their fish tank. Oh, and if it is a neotonous newt (as seems likely) I'm insanely envious as I've never seen one!

cheers,

Ian

Garden Carpet · #7 (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yellowhammer

Poochie -

I'd think about putting him back in the pond as long as it's not a massive jump in temperature. Perhaps you could lower the temp. in his penthouse over a couple of days so it won't be such a shock? The problem is if you keep him in tap water with no filtration he may well die anyway. If you know someone with a coldwater aquarium maybe they could take him for the winter although they may not fancy introducing potential parasites into their fish tank. Oh, and if it is a neotonous newt (as seems likely) I'm insanely envious as I've never seen one!

cheers,

Ian

hmmm I thought poochie had him in pond water... if that was changed at intervals having warmed the new pond water overnigh or over 24 hrs what would happen?
jaki

Garden Carpet · #8 (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 01:59 PM

Poochie, could you place something dark behind the penthouse so that we might see him?
jaki

yellowhammer · #9 (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 02:31 PM

Good call GC, I missed that bit!

cheers,

Ian

Gill Catton · #10 (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 03:02 PM

I think it might be the warmer temperature that might be a problem as it surely affects metabolism and further development, you may also find that you can't provide an appropriate diet. It is an animal after all that has evolved to live through a cold winter. Even undeveloped tadpoles can survive the winter in a pond, like fish and invertebrates and all the other aquatic animals in our ponds.
I would be inclined myself to put it back in the pond I think. I don't think truly neotonous newts ever mature but what if your artifically warm winter results in just that and you end up with a mature and ready to breed newt wandering around your house (as it will unless you have a good lid) when it's too cold to put such an animal outside.

This newt that I found

was clearly last year's animal (or older) and therefore must have over-wintered just fine in the pond.

you could end up killing it with kindness and that's very bad for the soul