Raising tadpoles

[GCN lova]

hi WABers,

i have caught a few tadpoles (roughly 15) in a park. i am thinking about keeping them and introduce them to my garden in sittingbourne. there was a lot of bird action there with swans chasing canadian geese and ducks rearing chicks. i also found 2 frogs, one a year old while the other about 3, and a miniature newt. i was astounded to finally see tadpoles as the recent ponds i have visited have been empty except for a single frog surrounded by a pond full of mating newts. could i keep newts with them in a roughly 50cm amphibious habitat tank?

thnx GCN lova

ps: i will send a photo so someone can correct me on the species

[Kayleigh]

Newts should not be kept in tank in any case they will eat the tadpoles.
It is best to let the tiny frogs go when they have developed..

[shotski]

Why not make a small pond in your garden for these tadpoles. If you haveto keep them in a tank try not to use tap water (boiled and cooled wouldbe ok) introduce some pond weed into the tank and feed them on a fewdaily flakes of fish food. When they start to develop legs introduce some rocks and lower the water level as they drown very easy at this stage.When they are froglets release either in your garden or a suitable place.If you caught these tadpoles in a big pond/lake it is possible they are Toadtadpoles.Edit: Newts would eat them in no timeSHOTSKI

[GCN lova]

ive made an amphibious tank setup with a piece of wood, water mint and moss with some algae. ive added a male newt too but strangely the tadpoles seem to be eating THEM or following them. the female (im guessing as it doesnt have a crest) and male are not mating yet and im thinking they are different species.

here are the photos


the female(?) above





the male above



and the tads. there were some greeenish brown ones as well as plain blackish dark brown ones so im guessing the light brown ones are frogpoles. they are also a few months older by the looks of them but i couldnt catch one to take a pic.

i found them in a lake and when i rumaged through the logs i found 2 frogs (froglet from last yr and a juvenile), a tiny newt and 5 toadlets. anyway, can anyone identify the species of the newts and tads?

[shotski]

In my humble opinion both newts are common, male & female .

The femal has more than likely already been fertalised and would normaly
be laying eggs in leafy weed, they will in time eat all the tadpoles that
may be a mix of frog and toad. I would suggest releasing the newts and
concentrating on the tadpoles

[GCN lova]

thnx shotski for the ids,

i think ill keep them seperately and i think the female isnt already fertilized as she was the only one in the pond when i found her (the male and female came from different ponds) and i havent found any folded leaves or mysterious eggs. the tads are doing fine anyway. i noticed a bunch of them eating a dead one but i guess they'll clean their tank for themselves. the "frog" ones are nearlly growing legs . do you think they stayed in the pond from last yr? oh, and BTW, do newts and frogs only breed once in their lives or do they come back to the pond every year to breed?

thanks in advance, GCN lova

[shotski]

I have never known common frogs or toad tadpoles to over winter in a
pond. they were prob laid mid feb so legs by now are about wright. frogs,
toads and newts will come back for many years to spawn if they stay
lucky.

Shotski

[GCN lova]

OHHHHH! i think i now know why the newts avoided the tads! toad tads are poisonous are they not? thats why the bigger (frog) ones seemed to disappear!

can they identify which tads are which?

[King Edward]

Great Crested Newts will eat Toad tadpoles, not sure about Smooth Newts. This year and last year all (100%) of our Toad tadpoles appear to have been eaten, I suspect mainly by the Great Crested Newts - can't see so much as a single tadpole left now.

[GCN lova]

wow,

ive set up a seperate tank for him (im saying him as one escaped from the bucket while outside! ). oh and whats more better for the tads? bread, lettuce or meats?

thnx GCN lova