Tadpoles!

So, we've been doing a lot of work with The Salamander Room for FIAR. I'm taking the time to do a lot of classification and habitat studies. We bought the Frog Hatchery Kit from Home Science Tools.

I know what you are thinking...you all probably just visit the local pond for some homegrown tadpoles. But actually, usually this is inadvisable for several reasons. One is that we want to leave the tadpoles where they belong and the second reason is even stronger- amphibians from local habitats can carry salmonella.

When I taught biology, I was not allowed to have specimens brought in from students or ones that I collected in the classroom. No more box turtles, etc. The risk was too great. So, I just go with that rule of thumb and I purchased the kit.

Depending on the time of year, you'll end up with a Leopard Frog or an African Water Frog. Leopard frogs will eventually need a terrarium rather than an aquarium. However, the water frogs will live under water all of their lives. They are typically safe from salmonella, BUT you cannot release them into your local environment once the tadpoles have grown.

These frogs are ours and by all reports, given proper care, they can live up to ten years!!

They arrived in a small package with 10 tadpoles, some of which had already perished. Seven were alive waiting for spring water- Dan had to bring some home. Our water is chlorinated. Of course I don't know how that really works since most bottled water is tap water from some municipality. In the end, we have FIVE. Five tadpoles growing like CrAzY.

Cleaning the water- replace half of the water and then I used a pipette to siphon out some of the organic matter from the bottom of the tank.

The kids have enjoyed watching them grow and since we have five, we're going to need at least one more of the same container when they grow to frogs. Wow.