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Where have all the tadpoles gone??
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Posted by catherinet z5 (My Page) on Tue, Nov 10, 09 at 7:45
I have 2 300 gallon above-ground Rubbermaid stocktanks that I grew lotus and water lilies in. Every year they get billions of tadpoles throughout the summer.
I emptied them both out recently and turned them over for winter, and carefully looked for and transferred any tadpoles I found. I only found about 6 in one stocktank and none in the other.
Do they just die off? Does something eat them?? I find it curious that I didn't even find one in the second stocktank.
Any theories? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Where have all the tadpoles gone??
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| If you notice a few ugly bugs that look plump and very well fed... water beetles and dragonfly larvae will dine fine on tadpoles. When the little tadpoles transform to toadlets and froglets, they are a quick snack for many terrestrial insects and :::gulp::: bigger frogs and toads There is a phase for some varieties where as they develop, tadpoles appetites turn to finding tadpoles delish... |
RE: Where have all the tadpoles gone??
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| Tadpoles have this thing they do, once one reaches a certain state of development it releases a pheromone that keeps the others from developing. That's why they don't all develop into frogs or toads. I'm sure a lot of things eat them but any left at the end of the year are unlikely to survive much longer. |
RE: Where have all the tadpoles gone??
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Thanks sdavis and bubbalove,
I did find alot of big black beetles in the stocktanks.
babbalove........I have never heard of that. Is that really true? Does it only affect smaller tadpoles and not the larger ones? |
RE: Where have all the tadpoles gone??
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No it's not true. Just another internet myth. Besides pheromones are 'sex' attractant chemicals. Tadpoles don't have pheromones because tadpoles don't engage in sex.
The amount of tadpoles that turn depend on several different things; water temperature, food supply and whether a particular tadpole is still alive. The smaller beasts change rapidly especially the ones that are in shallow puddles. The larger ones make take up to two years to change if the conditions are right.....meaning plenty of food and a water supply that will allow them to keep growing. If there were some kind of magic chemical that stopped the others from turning there wouldn't be thousand of little legged creatures crawling out of the water to be eaten by things when they hit land. |
RE: Where have all the tadpoles gone??
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| We have had the most terrible summer of all time. 67 days on or above 100 degrees and no rain. The weather did not bother the toads tho, they had lots of babies but the poor frogs did not have any. Now, since we have been getting rain and much nicer weather the frogs are doing their thing again and we have little tadpoles swimming around. I guess they will be frogs in the Spring. |
RE: Where have all the tadpoles gone??
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| We have many different species of frogs but I have never seen a toad around here. It would be nice to see some. They are great 'buggers' |
RE: Where have all the tadpoles gone??
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The toads are the first to show up here in spring. I'm not able to tell the difference between a toad tadpole and a frog tadpole. We only have green frogs and tree frogs here in our yard. Although a long time ago, when I had a half-whiskey barrel pond, one day I found a leopard frog in it.
The tree frogs are growing at an exponential rate here. I love it! Its almost deafening in the summer when they get going. I'm glad they can escape from the snakes easier than the others can.
Its fun going out and mimicking them and getting them going. Such huge sounds for such little beings! |
RE: Where have all the tadpoles gone??
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| I think the problem is water temperature. I have brought about fifty inside just to see them morph. They die in our pond over the winter after water temperature gets too cold. When they are brought inside, they quickly turn into frogs. I don't know how well they survive when I turn them loose. |
RE: Where have all the tadpoles gone??
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| If the water gets nasty, ammonia can kill them. Too many plant leaves rotting in the water is not good for them. That may not be the reason you only have six in one tank though because when it gets bad they all die. |
RE: Where have all the tadpoles gone??
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| Interesting thread. At the point where my pond became empty of tadpoles, I had dozens of tiny toadlets hopping all over the yard. I'm sure many did not/will not survive, but hopefully some of them did. |
RE: Where have all the tadpoles gone??
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| Mine all morphed and moved on months ago. I've never had any not morph by mid summer. I see one occasionally when weeding or watering. |
RE: Where have all the tadpoles gone??
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| Mine usually take 2 summers to morph. But who knows for sure. They do it so quietly! |
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