I like to categorize the highlights of hatching spawn and the stages of tadpoles! Here are the main stages:
#1 Dot: This is when the spawn hasn’t changed at all since you collected it!
#2 Comma: This is when the dots have developed a little bit, now they look like commas!
#3 Wigglers: This is when the commas start to wiggle!
#4 Hatched and Hungry: This is when the tadpoles have hatched but they are eating their spawn.
#5 Swimmers: This is when they are done eating spawn and start swimming around the tank! At this stage you should start feeding them things like boiled lettace and thinly sliced cucumbers!
#6 Stink Bombs: This is when they get bigger and start to get frog like faces. They poop a lot at this stage, making the world around them stink! (Sometimes if you put one finger in their tank they nibble on you! But only do this occasionally, as it is not the heathiest thing for them!
#7 Legs: This is when they start developing legs! Watch out sometimes poop looks like legs! You should add a pile of rocks that’s top is just above the surface of the water, so that the tadpoles have somewhere to go out of the water.
#8 Shrinkers: This is when their tail starts shrinking! You won’t have to feed them at this stage, the tail that they are dissolving gives them all the energy and nutrients they need!
#8 Froglets: This is when your frogs have no tails and they do have legs! Start letting them go at this stage! (Sometimes it is difficult to, but try to refrain from holding them in your hand, as human oils are bad for them!)
Here are some pictures of these stages:
These are stink bombs and some legs!
This was my first froglet! Tadpoles all grow at different paces, there are still stink bombs, when this guy was almost ready to be set free!
This was when my tadpoles first grew legs!
Thank you so much for reading about the stages of spawn and tadpoles! I hope that you have been raising frogs alongside me, and that they are doing well! 🐸
Frog Blog 