If you have kids, then you know the annual "Can we keep it/them, Mom!?" look on your children's (most likely smudged) faces as they come running in with a cup full of tadpoles and water, or a turtle. I call these the , "Can we keep it/them?!?" chronicles.
Keeping Tadpoles and turtles is fairly easy, it's fun, AND educational. A triple win.
Here's some things we've gleaned over the years (and had to recheck every year- lol~) in the tadpole and turtle department.
TADPOLES: Tadpoles "morph" over the course of 6-10 weeks.(some longer, depending on the type of frog mommy and daddy.) The morphing is also temperature dependent,and tadpoles can slow, or even suspend in development until it gets warmer.*If you are doing this inside, like we are, you shouldnt have much slow down.
Housing: These guys are fun, and easy. You'll need some sort of container: A fishbowl, a small (1 or 2 gallon) aquarium, a plastic bin, wading pool, or- if you're lucky, a fish/garden pond outside.
Water: Clean(ish) water, as weird as it sounds(they're tadpoles for goodness sake!) is VERY important to tadpoles. Your best best is to continue with the same water you(your kiddos) found them in. If that happens to be a puddle, stock up by skimming the water off the top(without stirring it up too much) until you have at least a gallon or two.
If you dont have access to the same water(say, you found them while on a trip) you can de-chlorinate tap water with de-chlorinator drops, and let it sit out over night(to be sure all the chlorine dissipates) and use that. Even a tiny bit of chlorine will wipe out your tadpoles.
Ok, now for the annoying, but still kind of fun parts.
*water changes: These should done every 3 days or so, or when the water is/gets dirty. We have found that doing a complete water change is like making bread dough, and then throwing it out before you let it rise and bake it. i.e.- DONT DO IT. - no, not even if your youngest throws a chocolate chip, cherry chunk macaroon in the tank. (yah. that happens too.-lol) A full water change will most likely doom your little squiggly friends..
To do a water change, dip some of the water out- up to 1/4th or, at most for not crisis situations, 1/2. Refill with "fresh"/saved back, water.
We have done, at most, a 3/4ths water change.(mmhm, the macaroon (how'd ya guess?); it disintegrated in the tank.
Now, if you have saved your water from a pond or puddle(and no longer have access to that pond or puddle) it will last you a couple of weeks.(not more than 2) And you should, after day two or three of having your tadpoles, begin mixing the puddle/pond water, with de-chlorinated tap water, gradually increasing the amount of de-chlorinated tap water, while using up the water you saved from the puddle/pond.
My description was harder to write than the actual process(will be). Don't sweat this stuff. They're tadpoles. They're neat for as long as you have them. Period.
My 2 gallon tank still has some coconut floating in it, by the way. LOL the little guys like to race up the stream of running water when you are trying to pour it out.(consider yourself warned, and keep a fine mesh strainer under the flow(if you have a tank crisis).
Food: Tadpoles seem to love boiled lettuce. Boil the lettuce for 10 minutes, drain, slightly chop it and then freeze it flat on a cookie sheet. The amount depends on how many tadpoles you have. Smaller numbers of tadpoles will only need a pinch every couple of days.
We have quite a few this year, so our pinch will be on the heavier side.
Remember: too much food will get the water dirty; not enough and the tadpoles go kind of psycho and start eating one another.
As your tadpoles grow and morph, their diet should probably be added to.
Tadpoles also like pond scum, broken up dead bugs, flies and worms*especially blood worms)- can get these at a pet store) , and lettuce(again. they like it. honest)
We've just done the pond scum and lettuce thing, all the way to "four legs" and they've been fine.
Habitat: You will want to put a floating stick or leaf in the container. It gives them something to "hover" around, and also gives them a place to hide/sense of security. This become more and more important them as they grow. It sounds funny, but, it's almost like they MUST hide. So, keep a floaty(lily pad bit, water plant leaf, stick with a leaf on it)something in their home. They'll love ya more for it.(and fewer will get eaten).
As they grown, less water is needed and the sticks, rocks and leaves become all important. - so does a LID for your container! LOL we've used everything from screen, to a cookie sheet.
Morphing: Watching tadpoles change is amazing. Just when you think they'll never change, they've got bumps on their sides. The a leg and a half- then two or three legs, then four!- Their tales is getting shorter! Look! It's just a stub of a tail now. Mom, where did all the tadpoles go!?
*note* expect a die off of some sort, initially. Not total (that would mean something is wrong with the habitiat, water, food and/or container.)But, it happens. Usually, i find the dead ones when they're not swimming any more- for a really long time- or, when one of the kids tells me. You will have to find your own way to handle this. You know your children best. We usually just incorporate it all- the good, bad and the ugly- into the lesson,-with hugs when needed.
HEADS UP!: Wash your hands with soap and water, and the rub salt on your hands (while singing the alphabet song twice while the salt in on your hands) and rinse off well, BEFORE changin the water or messing with the tadpole habitat. AND, Wash your hands with soap and water- singing the alphabet song twice while the soap is on your hands AFTER changing the water or messing with the tadpole habitat.
TURTLES: Habitat: We have red ear sliders out here, and ones we call "box turtles."- so far, both types like a BIG enclosure. with stuff like dried leaves to hide under, and a portion of the enclosure to be dirt or mud(if not all of it), and a water puddle. We don't keep them long. A few weeks at most. Watching your kids with them is the fun part. Just watch out for the snippy end. lol~
Food: They eat lettuce, worms, crickets, acquatic snails, fish(gold fish, guppies,etc. fresh. never froze or previously frozen), and- if you like(or plan on keeping the turtle for a long time) turtle food from the pet store.(and other things too -tomato, cantaloupe, banana- . you'll have to offer it and see if they like it.) Avoid spinach and collard greens and leafy type greens as they have been known to cause some intestinal discomfort. A cuttle bone is a good idea.
Feed your turtles a pretty good sized meal(i.e. until they stop eating) every couple of days. If they dont eat much one day, offer some food the next, too.(we just fed them every day).
Caution: if your turtle refuses to eat, give him/her some quiet, undisturbed hours to adjust. The offer the lettuce(no boiling needed) and some worms. If they are small turtles, you will have to chop the food up a bit.(*yick) If they refuse that food, try different food options,- crickets, peeled cucumber, tomato, etc. They should eat SOMETHING.(they can be voracious eaters.) If they refuse to eat all things offered, leave them alone and try again the next day. If they still refuse to eat anything, that's your cue to know you will have to release the turtle soon.
Lighting and heat: We have kept the habitat in the kitchen so they a warm up when we are cooking, or set the container/enclosure in half sun half shade for a certain number of hours a day. Alternatively, you could buy a "heat lamp" of the appropriate size from the pet store(most keepers recommend a reptisum 5.0 or Vitalights. We weren't keeping our little amphibian friends that long, so we used the kitchen and outside method most. *NOTICE* Turtles, like most cold blooded animals, Cannot Digest Their Food adequately without the right amount of proper lighting and body temperature.- Which is why we never keep them for more than a few weeks.
Important~!! If you have dogs, cats, chickens and whatnot critters like We do, you will want to put the turtle enclosure in a Safe, PROTECTED place. Our dog took off with one of our turtles once. That wasn't fun. We noticed the cats(we have 7) bothering some of our other turtles(it's hard to keep cats out of places!) The chickens took their turns poking at the turtles when the kids had them out playing.
HEADS UP!: Wash your hands with soap and water (while singing the alphabet song twice while the soap is on your hands) after EVERY TIME you handle your turtle!-- that's important, so remember it.
I hope these pages help you feel more confident in giving the tadpole and/or turtle keeping a try. Waking up to beaming faces, and little hands cupping tiny frogs, MOM! WE HAVE FROGS!" is pretty cool.(especially the looks on their faces, through all the phases, and when they realize they helped "raise" frogs.)
Okay, that's about it for this edition of "Mom, can we keep it/them?" I hope your Spring is filled with sprouting, growing gardens, tadpoles and/or turtles and smudged smiling faces!
