So, you’ve found some tadpoles and you’re wondering how on earth you’re going to take care of them. Great! Keeping tadpoles is an excellent way to teach your kids about life cycles and animal growth.
The best part? It’s actually fairly simply to look after tadpoles as they develop into frogs. Let’s get started!
Keeping Tadpoles: How to care for them
Rules and Regulations
There are rules and regulations for raising tadpoles and keeping frogs. Ensure you research this information before taking them from the wild. Different countries have different rules; even different states have different rules. If you have to fill out some forms it is worth the trouble – honest.
Housing
Housing Set your tadpoles up in a little tank like this one and fill it with their original pond water.
It’s very important to top up the water every couple of days to keep it aerated and to stop the water from evaporating.
Frogs are every sensitive to chemicals and other nasties in our home environment. Set some water in a bucket for 24 hours and use this water to fill up the tank when the water level starts to lower.
Food for Tadpoles
Boil half a lettuce leaf until it became opaque (clear).
After it cools down add a little to your tank. The cooked lettuce can be stored in the fridge for five days.
We fed the tadpoles when ever there was no food left. It’s important not to overfeed them or the water will become murky and unhealthy.
Watching Tadpoles turn into Frogs
Here is the visual diary!
Using all these photos, we can re-live the experience again and again. This is a perfect opportunity for children to learn about metamorphosis and life cycles.
The day we brought them home.
They grow fast!
With two back legs.
With four legs but still quite the tail.
Shriveling tail.
While you’re watching them grow, learn about them.
Frog & Tadpole Books
- The Wide-mouthed Frog by Keith Faulkner
- Where do Frog Come From by Alex Vern
- Tale of a Tadpole by Karen Wallace
- Growing Frogs by Vivian French
Tadpole Care: Setting your frogs free
Be sure to return your frogs to the wild when they get their legs. It’s best to release them back into the same pond where you found them.
Children love keeping tadpoles and watching them transform into frogs. It’s a memory they’ll hang on to forever.
Other frog activities
If newt are going to prey on tadpoles, should I stop them?
Great question Emily. To be honest, I don’t know much about newts (we don’t have any in Australia) but it’s really up to you.
Usually I’d say let nature takes its course but if I was given the option of saving a whole heap of tadpoles or letting a common bird eating them, i know which one i’d choose (the tadpoles of course) but which is more precious where you are from? You can either choose one or the other or just let nature take its course.
Tree frogs go through all the normal stages of frogs, but as adult frogs, tree frogs dwell in the trees and shrubs. Tree frogs still mate and lay their eggs in the water, as both frogs and toads do.
We have regular tadpoles and then some super size bull frog tadpoles. Over the week-end all of our regular tadpoles disappeared. Would the bull frog tadpoles eat them? The Ball frogs have their back legs . we can’t figure out where the little ones–who were getting their legs–have gone.
Thanks for your clear description as I have been “gifted” maybe a hundred but at least dozens of tree frog eggs that hatched last week. As a child my siblings and I loved hunting for tadpoles at our neighborhood creek so that we could raise them at home. We were blessed as our Mom was such an animal rescue/nature lady ! She advised while we created the habitat in a similar way as you do. here, borrowing one of her glass casserole dishes,,(small N.C. town where clearly “necessity is the Mother of invention”.
This go ‘round decades later will be just as fun, if not more so, since all the wild creatures on our farm are a great source of projects during the pandemic that keeps us at home going on some x months now. It’s very entertaining to also have one of our adult sons who is sequestered safely at home, at our farm. Naturally we have all sorts of containers, rocks, and water plants here. Your reminder to wash rocks, etc., helped! I’m going to use glass containers for at least one of the habitats, making use of other outdoor containers perhaps including a small water feature on the patio. It’s amazing how long they have remained in the tadpole stage.
Thanks again, cheers, and stay safe!
Debbie S. Sheegog
I’m so glad it was helpful Debbie *hugs*
Hi,
I’ve just collected some tadpoles and they are looking okay but how do I know if they are getting enough food? I have fed them boiled lettuce, they seem to be trying to eat it but they can’t seem to get any off. What should I do?
And is there a maximum number of tadpoles you can have in a tank?
I haven’t got any pond weed in the tank either, is that bad?
Many thanks, Stay Safe!
Mimosa M.
🙂
Hi Mimosa,
If you’ve boiled it well, they should be getting plenty of lettuce. You might like to aerate your water regularly with a pipette, to ensure your tadpoles are getting a good amount of oxygen. They don’t mind grouping together but it’s important all their needs are met. Pond weed and rocks are helpful, just make sure it’s from the area where you found them and there’s not too much covering the top of the water.