Frogs Part 1

This is part 1 of a three-part series.

I took my kids to the local pet store last summer, a mom and pop outfit named “Pet Planet.” They have a wide selection of every kind of thing you can find at Petco or PetSmart. I am always on the lookout for anything unique that isn’t a fish—not that I don’t like fish, but critters add quite a bit of character to an aquarium. In the past, I have had ghost shrimp, red-claw crabs, snails, fiddler crabs, African dwarf frogs, and one very elusive bamboo shrimp that I saw a total of two times.

On that particular day they had two tanks full of tadpoles. I felt really excited and got my kids’ attention.

“See these? These are tadpoles. They turn into frogs.”

Of course, you can’t say such a thing without your kids insisting that you buy some, so I got two and took them home. I dumped them in the 20 gallon aquarium and let them do their thing.

Tadpoles are kind of awkward and dopey. They lack fins, so they have a hard time staying upright, and they waddle as they swim. The two that I bought spent most of their time foraging in the gravel, or laying like a slug at the bottom of the tank, looking half dead.

After a couple of weeks, they sprouted back legs. They look like tiny flippers, that come in at the base of the tail. They gradually elongate into fully developed legs. It was fascinating to watch. I took photos of one as he developed. Here you can see his back legs. They still aren't functional.

The front feet come a couple weeks later. They form inside the body at first, then a large bump develops on either side in the center of the body.

Then the front legs sprout right out. It happens over about 6 to 8 days. Here he is again now with fully developed front arms. You can also see his eyes are starting to look more frog-like.
After that, things happen pretty quickly for the frog. They lose their gills, their lungs develop, and their tail shrinks as they metabolize it back into their system. During this time, the frog cannot eat because the mouth is also undergoing a major metamorphosis from the rasping mouth of a tadpole to a mature mouth much like the one that terrestrial animals have.

Here you can see this one's almost done. I stuck him in a yellow bucket so I could get a really good look. He's already an expert jumper!

A little research told me that in nature, many frogs spawn in puddles and streams that dry up and disappear in a few weeks’ time. They do all their development in those few weeks. They might still have their tails, but they can hop, and they will be fully capable of fending for themselves.

I also learned that frogs spawn several times during the warmer months. Quite often, tadpoles that are born during the latter part of the season will halt their development as the weather grows colder, and winter comes they wait it out just like a fish. When it warms up in springtime, they will resume their development, and be fully developed by May.

This last part is important to keep in mind if you keep tadpoles. They develop very quickly in a heated tank, and very slowly in an unheated tank. In fact, one of my tadpoles developed completely into a frog, and the other one (which was the same age) stayed a tadpole for two months. He turned into a frog in the space of two weeks when I plopped him in the larger tank (which is kept at 85 degrees).

Here's the same guy, now, all grown up. He's just under an inch long.

Frogs are fun. In part 2, I'll talk about setting up a frog tank.