Shortly after hatching, the tadpole still feeds on the remaining yolk, which is actually in its gut! The tadpole at this point consists of poorly developed gills, a mouth, and a tail. It’s really fragile at this point. They usually will stick themselves to floating weeds or grasses in the water using little sticky organs between its’ mouth and belly area. Then, 7 to 10 days after the tadpole has hatched, it will begin to swim around and feed on algae.After about 4 weeks, the gills start getting grown over by skin, until they eventually disappear. The tadpoles get teeny tiny teeth which help them grate food turning it into soupy oxygenated particles. They have long coiled guts that help them digest as much nutrients from their meadger diets as possible.By the fourth week, tadpoles can actually be fairly social creatures. Some even interact and school like fish! ——————————————————————————–Tadpole with legs After about 6 to 9 weeks, little tiny legs start to sprout. The head becomes more distinct and the body elongates. By now the diet may grow to include larger items like dead insects and even plants.The arms will begin to bulge where they will eventually pop out, elbow first.After about 9 weeks, the tadpole looks more like a teeny frog with a really long tail. It is now well on it’s way to being almost fullgrown! ——————————————————————————–Young Frog, or Froglet By 12 weeks, the tadpole has only a teeny tail stub and looks like a miniature version of the adult frog. Soon, it will leave the water, only to return again to laymore eggs and start the process all over again! ——————————————————————————–FrogBy between 12 to 16 weeks, depending on water and food supply, the frog has completed the full growth cycle. Some frogs that live in higher altitudes or in colder places might take a whole winter to go through the tadpole stage…others may have unique development stages that vary from your “traditional” tadpole-in-the-water type life cycle: some of these are described later in this tour.Now these frogs will start the whole process again…finding mates and creating new froggies.The length of time a tadpole takes to develop really depends on what kind of frog it came from! I’ve even heard that some tadpoles can remain in their tadpole stage as long as 8 months, while others only take 6 to 9 weeks! When the tadpoles start getting close to developing legs, they will need some sort of perch so they can get out of the water. Floating water lily leaves and branches are ideal, but you can also create ledges using stones or even tilting slopes of plastic in tanks....
Show More