# Frogs & Toads > Dart Frogs (Dendrobatidae) > Breeding, Eggs, Tadpoles, etc >  My first Varadero embryo.  Help Lynn.

## Happy Frog

I misted the enclosure today and checked on my Varadero's eggs.  It now appears that three of the eggs are no good but one of them has a wriggler.

What would be the best thing to do?  Leave it in the tank or pull out the leaf and raise the wriggler myself?

If the other eggs had survived I wouldn't be thinking twice about it and would let the parents care for them.  I really want this to survive.

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## Lynn

You will want leave the developing tadpole there. Don't try to  move it !
Keep a few film canisters  ( I leave them on the floor of the enclosures - always afraid they will fall ! ) 1/2 filled with distilled water.
*YES! distilled water.* ( don't let the water level drop below 1/2. )
The are very good parents !
The male will let the tadpole ( when it's ready ) wriggle on to its back. 
HE will transport it to a film canister.
When there, the female will deposit unfertilized eggs into the canister (s)  for the tads 1st important meals  :Smile: 
I leave the tads  in the film canisters for about  for about 2 weeks.

I remove them and raise them outside the tank.

Or,  you cant just leave them there. 

Frog Forum - Raising Thumbnail Dartfrog Tadpoles (Ranitomeya)

I' ll check back with you later  :Smile: 

Your choice

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Heatheranne

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## Happy Frog

> You will want leave the developing tadpole there. Don't try to  move it !
> Keep a few film canisters  ( I leave them on the floor of the enclosures - always afraid they will fall ! ) 1/2 filled with distilled water.
> *YES! distilled water.* ( don't let the water level drop below 1/2. )
> The are very good parents !
> The male will let the tadpole ( when it's ready ) wriggle on to its back. 
> HE will transport it to a film canister.
> When there, the female will deposit unfertilized eggs into the canister (s)  for the tads 1st important meals 
> I leave the tads  in the film canisters for about  for about 2 weeks.
> 
> ...



Thanks.  I'll go ahead and leave that wriggler in the tank.  What about the three bad eggs?  Based on the size of the embryo if the other three eggs had been viable they would have already had some type of growth to them.  The three bad eggs are situated in such a way that I can get a thin pair of scissors in between them and the embryo and cut them out.

On a side note;  Several weeks ago I bought three R. ventrimaculata "Iquiitos" - UE line.  They are really cool.  They look similar to my Varadero.  I'm already noticing a difference between Imitator and Vent behavior.  My Imitators are out a lot and are really squirreley while my Iquitos and FG Vents tend to hide more and come out at certain times of the day.

We've talked about Pumilio before and the one morph/locale that I've always wanted was Blue Jeans.  It's a hard Pumilio to come by and they are expensive.  Also, there are some sellers that try to pass-off other species as true Blue Jeans.  Apparently, there are different locations of this particular species and the one I've got my sights set on is the one from Guapiles.  Take a look below - this link was from a Dendroboard post.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...36916009_n.jpg

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## Lynn

Hi Bryan,

I don't remove the bad eggs from the imis. In fact. I never see the eggs.
I would refrain from messing with them.
I let the parents do ALL of that work .

They will get the hang of it. If bad eggs continue, revisit the _parental diet_.

My parental feeding routine:
- alternate repashy, recal ca and vit D and repcal vits.
- feed all my darts daily 
-dust the FF with - repashy vit A once a month. This past vit A dose was three weeks.
- moved the vit A frequency to three weeks for the leucs and the imis.
-feed  bean beetle  -as treats ONLY ( every 2 weeks) ) ( but not to the imis --- too big a feeder for them ) careful w/ using bean beetles too frequently - can cause intestinal blockage. They love them and will eat too many if offered.  

I feed the imis ( and pumi froglets)  LOTS of sprintails---I get 100's into their enclosures at least once a week 

* URGENT * The springs are the VERY most important part of their _care plan_ to  have ready to go for the imis when they come OOW
( josh's frogs - is a great supplier for the imis) split the cultures when you get them. Sounds like you will be needing a good supply-- you can't have too many !!!!

If you run out when rearing PDFs---you are sunk  :Frown:  

I use glass containers to house the tadpoles - I never rinse the container. I do 50% water changes 2-3 times a week. 
( distilled water a dime size pc of Indian almond leaf and a speck of java moss in distilled water)

I use the tadpole food John Clare recommends in his care article - link in previous reply
However --- I have made a new recipe and have been rotating it in- this recipe is on my FB page ( Fern's Frogs ) 

If you are interested in Blue Jeans ( not necessarily in order of preference) here are some suggestions:
1- shawn harrington ( the frog whisperer )  https://www.facebook.com/FrogWhisperer 
2- Home | Understory Enterprises
3   julio rodrequiz ( vends with Jeremy huff) ( NY/NJ area )  ( I purchased my black jeans pr from Julio ) 
    ----I am pretty sure  either Jeremy or Julio - has a breeding pr of blue jeans 
    ---   https://www.facebook.com/jeremy.huff...rofile_browser
  ----   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php...rofile_browser
4  All Available Frogs
5   " captian Ron " contact on DB. Ron has absolutely beautiful (southern morph) Ranitomeya variabilis 
( saw them at Hamburg last week ) I'm sorry I didn't get them

Brian, you will love the pumilio species ! 

:butterfly

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Heatheranne

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## Happy Frog

I'm not on Facebook so I can't get your recipe.  Do you have it anywhere else.  I went out and got distilled water today so I'm using that now.  I've been using bottled spring water up until today.  I used to spray with distilled water but quit buying it because I didn't think my Leucs and Tincs needed it.

About the Pumilio;  I'm still doing my research and haven't yet decided on my first type yet.  I am holding off till after summer is gone before I get serious and buy.  The heat where I live is atrocious and I just don't want to have that extra little thing going against during shipping.  I've always wanted Blue Jeans but they probably won't be my first.  I really like the San Cristobal though.

Thanks for the help.

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## Carlos

Thanks for info and links Lynn  :Big Applause:  !

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## Lynn

> I'm not on Facebook so I can't get your recipe.  Do you have it anywhere else.  I went out and got distilled water today so I'm using that now.  I've been using bottled spring water up until today.  I used to spray with distilled water but quit buying it because I didn't think my Leucs and Tincs needed it.
> 
> About the Pumilio;  I'm still doing my research and haven't yet decided on my first type yet.  I am holding off till after summer is gone before I get serious and buy.  The heat where I live is atrocious and I just don't want to have that extra little thing going against during shipping.  I've always wanted Blue Jeans but they probably won't be my first.  I really like the San Cristobal though.
> 
> Thanks for the help.



The San Cristobal is a great choice  ! 

Here you go !  
PDF Tadpole Food
-recipe ( not mine ) 

D. leucomelas

Capsules opened and tablets ground- blended together into a fine powder using a mortar and pestle
Ratio 2:2:1:1

2 parts spirulina ( micro algae) - I used 380 mg tabs
2 parts chlorella
1 part nettle leaf - I used 435 mg caps
1 part bee pollen - I used 500 mg tabs

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## Happy Frog

How do you feed or apply this ground up powder?  

What I do is take a Baggie and put some tadpole bites in it and then add some Sera Micron powder to it and shake it around and get the tadpoles bites coated with the Sera Micron.

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## Lynn

I use a dampened q-tip
I put a pinch of the food in the palm of my hand
Dip the Q-tip in clean water /then into the food /then into the water in the tad container

I may try putting it into a salt shaker with real fine wholes then tap it in.
Might work

What do you think ?

 :Butterfly:

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## Happy Frog

> I use a dampened q-tip
> I put a pinch of the food in the palm of my hand
> Dip the Q-tip in clean water /then into the food /then into the water in the tad container
> 
> I may try putting it into a salt shaker with real fine wholes then tap it in.
> Might work
> 
> What do you think ?


The food will come out of the shaker but there's no telling how fast.  Next time you're at the dollar store buy a couple different types and see how they work.  A year ago I bought 3 of those powdered sugar shakers to sift the powder from the flies but quit using it after a week.  It worked great but it was another step to take.

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