# General Topics > Fieldwork >  Captive reared frogs released back to wild

## BugBoy99

Hello Everyone,

My name is Joh, and I live in South Africa. As it is quite dangerous to go to remote places here, at night, it is almost impossible to go frogging, whilst the frogs are calling. So, in order to see the maximum amount of species, I catch and raise tadpoles. I then release the adults back into the wild. I have already encountered at least three species, that I never saw before I started raising tadpoles.

 May I post the photographs of the adults here, or should I post them in the captive care section of the forum.

Thank You,
Joh

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## Heather

Post away! We'd love to see them. Welcome, btw  :Smile: .

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## Colleen/Jerrod

I agree. You should post the pics and explain your experienced rearing these tadpoles before releasing them back into the wild.

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## BugBoy99

Hello,

Thank you so much for the welcome :Smile: .

 One of the species I raised, has not been identified as yet. But, I will post its pictures first.

 I found the tadpoles in one of the temporary pools that always form after our summer rains. Because of this, I believe it to be a species of Grass Frog, _Ptychadena._ This is the only Genus that seems to match both the breeding habitat, and general description of the frog.

 I raised the tadpoles, entirely on a tropical fish flake, and they metamorphosed within 18 days. I did complete water changes every one to two days.

 I raised them, first in a large jar of water, and then in a tank with about 5 cm of water in the bottom. When they began their terrestrial lives, I tilted the tank so that half of the tank had water on the bottom, and the other half was just glass. this worked efficiently, and the metamorphs moved onto the glass, when they were ready to get out of the water. 

The tadpole

The Young Frog

The Young Frog(with size reference)


Thank You, I will post the second species later.

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## Heather

Cute frog! Great job! How many did you raise?

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## SkeletalFrog

I've actually been curious about the exceptional jumping ability attributed to Ptychadena for some time.  Have you experienced this?  Are they truly as amazing a jumper as their reputation suggests?

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## BugBoy99

Hello Again.

Thank you, they were quite cute. I initially started with 12 tadpoles, but they were the first tadpoles that I raised. I lost one tadpole due to a mishap, with the gravel vacuum that I use for my aquariums. Unfortunately, I thought that tadpoles would behave in the same manner as fish, and one of them was sucked in by the vacuum. I also lost two froglets, and I don't know why. So, I eventually released nine froglets. The froglets seemed to be extremely fragile, and I could not get any of them to eat. I believe that this weakness probably came about as a result of the lack of food variety I gave them whilst they were still in the tadpole stage. I fed them entirely on Fish flake, and I believe that that may have had some nutritional shortcomings. 

Skeletal Frog, As the froglets were so weak, they did not jump much. So, unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to experience their reputed jumping abilities. However, it is nearing our rainy season, and the pools are forming once more. I hope to raise some of these tadpoles more successfully this year, and then I will definitely see if their reputation for jumping really suits them.

Thank You So Much for the remarks and questions.

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## BugBoy99

The second species that I raised from tadpoles was _Xenopus laevis.

_ I found the tadpoles, strangely enough, in the same pool that I found the _Ptychadena_ tadpoles. I'm still not sure exactly how the tadpoles made their way to the pool, as it is only abut eight inches deep, and maybe three feet long. However, it was directly after Cyclone Irina, I surmise that the tadpoles either came to be there:
as a result of one of the forays that _Xenopus_ are known to make in wet weather. The pool that I found them in is part of a dry stream bed, and further up the stream bed there is still water, but stagnant water, so I presume that a pair of _Xenopus laevis_ may have spawned upstream in the water there, and that the eggs may then have been washed into the pool, by the torrential rains.

However they came to be there, this pool was full of tadpoles, there was easily a couple of hundred tadpoles. I scooped two small aquarium nets full, and it turned out that I had about eighty tadpoles. These were particularly interesting tadpoles to raise, although they are quite messy. I kept them in a fifty litre aquarium that was about three quarters of the way full. 

I fed them on:
powder fry food, which is high in protein, and especially formulated for optimum growth in young fishTropical fish flake, which i powdered in a ziplock baggie, by rolling it with a rolling pinPowdered shrimp foodand pond fish pellets, which I also powdered

I did complete water changes almost every day, and partial water changes were the rule. They grew very quickly and, within a month, 76 of them metamorphosed. I only lost four tadpoles, and I released 74 of them into the wild. Despite the fact, that it took quite a lot of effort, I would say that these tadpoles were particularly easy to raise.

Tadpole


Frog


I also tried a brief experiment, after reading an article about tadpoles being raised in rooibos tea. I switched about six tadpoles over to rooibos tea(dechlorinated) instead of water. The tadpoles took longer to metamorphose, but were larger, had stronger claws, and darker colouration, than their pure water counterparts. In the following picture, the frog raised in tea is a day old, and the one raised in water is a week old.



That's all for now.

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## numpty

Nice! Aquatic clawed frogs in your backyard (well, maybe not literally). And the tadpoles look like little catfish!

Care to share the details of the rooibos tea experiment? How diluted, would you say? What are the specific benefits, as studied? Maybe frog breeders already knows about this, but I don't raise tadpoles so know nothing about such things. Is this based on scholarly research?

I have my eye on an almost-dry concrete water tank up the hill which contains some Polypedates tadpoles. If the level gets critical I _might_ decide to "rescue" a few and raise them through metamorphosis. Not sure yet.

Interesting posts. Thanks!

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## BugBoy99

> Nice! Aquatic clawed frogs in your backyard (well, maybe not literally).


Well, you're not too far off base. The pool where I caught the tadpoles, is about two minutes walk from the back of my house :Cool: .

Personally, I mixed the rooibos tea at a ratio of two teabags to eight litres of water(the first time I filled the tank). All the partial tea changes were made with tea that was mixed at a ratio of one teabag to eight litres of water. I did it this way, because the dechlorinating agent I used was used by adding three drops to four litres of water. So, I placed my tea bags in a two-litre jug, which I filled with boiling water and then I supplemented those two litres with six litres of cold water. The eight litres were then cold enough for immediate use. One advantage that I found with the rooibos tea, was that the water did not go smelly, and dirty so quickly. The food that I fed the tadpoles turned the water into a liquid with the consistency of soup. This water had to be changed every day, for the well-being of the tadpoles. It also smelled terrible! The rooibos, on the other hand, retained its thin consistency, And, a partial water change every two to three days was quite sufficient. 

I based my "experiment" on this article BBC News - Exotic frogs reared in redbush tea in Gloucestershire. But, to truly conduct a proper experiment, you would have to remove as many of the variables as possible. You would have to be sure that all the tadpoles came from the same spawning, that they all have the same genetic variability, and that they had exactly the same food, that the tea was consistently of the same brand, etc. etc. I would greatly like to perform an appropriate experiment on this topic one day.

To be honest, I'm quite the amateur when it comes to raising tadpoles. But, I think that this would be an interesting experiment to conduct, with many possible advantages.




> _I have my eye on an almost-dry concrete water tank up the hill which contains some Polypedates tadpoles. If the level gets critical I_ _might decide to "rescue" a few and raise them through metamorphosis. Not sure yet._


Honestly, I would have 'rescued' some of those tadpoles long ago. Almost, as soon as I knew they were there :Embarrassment: . If you do decide to 'rescue' some, please post some pictures I'd like to see them.

Thanks for your interest. :Smile:

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## numpty

> Honestly, I would have 'rescued' some of those tadpoles long ago. Almost, as soon as I knew they were there. If you do decide to 'rescue' some, please post some pictures I'd like to see them.


I probably would, but for a few reasons. Firstly, I was just recently in hospital and am not carrying things as easily as usual. Glass tank, water bottles ... maybe not the best idea. Also, that particular frog may or may not be an exotic. There are two Polypedates species in Taiwan, almost indistinguishable from each other, but one is a recent introduction from Hong Kong. I'm pretty sure the ones up the hill are indigenous, but how dumb would I feel if I fattened up and released a bunch of super-invaders. Lastly, it's raining right now, so maybe they don't need my help anymore!

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## BugBoy99

Hello.

Those are all great reasons. I hope that you feel better soon and that, when you do, you'll have the opportunity to keep and raise some tadpoles. To me, it is one of the greatest experiences in the world.

God Bless,
Joh

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## Namio

> Hello.
> 
> Those are all great reasons. I hope that you feel better soon and that, when you do, you'll have the opportunity to keep and raise some tadpoles. To me, it is one of the greatest experiences in the world.
> 
> God Bless,
> Joh


Thank you Joh! It's been a great joy following you and others on this thread. Keep them coming!  :Big Applause:

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## BugBoy99

> Thank you Joh! It's been a great joy following you and others on this thread. Keep them coming!


Thank you so much for the kind words. And, to everyone who has made me feel so welcome, I truly appreciate it.

I did have one species between the _Xenopus_, and the last species, but the tadpoles were quite far developed, and I could not feed the froglets, so I released them the day after I caught them. I don't have any photos of the tadpoles or froglets, but the adults are very, very common, so I will post some pictures of them. The species is _Amietophrynus gutturalis_, the Guttural Toad, and they are quite a beautiful species. I kept a few of the adults for about a week, just to observe them. I thought of keeping them for longer but, after a week, they were already showing signs of becoming tame. And, since I did not think that I would be able to find homes for them if the situation should arise that I could no longer keep them, I released them. Oh, getting the adults to eat is not a problem, they ate just about everything I gave them, except worms, and very small creatures. The froglets can be very small when they metamorphose, so I think they will be hard to feed.


Male, as seen by dark yellow throat

Female, as seen by white throat

They are really very common, but also quite beautiful, for a toad.

They do not breed in small amounts of water. But, during winter, the males form choruses around each and every puddle of water, a beautiful sound which really makes one quite sorry to see winter come to an end. They eventually move down to larger quantities of water to breed, at the beginning of spring(from my own observation). And, there they lay up to 20,000 eggs. 

That is all for now, I will post pictures of my Common River Frogs later, they are the last species that I raised.

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## BugBoy99

The last species that I raised was the Common River Frog, _Amietia angolensis_. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of the tadpoles, but I will post pictures of the frogs. And, I will not be releasing all the froglets. I hope to start a small breeding colony, as there are many people in Richards Bay with an interest in keeping frogs. But, there are few species imported from overseas, and I do not believe in collecting animals directly from the wild in order to sell them into the pet trade. So, in order to have species in the pet trade, I would like to breed this species, and introduce the offspring to the pet trade. 

I raised the tadpoles, entirely on fish flakes, and blanched lettuce. They grow quite slowly but still at a reasonably fast rate. I also did partial water changes once a week. The froglets are extraordinary jumpers. They jump really fast, really high, and really far. And, they love eating just as much as they love jumping.




I'm afraid that I don't have too much information on this species. I think that it must be the easiest species that I ever raised.

I hope that someone enjoys the froglets, nonetheless.


Sincerely,
Joh

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## Locascio

thats so cool that you can do that   you should try and rase some pixie babys

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## BugBoy99

> thats so cool that you can do that   you should try and rase some pixie babys


Believe me, if I could I would. Sadly, I live in the distribution zone of only the African Pyxie, but I have never seen one. Also, you need a permit, even if you only wish to move the tadpoles. And, permits are hard to come by. But, one day....... One day, it is my big dream to raise some pyxies.

But, for now, I'm happy with my other frogs. I enjoy the challenge of raising different species.

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## BugBoy99

Oh, and I received word yesterday that I will be adding another River Frog to my colony. This time, it is a green one. I am very excited, to add the green variant to my group. :Big Grin:

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## LoLzMachine531

this thread has been a joy to read your frogs and tadpoles are so cute  i cant wait to try my hand at raising the local amphibians your grass frogs were so cool i want one now

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## BugBoy99

Hi lolzmachine.....

I!m glad that you enjoyed this thread. I haven't updated it in a while because I forgot to take photos of my last few batches of tads. I'm currently raising some more grass frog tads, twelve of them, and am going to try to raise them more successfully. I'll be sure to take photos, and update this thread. I hope that you do raise some amphibians, and please post photos of them.

All the best,
Joh

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## deeishealthy

You are doing a good thing.  The world needs more frogs!

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## LoLzMachine531

lolz yeah i know my name is weird it is one of my gamer tags  my names cody   bummer about the photos    would love to see the grass frog tads    make sure to take lots of pictures ^^
   sadly i have to wait till spring/summer all the creeks and other bodys of water are under 3 feet of snow ill make sure to track their growth and take plenty of pictures
 thanks friend, I wish you the best of the new year!

-Cody

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## BugBoy99

Thank you Cody, and Deeishealthy.

I'm sure that I quite understand how you must feel, Cody. It doesn't snow here, but I nearly go stir-crazy when we have our month, or so, of winter every year. No frogs, no insects, no reptiles. What's a bloke supposed to do when everything is hiding away from the cold? I have taken some photos of the Grass Frog tads, will take some more later, and I will post them when they are all grown up. I was blessed enough to find some frog eggs, after we had a huge rain storm. Some of the tadpoles that hatched are about 2mm long!

DeeisHealthy, I agree wholeheartedly. From what I hear, our town was once covered in myriads of little streams. But, with so many of them being dried up for construction, the frogs need all the help that they can get! I'm sure that any true frog-lover would do what they can to give them a hand.

JV

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## Ashley

I do something similar.  I have a pond and my aunt across the road has an even bigger pond.  But sometimes the frogs are dumb and lay their eggs in mud puddles that will dry up within a day during the hot summer.  So I go out with a bucket and collect the eggs and put them in mine or my aunts pond.  I have even raised a few inside just to watch the tadpoles morph.  It's really fun.  I then release them shortly after morphing because all those tiny hungry froglets are hard to feed.  Most of the frogs around here lay thousands of eggs.  I'd go broke trying to feed them all lol.

My pond has no fish so it's easy to over populate.  I usually put the eggs or froglets in my aunts pond because it has fish.  It may seem cruel but it's a part of their natural life.  I don't want to over populate.  I put wood frogs (babies of course since they are terrestrial)  in my pond though because I rarely ever see them.  They are supposed to be common but I very rarely ever see them.

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## Caspian

> I put wood frogs (babies of course since they are terrestrial)  in my pond though because I rarely ever see them.  They are supposed to be common but I very rarely ever see them.



Here in Vancouver, Wood frogs are or were supposed to be common, but I've never seen one due to our massive American Bullfrog and Green frog infestation. I've not even seen a Red legged frog either, even though I've lived in Vancouver for all of of my life. And talking about Pacific/Boreal Chorus frogs is like talking about Bigfoot. Only one person I know has seen one. It's a shame. However, I have spotted a yellow/albino Bullfrog.

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## Ashley

I was very lucky to find 3 adults and a juvenile wood frog this past summer/fall.  I kept an adult male and the juvenile female (she is much bigger now still no calling so I believe female).  I hope that they will breed.  Every year I find a few people asking around for wood frogs.  If mine will breed hopefully less will be taken from the wild.

I've read that wood frogs do bad in captivity that they never become used to it and are very high stress frogs.  But mine have been fine since day one.  They eat like little pigs.  They know when it's feeding time and will come out as soon as I open the lid to their tank.  They act a lot like my toads.

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## Ashley

Don't mean to hijack the thread.  But wanted to show off my wood frogs.

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## Heather

Psychotic, your frogs are beautiful! Btw, did you know some of your photos and posts are featured one The Reptile Report? It's an online website. Scroll through the amphibian section  :Wink: .

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## Ashley

> Psychotic, your frogs are beautiful! Btw, did you know some of your photos and posts are featured one The Reptile Report? It's an online website. Scroll through the amphibian section .


That's pretty neat.  I didn't know lol.  I get the reptile report on facebook.

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## Heather

Lol! I didn't know either until I googled some species and found my own photos. When I clicked on the link it took me there. I read a bunch of them. We have quite a few members photos and posts linked into it  :Smile: . Kinda nice  :Smile: .

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