With the advent of actual legs I have been increasingly concerned about the tadpoles and their living quarters. At some point their gill flaps grow over and they begin to use their lungs, if I don’t provide a spot for them to rest out of the water the little hoppers-to-be could drown. It is not exactly clear when this momentous event occurs, so I decided it was time to do something. It would be horrible if I waited too long and ended up with a tank full of dead tadpoles.
So Friday I hauled the old 20 gallon tank out of the attic, cleaned it up and readied it for tadpoles. I let the tank settle overnight and Saturday was deemed to be “moving day.” The tadpoles moved from this:
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To this:
The new tank is huge, easily five times larger. I also picked up a “turtle dock” which is a floating platform that features a sloping ramp that extends down into the water. It is a perfect place for little tadpoles to rest and learn how to breathe.
I know our human houseguests would have enjoyed the show, but I didn’t want to have to supervise two extra kids. As is, it was a complicated process. Everybody wanted to scoop up tadpoles with the fish net. I decided that each child would get to scoops, starting with Max than Rebecca. It was tempting just to dump the contents of the small tank into the big tank, but I didn’t want to crush the tadpoles when the rocks went tumbling in. Instead each tadpole was carefully scooped up and then transferred to the new tank. Once they were in I rinsed the old rocks and slowly dropped them in the new tank.
The tadpoles have adjusted to their new home and are still endlessly fascinating to watch. A few have even been spotted on the boat ramp. I can’t wait to see them get their front legs.