In my last posts I described the start and progression of my tadpole adventures. Here's the next instalment.
As soon as the tadpoles started growing legs they changed rapidly. Within days the kinda dopey goldfish behaviour, like nibbling around the surface of the water, disappeared, they became very elusive and shy. Almost like as soon as they started thinking about being predators they realised they were also prey. It was a bit sad, because I really enjoyed watching them, but also necessary for them to become wild frogs. I was glad that I hadn't spoiled them for life on their own.
They grew legs fast.

1 February

4 February
They also started developing their frog coloration, of a bright dorsal stripe surrounded by spots.

9 February
And then I spotted these adorable little guys. They developed at very different rates. Some became frog-like very quickly while others stayed tadpoles with legs for quite a while.


12 February
But photos were getting harder and harder. Most days my view of them was more like this.

15 February
As soon as they started growing legs I added frozen brine shrimp (aka sea monkeys) to their diet. These come in little plastic ice cube trays of foyer tiny shrimp, which I pop straight into the pond. The tadpoles love these and have a bit of a feeding frenzy. So one day I sneakily stuck my phone in the pond to have a peak (my phone is IP65 water resistant and has dropped it in the bath heaps of times).
As soon as the tadpoles started growing legs they changed rapidly. Within days the kinda dopey goldfish behaviour, like nibbling around the surface of the water, disappeared, they became very elusive and shy. Almost like as soon as they started thinking about being predators they realised they were also prey. It was a bit sad, because I really enjoyed watching them, but also necessary for them to become wild frogs. I was glad that I hadn't spoiled them for life on their own.
They grew legs fast.

1 February

4 February
They also started developing their frog coloration, of a bright dorsal stripe surrounded by spots.

9 February
And then I spotted these adorable little guys. They developed at very different rates. Some became frog-like very quickly while others stayed tadpoles with legs for quite a while.


12 February
But photos were getting harder and harder. Most days my view of them was more like this.

15 February
As soon as they started growing legs I added frozen brine shrimp (aka sea monkeys) to their diet. These come in little plastic ice cube trays of foyer tiny shrimp, which I pop straight into the pond. The tadpoles love these and have a bit of a feeding frenzy. So one day I sneakily stuck my phone in the pond to have a peak (my phone is IP65 water resistant and has dropped it in the bath heaps of times).
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Date: 2026-03-01 09:42 pm (UTC)This might be a suitable theme song for your Adventures in Frog Husbandry: “Forest Fantasia”(or “Forest Rhapsody”, depending upon the translation of 森林狂想曲), composed by Wu Jindai and performed by ocarina master You Xuezhi, both Taiwanese:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d647pqMq3V4
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Date: 2026-03-01 10:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-03-01 11:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-03-02 12:36 am (UTC)