keeping tadpoles-frogs

[banana]

I have kept tadpoles every year in my classroom .But i have never managed to get any frogs to put back in the pond.Froglets do grow and seem to thrive until their tails have gone -but then die.What am I doing wrong?

[wildwood]

Sorry to state the obvious, but do you change their diet when they become frogs? The ones we managed to rear never ate anything but live insects once the tail 'dropped'.

[banana]

Thanks wildwood. Live insects? Where do I get them from?How many? Is there anything else I should know? No wonder the poor things dwindled away...

[paulz]

I'm sure we used to use water fleas think you can get these either from aquatic bit of garden centre or fishing sjops. Either should be able to advise you. Or try putting them outside earlier?

[wildwood]

If you want to keep them beyond the froglet stage you can purchase live insects from petstores, especially the ones that cater for birds/lizards. If no store in your district stocks them, they should be able to put you in contact with an 'insect farm' where they breed mealworms, crickets, and allsorts of creepy crawleys especially for the animal market, and will post their products. Here's one in the surrey district to get you started. You target=_blank>http://www.wild-bird-food.co.uk/livefood.html
Y
ou could keep them alive on houseflies but to catch enough to keep even one frog happy is a bit of a job, and ofcourse, you have to keep the tank covered. If your main aim is to get them beyond the tadpole stage, do as paulz suggests, put them out earlier.

[wildwood]

Sorry, try this one
http://www.wild-bird-food.co.uk/livefood.html

[banana]

Thanks again wildwood and paulz. It looks as if I will be putting my little tailless ones back into their pond soonest. I shall explain about the live insects to the children when they ask why we cant keep the froglets.