almost done

One or two of our tadpoles are in the final stages of metamorphosis which is so very exciting to us! They like to sit on top of the stones in the aquarium and don't seem at all interested in the blood worms we'd been feeding them. I'm pretty sure they're just busy absorbing their tails. We've only just very recently deduced that they are most likely Northern Red-Legged Frogs, which are a native species to Vancouver Island and are a protected species of BC.

this is shorty - the first to grow front legs and almost completely lose its tail

tail almost gone

hanging around waiting to be a frog?

The one closer to my thumb still has no front legs and still has a full length tail. They all seem to develop at such different rates (I'm sure there must be a reason...). The other here has been hopping around on four feet for almost a week. I've noticed that once they grow front legs and begin absorbing their tails, they seem to shrink in body size as well.

This has been such a cool project. Once they're all fully grown frogs, we plan to keep them around for a couple of weeks to feed and enjoy and then release them back to their place of origin. Possibly we'll see about over-wintering a couple indoors if we can set up an adequate habitat for them.

and just like that...

One of our tadpoles has sneakily sprouted front legs when no one was looking. Where'd they come from? They weren't there yesterday! Funny, it's the littlest one who's sprouted them, the rest are much bigger and fatter and no sign of front legs to speak of...


H is just so absolutely beyond thrilled to finally have a little frog(let) to hold at last! The day she's been waiting for, for many months. As far as figuring out what kind of frogs we have, we've searched and studied so many kinds and can't come to a decision quite yet.

(click photo to view larger)

Once fully mature, I'm hoping there will more tell-tale signs to give us a better idea ;-) They sure are tiny little things, that's for sure!