New R Imitator tad concerns

[DianeCarter]

I'm fairly new here, hope it's OK to start a new thread! Didn't know where else to put this. I started with this addiction several months ago, reading all I could, then building my first viv. I was afraid to put PDFs in the viv, so bought 5 fire belly toads to start with, just in case I messed up it wouldn't break the bank. They are doing very well, so then I bought 3 baby D. Auratus for my next viv, and they are doing great. Growing like little weeds! I adore them, they are active, growing, and I love watching them hunt each day.
Then 2 weeks ago I bought a proven pair of R Imitator "Cainarachi Valley", along with their viv, an 18x18x24 Zoomed. The male calls several times each day, and then we watch to see what is going on. They follow each other around, and it's fascinating to watch. I bought this from dynekevin, who originally bought them from de3monic. Kevin doesn't want his frogs to reproduce, he just wants to be able to enjoy his group of frogs. His 2 Imitators reproduced, he had 2 babies just "appear", so he got rid of his adults and viv, and kept the babies. Here I am, 2 weeks later! Please help me!
Last night, about 8PM, I heard calling, CRAZY calling like I've never heard before. The frogs were both looking frantic, hopping around. The male went to their favorite brom, the female followed. They hopped up and down each leaf of the brom. The male went into the center of the brom, the female followed just for a moment, then came out. A few minutes later, the male came out of the center of the brom with a tad on his back! For over an hour, the male stayed close to the center of the brom. We were worried the tad would die for lack of water! We finally turned their light off, 30 minutes after the usual lights out time, and today have been scanning the viv for signs of what happened to the tad. Tonight, the female was sitting on top of one of the film cannisters, so we assume the tad is in it.
My questions. The viv only has 2 black film cannisters. Should we have more, and can we put white ones in there too, or is black for some reason better? While the frogs are raising this tad, are they likely to be raising others too? The mom SHOULD be laying infertile eggs for food, so do I need to worry about tad tea, or tad bites, etc?? I want to leave the tads to the parents..........they have successfully raised frog babies, and I have not! But is there anything I can do to help them? Other than feeding them well?
Any advice is GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks,
Diane

[Philsuma]

No worries Diane. Let the parents do everything themselves.That pair is "proven' , so there is no need for extra feeding or making tadpole tea ect. Just let them do there thing for now. Maybe down the road, you'll want to pull a tadpole out and watch it grow, but for now, I'd just let it be.

Tads can stay moist on a frogs back for several days, at least.

You can get a flashlight and look into the film cans. If the tad is in the brom, it will dive and hide and you'll not likely see it.

You can always add another film can or 2. Since you already have black ,they can be white. No problem here either.

[DianeCarter]

Thanks for your quick reply, Phil!

[dynekevin]

Glad to hear everything is well with the frogs diane!

[DianeCarter]

I can't thank you enough, Kevin! Stan and I love the frogs, and really enjoy watching/listening to them. I can't tell you how exciting it was to hear the crazy calling the other night, and then to see the tad on the back of the male!! I used a flashlight to peek into the cans, and actually it looks like there is "something" in each of the cans--I didn't want to tip the cans around and disturb any tads though.

[dynekevin]

Hahaha, yes yes.. i remember how he would go nuts some nights.. Now i know why... and i have living proof of why in my basement right now! Hahaha. More so, i am glad to see they have found a really great and caring home for them. I was.. to say the least "paranoid". Thanks for being great people! lol

[DianeCarter]

Kevin,
Yes, we will take good care of them, I promise! We really love and enjoy them. It is so cool to hear "him" call and go crazy, look, and see "her" following him to the brom or the cannister, for "whatever" it is they are up to. We absolutely adored watching him with the tad on his back! Still not sure where he put the tad....I have looked in each cannister with a flashlight, and all I see is gravel type stuff, but I won't pull the cannister or spend lots of time with it, don't want to hurt potential tads! Same with their brom. How did you find your babies? Did they just walk out one day, fully morphed?

[dynekevin]

Haha yes, they one day just walked out fully morphed. I never changed the water in the film canisters (pretty sure you should from time to time but i didnt). The 1st baby as almost a juvi by time i noticed. The 2nd one i saw was maybe the size of my pinky nail. I saw her sitting on top of a film canister one day. I wouldnt worry though, those two have proven to be successful before and im sure they can do it again.

[DianeCarter]

Hi Kevin--Wanted to give you an update. That tad we saw being transported back in July......we watched him as a tad, in the middle of their brom, growing up. The GS background had a major failure, so we HAD to move them to a new viv, which was scarey, knowing there was a baby, etc, but we did it successfully. Last week he came out of the water/brom--he's perfect!!! It's awesome to see the whole progression, and now to have a tiny little mini frog! I couldn't imagine a frog being smaller than those imitators, but he is about 1/3 their size! The 3 of them hang out together during the day in the mom's little "cave"--it's in the back corner, and it's made from an overhang above, with heavy planting, but there is a little window through the side of the tank we can see in. So cute, to see all 3 hang out together!
Thanks again!
Diane
PS: We have another growing tad, this one in a film cannister, for about 3-4 weeks now. Yeah!!

[dynekevin]

Hahaha yes those babies are veryyy veryyyy small! Sorry about the vivarium. Hopefully i emphasized enough that it was just a bonus. Sounds like you guys are having a lot of fun with some great success! I just built a new vivarium and im planning on getting some pumilo. Ill be getting a pair within the next couple of months. Really excited and totally prepared for babies this time. On a side note, the babies of the pair you have are doing really well. And i just heard calling for the first time! How exciting =) I am glad you guys are enjoying those frogs and i really do appreciate you checking in with me from time to time to keep me updated. Those were my first frogs and i miss them lol.

[DianeCarter]

Kevin, No worried about the vivarium--it was a bonus, and you told me the GS had started to fail. In fact, I had a new viv set up for the frogs but when we saw the tad being transported we put off moving them out, for fear we would lose tads. It worked out fine, we moved the frogs and the brom with the tad over a month ago, and I have re-constructed a new viv in the tank from you. I am ready for new frogs, whenever I can afford more! I want some pumilio also, so many really cool ones to choose from! Glad to hear your babies are doing well, and calling already! The imis grow up fast, don't they?!