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Project Noah Nature School
I think these are frog eggs
Salamander larvae eat tiny microorganisms like daphnia and glassworms and when older blackworms and bloodworms.
Your excellent photo reminds me of a recent discovery about Spotted Salamander larva and algae. It just occurred to me, you might not have heard about this:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/0...
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100730/f...
I haven't personally raised salamanders from larva, but it shouldn't be too difficult. Keep them in a basic aquarium setup; make sure any filter input has a weak enough flow to not suck them up. An air-stone might work better than a filter system. Especially when small, they might be vulnerable to strongly chlorinated water, so I wouldn't use water straight from the tap for full water changes.
While small, I think flake fish food should work for feeding. For good measure, you might throw in a bit of algae from a ditch or pond, maybe a small dab of canned cat food. Once large enough, you might add in some cut-up earthworms. Since you are likely to overfeed them and the food can be kind of messy to the tank, you could try moving them to a feeding tub for a couple of hours. I should think feeding once or twice a week would be more than enough.
I think sometimes amphibian larva can be cannibalistic...nothing to really worry about, but don't be surprised if it happens.
As they metamorph, they'll need a place to crawl out of the water. They have an uncanny ability to crawl up aquarium glass, too, --yes, right up the sides!-- so watch that you have a tight-fitting lid.
This kind of learning experience can really capture the imagination of kids, so I hope you and your granddaughter have good success with it! (And even if you don't, you'll still at least have learned something.)
By the letter of the law in AR, you are allowed to have up to 6 individuals of an otherwise unprotected species per household...and technically, since an amphibian, a fishing license to collect.
Thank you! Any suggestions on how to keep these eggs until hatched so my granddaughters can watch the progress or should I leave them in nature? This picture was taken last year about this time but I've noticed more floating around in the ditch just this week. Thanks again michelle
Spotted on Mar 17, 2012
Submitted on Mar 17, 2012
