Hi!

I am so glad to have found this site as I am not a nature person and know nothing about tadpoles. I live in Houston where we get tons of rain so there are huge puddles sitting out in the street.

This morning we saw lots of little black tadpoles swimming around in the puddle and my kids wanted to collect some. I am worried that there may be diseases that they can carry either in the water or that they may grow into some type of dangerous toad or frog. Is there any way to know how safe these are to bring into my home? I have 2 young kids and I am pregnant as well, hence my concern.

I read something about a dangerous Australian toad (on the internet) but I am assuming they are only in Australia. Please pardon my extreme ignorance. I woul love to raise these tadpoles into frogs and see my kids learn about them but 1st want to be 100% sure this is safe.

Thanks for any advice you can give me!

"This morning we saw lots of little black tadpoles swimming around in the puddle and my kids wanted to collect some. I am worried that there may be diseases that they can carry either in the water or that they may grow into some type of dangerous toad or frog. Is there any way to know how safe these are to bring into my home? I have 2 young kids and I am pregnant as well, hence my concern."

Most diseases/bacteria/viruses/parasites are species-specific which means that only that species or related species gets it. There are few things you can catch from a tadpole. In fact, I can't think of any except maybe a bacterial infection in very rare cases. If you wash you hands after working with them, there is basically no risk. I swim around with my pond animals and put my hands in water with tadpoles all the time and am still fine. I do this even with cuts but for kids and yourself, wear gloves if you have cuts on your hands.

"I read something about a dangerous Australian toad (on the internet) but I am assuming they are only in Australia. Please pardon my extreme ignorance. I woul love to raise these tadpoles into frogs and see my kids learn about them but 1st want to be 100% sure this is safe."

Where do you live? The cane or marine toad was introduced to Australia but also now is in Florida and parts of Texas. It is toxic. Otherwise, native US frogs are not toxic and toads (as adults only) are very mildly toxic (not deadly, just irritating).

As for raising tadpoles, see http://www.fishpondinfo.com/frog3.htm

Hi!

Thanks for the great info. We do live in Texas though, so how do I know if these tadpoles are the toxic toad? By the description on the Australian website it sounded very similar to the ones we saw but they had no pictures and again, I know nothing about tadpoles. They were black but that's about all I remember.

My toad page at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/toad.htm has links to cane toad sites based in Florida. They include lots of photos and information. While now pretty common in Florida, I don't think there are that many yet in Texas. They aren't cold tolerant so the colder an area you live in, the less likely that you have them. The tadpoles of various toads all look pretty similar but the adults are easier to tell apart. How big were the adult toads or have you not see them? Cane toads are huge, hence their other name, Giant Toad. The good news is that even if they are cane toads, I don't think the tadpoles are toxic, just the adults. As long as you make no direct contact with them, there is no danger. You can use gloves to move the adults. They are commonly kept as pets by some people.

Could be an american toad. There tadpoles are small and black, and i've seen lots of them in puddles or water fountains even!