Tadpoles
I have a wheelbarrow made of plastic that has a deep bucket. I left it out in the rain, and it began filling up. I usually just tip the water out, but I wasn't feeling that well and let it go.
The last two winters I have been treated to frogs croaking all around. Not one or two, but more like some Hitchcockian movie where the croaking drowns out your thinking. I don't mind this. It's rather comforting, and when something comes around, they shut up. So, kinda like a free burglar alarm.
Well, a couple of days ago I was thinking about tipping the wheelbarrow over, but to my surprise, there are hundreds of what appear to be tadpoles swimming around in it. These are black and look like sperm swimming around. Before you get the wrong idea, I googled what they could be, and they come out ID'd as toad tadpoles. They are not mosquito larvae. Some people called them toadpoles.
I have no idea how they got there. I started to picture some clever toad perched on the side of the barrow and letting the eggs rip, but that seems rather improbable. Next, I'm wondering if the wind picked up some fertilized eggs and dropped them in the barrow. There used to be algae in the barrow (that develops rather quickly) but that has been eaten, apparently.
So, now I am the foster mother to a bunch of frogs (frogs v. toads, who knows for sure.) They appear lively, but not well developed. I can't just tip them over. I can't decide what to do.
For one, I read that frogs can eat fish food. I don't keep fish, but I have crackers. I'm thinking about grinding some up to make a fine powder. So. now I have lost the use of my barrow, and will have to move it somewhere shady, because when the summer takes off, it can get rather warm. Next, I'll have to add some sort of walkway for them to crawl up and out when they are ready. But, I think at that point they will die anyway, because except for this barrow, I don't keep standing pools of water, because of mosquitoes.
I don't know where the parent frog/toads came from or how they survive the summer, anyway. What am I supposed to do with these tadpoles? They sure look happy! There are at least 500 of them. I don't have a habitat for them, they belong in the wild, and there's nothing I want to do with them. I can't organize them into a frog army. If they're lucky, they'll eat the cracker powder and develop walking legs, then run away from home. Join the frog world and learn to be proper little frogs. Or toads.
Any ideas or tips? Never had this happen ever before. I'm willing to sprinkle cracker powder in there every day, and I have some greens powder I could mix in. Would this work?
= new reply since forum marked as read
I read some of the posts. Lots of stuff I didn't know. 
By Sara Welch - April 21, 2020
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Setting up your tadpole tank
Before you decide to raise tadpoles you’ll want to ensure you have adequate housing. For most tadpole species, you’ll need a 2-5-gallon tank to raise them to a frog stage. However, keep in mind the smaller the tank, the fewer tadpoles you’ll be able to raise. You should only keep 15-35 tadpoles per gallon of water in your tank. So if you’re using a 5-gallon tank but only fill it with 3 gallons of water, then you should only house a maximum of 105 tadpoles. If you choose to keep more tadpoles per gallon, they may die faster or become carnivorous. Also, note that larger tadpole species, such as the American Bull Frog, should be kept in larger tanks with fewer tadpoles per gallon.
Once you’ve chosen tank or container with adequate space, you should collect gravel, a few larger rocks, small weeds and grass with the roots still attached to line the bottom of your tank. First, cover the bottom of your tank with gravel. Next, add the larger rocks to provide shelter and, eventually, land when your tadpoles start to transform. Then, put the small weeds and grass with roots on top of the gravel. The tadpoles will hang on to them and eat the roots.
After you’ve got your tank set up, collect water from the same water source you’ll be gathering the tadpoles from to fill your tank. Don’t use tap water because it contains chemicals that can harm tadpoles. Additionally, water from a natural water source generally contains mosquito larva which can serve as another food source for tadpoles.
Snip......
https://www.farmanddairy.com/top-stories/how-to-raise-frogs-from-tadpoles/609610.html
Let us know how things go.
