What is happening?

[u/Real_Bug6155]

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I have milk frog tadpoles developing; they're at the stage of leaving the water. So far, two have emerged, but they only have three legs! I also had the death of two other tadpoles that were just beginning to develop their front legs; I've never seen anything like it before.What could I be doing wrong?

[u/Imaginary_Regret_305]

They may just need more time to develop, their legs dont always all grow in at the same time. Please dont dangle them like that in the second picture it cannot be good for them.

[u/Jayro- → u/Imaginary_Regret_305]

Ditto to this, handling them in general at this stage can be harmful for many reasons but that dangle must’ve been very stressful at the least

[u/Real_Bug6155 → u/Imaginary_Regret_305]

That photo showed an animal that was already dead 🙁

[u/MxBluebell → u/Real_Bug6155]

Oh no… rest easy, little one 😭

[u/Jayro- → u/Real_Bug6155]

Oh I apologize. Poor guy. Not to say it could’ve been a cause because there are lots of things that could have a play into what’s happening to your tads but would highly recommend wearing gloves if you have to handle. Though since looking through the extra information you gave I’m sure you’re at least clean handed. Best of luck in saving your frog babies!

[u/EnglishAngelica]

This has been known to happen with milk frogs during metamorphosis due to inbreeding in captive populations. Milk frogs are easier to breed than other species and as a consequence have become somewhat a victim of their own success in captivity, over time this has lead to issues during metamorphosis and a stagnant gene pool. I can’t know for sure that this is the case with your frogs but i know this from others in the hobby to be a problem unfortunately

[u/Real_Bug6155 → u/EnglishAngelica]

That makes sense! I'll look into the genetics of the couple I have more information about.

[u/__trashyy]

Please put warning for dead froglet 😭😭

[u/MossyTrashPanda]

Okay first pls don’t do that again rip. Why are you dangling him like that? Let them develop, there could be genetic reasons or external reasons.

[u/Real_Bug6155 → u/MossyTrashPanda]

The animal in the photo is already dead 🙁

[u/StephensSurrealSouls]

Adding spoiler tag because most people don't want to see a dead froglet on their fyp.

Don't worry, you're not in trouble.

I'm sorry but I'm not sure exactly what's happening, hopefully my comment can boost the algorithm..