Thank you for commenting on my tadlet food question. I do feel like
a 'mommy' with these little guys!

I started thinking about the potato peels and it is true, I've heard
that the 'eyes' or sprouts are poisonous and that potatoes with green
skins can be toxic. So no potato skins.

I looked miner's lettuce up online trying to find out what nutrition
content they have (it grows wild in the western states) but couldn't
find an analysis on it. However one site mentioned that it had lots
of vitamin C and some minerals. It's called miner's lettuce because
the miners used to eat it to prevent scurvy. One site said that it is
used in some pre-prepped salad mixes sold in stores, maybe under the
name of purslane or its scientific name. It was also mentioned as
being used in some Mexican dishes.

It grows profusely in shady moist wooded areas and a gardening site
said that it grows so fast it becomes a 'weed.' But for anyone out
there who likes to feed greens to their tads, it could be cultivated
in pots or gardens as a 'free' substitute for spinach and lettuce.
It's very succulent, has an attractive appearance, and humans can eat
it in salads. Certainly it would make an attractive plant for pond
gardening, for around the verge of the pond, with no fear of toxicity
for pets.




--- In ribitphrog@yahoogroups.com, "C. Dailey" <theherbalfox@...>
wrote:
>
> I wouldn't feed them potato or potato skins... potatoes contain too
many toxic substances which could be harmful to the developing
froglets...
>
> Congrats on your babies!
>
> Hoppy Froglet <slkros@...> wrote:
> I have tadpoles living outside in a 'natural' environment
but the
> food in the location is poor. I give them miner's lettuce (it looks
> like mini lily pads with a flower on a stalk, it's edible for
humans--
> also called winter purslane or montia perfoliata). They seem to
> thrive on that, they're growing pretty fast. I also give them algae
> or moss from a seasonal creek that's drying up. And I give them
fish
> flakes mashed up with mashed miner's lettuce. They've been eating
it
> for 2 weeks to a month but I'm wondering if I could give them other
> food items.
>
> Does anyone know if it's safe to give tads raw potato chunks or
> pieces of potato peel?
>
> In the care pages associated with this group I saw the info aboutt
> pine needles being poisonous, and thankfully so because some of the
> algae I harvest from the creek is mixed with pine needles. Though
> tads live in the creek, better to be safe.
>
>