Tadpole Emergency

Question
Hi, remember me? I sent an e-mail yesterday about questions on my tadpole (future bullfrog.). I am totally new to this area of pets (I'm a guinea pig scientist), so I think I would like to ask you a lot of questions in the future...if my tadpole survives. I am in dire help at the moment.

So, as I told you yesterday, I got a tadpole.

1. He isn't moving at all, although I see that he has moved into a differenct corner when I check him every hour. Aren't tadpoles supposed to be... active? Aren't they supposed to wander around nonstop like a goldfish? Why is he just lying on the ground?

2. He ISN'T EATING. I have fed him EVERYTHING including frozen lettuce, bread, tadpole drops, and fish food. He isn't moving at all. What is going on? He doesn't even react when I drop food (both floating and sinking)! Will he die? Why isn't he eating?

3. Aren't tadpoles supposed to be... dark green? Why are mine sort of yellow in the tail/stomach? Am I doing something wrong?

4. When I'm quiet, reading a book, once in a while, the tadpole will suddenly move FAST! It will ricochet back and forth inside its container, and then settle down again. Is this normal?

Okay, just for reference, I'll explain to you what his enironment is.

He is currently living (lying down on the bottom, motionless) in a pretty big plastic container which contained cookies. It's really big. Not REALLY big, but its pretty standard. Its at least bigger than those plastic multi-purpose tanks they sell in the petstores (the ones with pink, green, and other colored lids). It has no lid, and since I, at home, have access to tap water and filtered water (I have a filter attached to a pipe), I used filtered water for the tadpole's water. He has about three hours of sunlight a day.

Thank you for your time.

Answer
Dear Raymond,
thank you for your question.
The yellow on the stomach is probably normal. Tadpoles vary a bit in colour, even within a species, and a yellow/golden stomach is normal. Here's a good picture of a bullfrog tadpole for comparison:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1101/753619553_bfd81885d7.jpg

Tadpoles can be inactive at times, that's normal, And I think that even the very fast moving is normal. Offering him a hiding place, a stone or something may make him feel more comfortable and more inclined to explore. But that he doesn't eat is worrying. How warm is the water in the container? It should be around room temperature, maybe it's too hot or too cold.

Can you find or grow some algae? That's  the main diet of bullfrog tadpoles in the wild, maybe that would have better success. Algae will grow when you put a water bowl with some stones leaves for example in direct sunshine, but it takes a while. They also eat pretty much anything that has sunken to the bottom of their pond, so the food you gave him should be fine.
Normally I would recommend a vet visit now, but that's not very useful with a tadpole. It might be that he is sick, but then there is not much you can do.
I'm sorry that i don't have a clear answer to this. I hope it's still of some help
Jennifer