Topic: My frog spawn .

[pete10]

 Peachy  have tadpoles  . Checked today :)

[theothermarg]

Thought I had lost my spawn because I'v put a new birdfeeder near the pond and a piece of fatty bread fell in causing a oily suface (very small pond) I netted a load of still black dots out so I thought that must be it I'm a murderer :'( however I spotted a few live taddies this morning so feel hopefull there will be more
marg

[froglets]

Had one lot of very dud spawn which turned to mush, but discovered an older clump of about a dozen eggs which turned into taddies a couple of weeks ago.  About that same time my neighbour was unclogging his pond and gave me a jam jar full of spawn which has also turned into taddies

but........


I have a new pond resident - a female smooth newt -yeayh!

Now I have virtually no taddies.

Would it be worth begging a few bigger taddies from my neighbour in a couple of weeks when they are turning more into frogs?  It's great the newt has arrived, but I'd still like to keep the frog population up, it's why I dug the pond 13 month ago in the first place.

Cheers

[elvis2003]

since the arrival of our female newt,the spawn vanished without trace,im gutted!would she have eaten it??

[froglets]

Hi Elvis,  yup, she's a predator and loves to munch on tadpoles, and any other prey she can find in the pond.

[elvis2003]

(sob sob sob) the husband will be gutted,it was he who put said newt in the pond,the pond we created just so i could have frogs. perhaps ill not tell him! she is going to have a go at his toadspawn as well then i spose?

[Baccy Man]

I can't imagine a single newt eating a whole clump of spawn or all the tadpoles in a pond. I have around 60 or so adult newts & a load of young ones which overwintered in the pond & still have vast amounts of frog & toad tadpoles.
The newts barely make a dent in the frog/toad numbers. It won't be long until the roles are reversed & the tadpoles will be eating young newts but the newt numbers still go up each year too. Just leave them to it & things should balance out as the pond becomes more established.

[elvis2003]

thanks baccyman,feel a bit reassurred now,still doesnt explain where the spawn has gone though,would it sink for any reason? the husband has been ferreting about i there,adding new plants etc,but was very careful not to disturb it.

[Baccy Man]

Spawn often sinks then tadpoles appear a week or 2 later.

[elvis2003]

fab baccy man,youve made my day!

[grannyjanny]

I've got a plastic box about the same size as the recycling box for glass & tins. Could I use that for a little pond. A nursery I visited yesterday had tadpoles for people to help themselves to. What else would I need to add. I've got some different sized stones & plenty of rainwater. Do I need to bury it completely.
Janet

[froglets]

I have an old Belfast sink on bricks in my yard with a few small plants in it ( it's full of rainwater, just to be clear) and a couple of tadpoles ( don't tell Barbara next door, frogs make her scream).  There is plenty of cover from plants in pots and the frogs around here cover quite a bit of ground in their wanderings so if they want to migrate across the lane to the garden later, I'm sure there will be no problem.

Cheers

[grannyjanny]

I've got the tadpoles. They weren't for helping yourself to but the lady let me have some, 17 in fact. They are in the container & I have put stones in it. I called at a nursery today that does water plants but he didn't have anything suitable. Any suggestions please on what I actually need. The lady who gave them to me said she puts raw mince in & they love it.
Janet

[Uncle Joshua]

I once read (I think it was on here last year) that they like cat food, is that right?

[Jill]

My tadpoles really liked the dry cat food I dropped into the pond the other day.