Hi someone kindly gave me some frog spawn for my pond .
I put it in the pond and it sunk like a stone is this normal.
Many thanks in advance.
yes!
Mine sank too. I put it in about a week ago and haven't seen it since. Is this normal? It's a new pond (dug a few weeks ago) and I haven't had a pond before.
That happened to me too but that very evening I went out and saw two frogs happily making more. They've been at it again since and I now have four dollops (+ two at the bottom of the pond?). Does frog spawn attract mating frogs because we've never had frogs or spawn before although the pond is a couple of years old?!
Well thats good to know fingers crossed it will be ok. :)
The weather was so nice on Sunday that I rolled up my sleeve and reached in to the bottom of the pond. Sure enough I could feel my frog spawn. Then yesterday I spotted that a few blobs had floated to the pond surface and that the black dots had turned into tiny wriggly black commas. Fingers crossed but it's looking promising!
Found my first lump of frog spawn this morning nearly 3 weeks later than last year.
I had nearly given up hope of getting any this year so really glad I got some. ;D
we just got given our first frogspawn,so exciting! havnt got any plants in the pond yet,shall i shove some lettuce leaves in there once they (hopefully)hatch?
Hi elvis,
I understand that 'tadies' are veggies for some time (initially, they will survive on the spawn) Then some fish food.
When they are small tadpoles will 'graze' the algae growing on the side of the pond, stones, plant leaves etc. They do become carnivorous and canabalistic as they grow. There is usually no need to bother to feed them. However, pieces of bread floating on the surface of the water will always attract the tadpoles.
Hooray! I now have a few tadpoles swimming around the pond. It shows I shouldn't have worried about whether frog spawn is on the surface or sinks. Just let nature take its course...
3 great big bundles of spawn in ours today, amazing, when we went away on friday, nothing ;D
I had another batch laid today in my wildlife pond about 2 weeks later than my main bigger fish pond.
thanks for the information on the frog spawn. does anyone have any tips on what to feed baby newts when they are just past the polywog stage?
dont worry about feeding them they will find food themselves or become food for something else :'(
Has anyone's hatched out yet . Will be going to the plot later for a look.
Mine have and I've loads of taddies munching at the algae around the edge of the pond now, as Toadspawn said they'd do :)
mine still not hatched,but the little black dots have changed shape and the whole lot has moved from one end of the pond to the other,thought id lost it first of all,till i spotted it in its new place,i was nearly very upset!!! amazing to think it moved itself!
some of mine hatched over the last couple of days. I transferred some from another pond into my new one (yes I know you're not supposed to but the slug war is on!) and found a great pile more had been laid a few days later - I think they have a look, see some there amd decide it must be a cool spot to produce.
;)
Quote from: Jill on April 04, 2009, 12:42:37
Mine have and I've loads of taddies munching at the algae around the edge of the pond now, as Toadspawn said they'd do :)
ditto
Peachy have tadpoles . Checked today :)
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
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
since the arrival of our female newt,the spawn vanished without trace,im gutted!would she have eaten it??
Hi Elvis, yup, she's a predator and loves to munch on tadpoles, and any other prey she can find in the pond.
(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?
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.
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.
Spawn often sinks then tadpoles appear a week or 2 later.
fab baccy man,youve made my day!
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
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
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
I once read (I think it was on here last year) that they like cat food, is that right?
My tadpoles really liked the dry cat food I dropped into the pond the other day.