I had a serious pond issue that required me to move my fish indoors
during this past weekend's warm Chicago weather. A leaking liner left
me with about 12 of water and lots of fish and muck...somehow they
survived the winter, but I was afraid cats, raccoons, etc would get
down in there.

Anyway, in the process, a big frog shows up and starts swimming around
(coming out of hibernation?). Well, I brought the frog inside and now
we're expecting more really cold weather.

What can I do for this large, (Leopard?/ Green?) frog? Will it die if
I put him back out in the woods? Will he figure out how to survive?
We've still got some cold weather and I know there are no insects
outside. I bought him some crickets but the frog seems pretty
uninterested.

I have no experience in this realm and don't really want a pet frog,
but also don't want him to die...

Kevin

You can put the frog outside and the sooner the better.
The cold weather will cause him to go into a state of
hibernation, he'll be fine. They will wake up in warm
times, even if they are out of season, and then go back
into hiberation. They are totally temperature driven.

If you want to keep it as a pet until the weather really
gets nice you can feed it crickets from the pet store.

wrote in message
oups.com...

I had a serious pond issue that required me to move my fish indoors
during this past weekend's warm Chicago weather. A leaking liner left
me with about 12 of water and lots of fish and muck...somehow they
survived the winter, but I was afraid cats, raccoons, etc would get
down in there.

Anyway, in the process, a big frog shows up and starts swimming around
(coming out of hibernation?). Well, I brought the frog inside and now
we're expecting more really cold weather.

What can I do for this large, (Leopard?/ Green?) frog? Will it die if
I put him back out in the woods? Will he figure out how to survive?
We've still got some cold weather and I know there are no insects
outside. I bought him some crickets but the frog seems pretty
uninterested.

I have no experience in this realm and don't really want a pet frog,
but also don't want him to die...
===============================
The safest thing to do is put him in a nearby body of water. Here in zone 6
they hibernate on the bottom of ponds or whatever water they can find. I
found one in one of the barrels. Unfortunately several didn't make it
through the winter in my smaller 800g pond.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

Anyway, in the process, a big frog shows up and starts swimming around
(coming out of hibernation?). Well, I brought the frog inside and now
we're expecting more really cold weather.

Since you've already brought the frog in, and you're not sure what type it
is, I'd keep it in till a good warm day arrives so it has time to get where
it needs to be. Not all frogs hibernate at the bottom of ponds. ~ jan

"~ jan" wrote in message
news
Anyway, in the process, a big frog shows up and starts swimming around
(coming out of hibernation?). Well, I brought the frog inside and now
we're expecting more really cold weather.

Since you've already brought the frog in, and you're not sure what type it
is, I'd keep it in till a good warm day arrives so it has time to get
where
it needs to be. Not all frogs hibernate at the bottom of ponds. ~ jan\
=========================
If they don't they'll leave the pond on their own. If they do stay in the
water all winter and you put them somewhere dry, they may be too torpid
(unless it's warm and water is nearby) to find water to save themselves.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

I really wouldn't worry about frogs hopping about
when we get into this winter/spring/winter cycle.
This is part of their natural behavior. I would only
worry if your pond is such that the frog can not get
out once he got in, especially if he is of a species
that overwinter in leaf litter or under logs. Whenever
you 'change' nature that's when the critters get into
trouble. We don't like shorelines in our ponds as
it makes for a great heron buffet - many other critters need
them to enter and exit the pond.

"kathy" wrote in message
oups.com...
I really wouldn't worry about frogs hopping about
when we get into this winter/spring/winter cycle.
This is part of their natural behavior. I would only
worry if your pond is such that the frog can not get
out once he got in, especially if he is of a species
that overwinter in leaf litter or under logs. Whenever
you 'change' nature that's when the critters get into
trouble. We don't like shorelines in our ponds as
it makes for a great heron buffet - many other critters need
them to enter and exit the pond.
==============================
A decorative piece of driftwood at one end would make it easy for them to
leave the water at will.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö