Frost and Tadpoles
 

We have a mass of frog spawn, in various stages of development. Some has
produced tadpoles already. There are 3 or 4 large blobs, some under water,
some on the surface.

Can someone please give me some advice on protecting it from the cold
weather and frost that we are apparently about to be hit with?

I've been told that the tadpoles are likely to be OK as they'll swim deeper
to the warmer water, but that the spawn on the surface is vulnerable.

Would it help to cover the spawn? Or remove it in a bucket for a couple of
days?

Or should I just allow nature to make the life and death decisions? It just
seems a shame to let all those little creatures die if I can help them.

Thanks very much,

W

Frost and Tadpoles
 

"will_c" wrote in message
...
We have a mass of frog spawn, in various stages of development. Some has
produced tadpoles already. There are 3 or 4 large blobs, some under water,
some on the surface.

Can someone please give me some advice on protecting it from the cold
weather and frost that we are apparently about to be hit with?

I've been told that the tadpoles are likely to be OK as they'll swim
deeper to the warmer water, but that the spawn on the surface is
vulnerable.

Would it help to cover the spawn? Or remove it in a bucket for a couple of
days?

Or should I just allow nature to make the life and death decisions? It
just seems a shame to let all those little creatures die if I can help
them.

Thanks very much,

W


the rule is, don't mess with nature

or failing that, you could put them in a bucket of the same pond water, in
yer garage or shed, while the frost passes.

Frost and Tadpoles
 

"will_c" wrote
We have a mass of frog spawn, in various stages of development. Some has
produced tadpoles already. There are 3 or 4 large blobs, some under water,
some on the surface.

Can someone please give me some advice on protecting it from the cold
weather and frost that we are apparently about to be hit with?

I've been told that the tadpoles are likely to be OK as they'll swim
deeper to the warmer water, but that the spawn on the surface is
vulnerable.

Would it help to cover the spawn? Or remove it in a bucket for a couple of
days?

Or should I just allow nature to make the life and death decisions? It
just seems a shame to let all those little creatures die if I can help
them.

A sheet of polystyrene foam floated over the surface spawn and anchored
there might help.

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK

Frost and Tadpoles
 

Bob Hobden wrote:
"will_c" wrote
We have a mass of frog spawn, in various stages of development. Some
has produced tadpoles already. There are 3 or 4 large blobs, some
under water, some on the surface.

Can someone please give me some advice on protecting it from the cold
weather and frost that we are apparently about to be hit with?

I've been told that the tadpoles are likely to be OK as they'll swim
deeper to the warmer water, but that the spawn on the surface is
vulnerable.

Would it help to cover the spawn? Or remove it in a bucket for a
couple of days?

Or should I just allow nature to make the life and death decisions?
It just seems a shame to let all those little creatures die if I can
help them.

A sheet of polystyrene foam floated over the surface spawn and
anchored there might help.

Or bubblewrap :)
--
ßôyþëtë

Frost and Tadpoles
 

In message , will_c
writes
We have a mass of frog spawn, in various stages of development. Some has
produced tadpoles already. There are 3 or 4 large blobs, some under water,
some on the surface.

Can someone please give me some advice on protecting it from the cold
weather and frost that we are apparently about to be hit with?

I've been told that the tadpoles are likely to be OK as they'll swim deeper
to the warmer water, but that the spawn on the surface is vulnerable.

Would it help to cover the spawn? Or remove it in a bucket for a couple of
days?

Or should I just allow nature to make the life and death decisions? It just
seems a shame to let all those little creatures die if I can help them.

Thanks very much,

There is much to be said for not interfering with nature but if you
would like to enhance the future frog population of your pond then
remove the spawn from the pond to a bucket placed somewhere protected
from frost. At the moment our pond is infested with a species of
flatworm which considers spawn to be a delicacy so we removed all the
spawn as soon as it was visible and have just reintroduced hundreds of
resulting tadpoles (which will delight the newt population).
--
Robert

Frost and Tadpoles
 

In message , will_c
writes
We have a mass of frog spawn, in various stages of development. Some has
produced tadpoles already. There are 3 or 4 large blobs, some under water,
some on the surface.

Can someone please give me some advice on protecting it from the cold
weather and frost that we are apparently about to be hit with?


My pond's tiny and the newer spawn was still partly above the water
surface, so I've filled the pond up to cover it.

Last time it froze, only the spawn above the surface was killed, the
rest of the mass was fine. Fortunately frogs lay more spawn than you
can possibly need.

--
Sue ]:(:)

Frost and Tadpoles
 

In article , Robert
writes

if you would like to enhance the future frog population of your pond
then remove the spawn from the pond to a bucket placed somewhere
protected from frost. At the moment our pond is infested with a
species of flatworm which considers spawn to be a delicacy so we
removed all the spawn as soon as it was visible and have just
reintroduced hundreds of resulting tadpoles (which will delight the
newt population).


Can you just leave it in the bucket and allow it to hatch then? No food
or special care?
Our very young tadpoles seem to get eaten by our fish but it would be
nice to save some until they are a week or so older before reintroducing
them to the pond. however they seem to feed on the algae on the side of
the pond so I didn't realise we could keep them for a while in buckets.

janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Frost and Tadpoles
 

In message , Janet Tweedy
writes
In article , Robert
writes

if you would like to enhance the future frog population of your pond
then remove the spawn from the pond to a bucket placed somewhere
protected from frost. At the moment our pond is infested with a
species of flatworm which considers spawn to be a delicacy so we
removed all the spawn as soon as it was visible and have just
reintroduced hundreds of resulting tadpoles (which will delight the
newt population).


Can you just leave it in the bucket and allow it to hatch then? No food
or special care?
Our very young tadpoles seem to get eaten by our fish but it would be
nice to save some until they are a week or so older before
reintroducing them to the pond. however they seem to feed on the algae
on the side of the pond so I didn't realise we could keep them for a
while in buckets.

I tried a couple of times to transfer them to a bucket with zero
success. The first time the spawn went rotten and the second time all
the tadpoles died overnight. We used to keep them in a washing-up bowl
and feed them bought fish-food when we were kids and they didn't die
then. My fish tend to eat most of the tadpoles but we have so many,
there are always a few live frogs by summer-time.
--
June Hughes

Frost and Tadpoles
 

In message , Janet Tweedy
writes
In article , Robert
writes

if you would like to enhance the future frog population of your pond
then remove the spawn from the pond to a bucket placed somewhere
protected from frost. At the moment our pond is infested with a
species of flatworm which considers spawn to be a delicacy so we
removed all the spawn as soon as it was visible and have just
reintroduced hundreds of resulting tadpoles (which will delight the
newt population).


Can you just leave it in the bucket and allow it to hatch then? No food
or special care?
Our very young tadpoles seem to get eaten by our fish but it would be
nice to save some until they are a week or so older before
reintroducing them to the pond. however they seem to feed on the algae
on the side of the pond so I didn't realise we could keep them for a
while in buckets.

We use a large ~ 100 litres plastic tub half filled with pond/rain
water. When the tadpoles start hatching we add some pond weed and a few
(defrosted) frozen lettuce leaves which keeps them going until it is
time to return them to the pond. If you keep them in a container for
more than a couple of weeks you will need to carry out partial water
changes otherwise the water will begin to pong.
--
Robert

I would let nature take its course. I was really upset last week when I went down to the allotment because there was frog spawn everywhere. There was some in the pond but there was blobs all over the grass. The frogs had obviously spawned in the puddles which had subsequently dried up. I picked some up in my gardening gloves and plopped it into the pond. Uck! Tadpoles swam all over the place but I decided as they would eat each other not to put any more into the pond and let nature take its course. Gardening Sue

Frost and Tadpoles
 

In message , Robert
writes

Can you just leave it in the bucket and allow it to hatch then? No
food or special care?
Our very young tadpoles seem to get eaten by our fish but it would be
nice to save some until they are a week or so older before
reintroducing them to the pond. however they seem to feed on the algae
on the side of the pond so I didn't realise we could keep them for a
while in buckets.

We use a large ~ 100 litres plastic tub half filled with pond/rain
water. When the tadpoles start hatching we add some pond weed and a few
(defrosted) frozen lettuce leaves which keeps them going until it is
time to return them to the pond. If you keep them in a container for
more than a couple of weeks you will need to carry out partial water
changes otherwise the water will begin to pong.

Algae will grow on the side of your bucket if it's in a good light. If
tadpoles are underfed they just develop slower, even to the point of not
turning into frogs until the following year.

They do need enough oxygen in the water, at least until their gills
disappear. In cold weather there should be lots of dissolved oxygen but
warm water can't hold as much. Pondweed is good, rotting food isn't -
don't give them more food than they're actually eating.

BTW my first tadpoles are swimming now, at lunchtime they were basking
in a pocket of sun-warmed water on top of the jelly mass.

--
Sue ]:(:)

Frost and Tadpoles
 

On Mar 18, 11:01 am, "will_c" wrote:
We have a mass of frog spawn, in various stages of development. Some has
produced tadpoles already. There are 3 or 4 large blobs, some under water,
some on the surface.

Can someone please give me some advice on protecting it from the cold
weather and frost that we are apparently about to be hit with?

I've been told that the tadpoles are likely to be OK as they'll swim deeper
to the warmer water, but that the spawn on the surface is vulnerable.

Would it help to cover the spawn? Or remove it in a bucket for a couple of
days?

Or should I just allow nature to make the life and death decisions? It just
seems a shame to let all those little creatures die if I can help them.

Thanks very much,

W

This puts me in mind of a horror story of sorts.
My Mum was a primary school teacher. Each year, it was common for the
kids to go on a nature walk, and collect some frogspawn to be observed
in an aquarium in the classroom while the tadpoles developed and
hatched.
One year, the Easter holiday coincided with the end of the process,
and no-one thought of returning the advanced tadpoles to the nearest
pond or ditch.
Upon returning from hols, my Mum was greeted by tens of tiny froglets,
dried up on the classroom floor tiles...
The morale of the story: if you bring your tadpoles in to preserve
them from the frost, don't forget to bring them back out ;-)

Cat(h)