Frog spawn

[kentish girl]

Having finally got a small bundle turn up in the pond yesterday i'm now concerned about it surviving in the cold weather predicted for the next few days. Should I move it to a bucket somewhere warmer or just hope it will be ok

[Madasafish]

As long as it's in water it should be ok. Our spawn is frequently iced up and only the top exposed to air does not survive.

[Hans Mum]

we;ve seen our 1st lot of the year today

[Paul Wagland]

We have three lots in our pond, and Jeannine pointed out this morning that some poles had hatched out at the top but been killed by the frost. Hoping those lower down will fare better. I guess something will come along and eat the unlucky first batch, so it's not all bad news.

[lainey lou]

Tadpoles!

Went to check on my frog spawn in my little wildlife "pond" at the lottie this morning and noticed that some had "hatched!" - Hurrah!
The pond has been insitu only 2/3 weeks and I filled it using pond water and rainwater.
What I'm worried about is if there is going to be enough in it of whatever the tadders need to eat?
My Dad said to put in some bacon rind???!
Any thoughts?

[Epsom Gardener]

I read to put a piece of meat in mesh such as the bag you get garlic in and hand it 10cm below the surface. Mine have hatched too.

[Madasafish]

Tadpoles eat algae.. the green slime round the edges..I never feed them. This year we have record quantities of spawn so we must be doing something right :-)

[lainey lou]

Read last night in a book from the library that initially the tads will eat algae , if like mine your pond is new, you can try boiling up lettuce leaves and hanging them into the pond. Once the tads develop legs the need meat, insects could be provided.

[si'sraisedbed]

Hi,
I have just set a large round pot from Wilko's into the garden and half filled it with water. Now I need to find some spawn. Once I have done that what other bits do I need? I will put in some stones or bricks th form a ladder so they can get out once they need to. I read that once they are tadpoles they will eat each other if meat not provided? Shoud I put some kind of plants in? The pot in round, about 60cm deep and the same in diameter.

[jeannine]

The Wildlife Trusts suggest giving tadpoles cooked lettuce - steamed is ideal.

You can also buy daphnia from pet shops when the poles are a bit bigger.

If your pot has steep edge, Si, then even with a ladder it might be more suited to newts. You can buy 15 eggs from Charles Snell (he has a special license to sell them) for around £7. I think he also sells frog spawn so it might be worth Googling him if you can't find any from neighbours.

[si'sraisedbed]

Thanks Jeannine, the pot is buried with about 4 inces above the ground, the plan is to surround with rocks for easy access. Have been out searching for spawn all afternoon with the kids (on Easter hols) with no luck at all so now have pot full of water burried in garden....great.

[Bren In Pots]

I've been checking my pond every morning and there's still no sign of any Frog spawn

[Patsy]

I've had frogspawn in my allotment bath pond for several weeks and noticed a friends similar but very clean pond has none as yet. I presume frogs must like something which resembles more natural sites as I always used to see spawn in flooded bits of fields and ditches. Some of them have hatched and I hope they'll survive the coming cold weather. Perhaps that's one of the reasons they lay so much spawn. With regards to the feeding, I felt there were so many in a small area that they would probably need supplementary feeding and a neighbouring plotholder said that she fed them cat biscuits. I know this sounds odd but once the little biscuits have got soggy they're surrounded by tadpoles nibbling away at the edges. Absolutely fascinating to watch. Didn't seem to do them any harm last year as a lot grew big and toddled off (probably miaowing as they went!)

[KingEdward]

and then along comes the magpie

[Epsom Gardener]

Jeannie, I have read this Dr Charles Snell on this website a few times. Last time I asked Paul said he was on the 3rd or 4th page when you google him, but for the life of me I can't find him Do you have a link?