Weird Tadpole question.

[bobbin]

I still have tadpoles in my butler sink pond on the allotment!
Shouldn't they be frogs by now? What's going on....?? 😮🐸

[Jay22]

Hey bobbin, I think, but I could be wrong, that some tadpoles decide to delay their metamorphosis until after winter. Who knows why but it could be your answer?

[Jay22]

Just had a look in the internet...is your pond cool or shaded? Sometimes the temperature of the water delays their transformation too.

[burnie]

Lack of food can have an effect too.

[Mr Bones]

As I understand it there are three types of tadpole from any lump of spawn.
Vegetarian taddies
Omnivorous taddies, that will eat the others if food runs out
and taddies that overwinter as tadpoles in case the young frogs don't make it through their first winter.
No wonder they've survived as a species for so long.

[Dynamo]

I always feed my tadpoles on any slugs or snails I find. I chop the mollusc up first and then chuck it in the water somewhere where I can watch easily. It's fun watching all the tadpoles gorging on the dead animal.

[bario1]

It's fun watching all the tadpoles gorging on the dead animal.

Is it??!!

[Jay22]

Boak!.......

[bario1]

I prefer a drink with friends or a nice game of scrabble...

[Zelenina]

Here's a report from the University of Edinburgh about some research into it

https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2015/tadpolesurvival-261015

[Jay-ell]

I did see somewhere that carnivorous tadpoles prefer to eat non-siblings.