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Empty frog pond :-(
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Posted by WavyDavy Devon UK (My Page) on Sun, Mar 27, 05 at 7:33
| Me and my kids have just made a frog pond ( 2 weeks ago) and would now like to populate it so.... is it best to get spawn or actual frogs, will frogs stay or do they migrate, we found some toad spawn and put that in with weed, do frogs and toadpoles happily co-habitate. Will we need to put additional food in the pond? Thanks pondvirgin Davy |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Empty frog pond :-(
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they will come to you.pretty quickly too ;-)
if you have a local pond to get some spawn that will help,,although they will only go back there to spawn next year,,so defeating the object,,they also seem to disappear most of the year,but live in and around the garden,they eats slugs etc,,but you will probably have to feed the taddies when hatched,,as the pond wont be able to sustain them,,they eat algae etc,,frogs and toad co-habitate no probs,,and welcome to the forum ;-) Annabel. |
RE: Empty frog pond :-(
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| Oh dear, probably just that bit late for this year's spawn, but you may well get some next year naturally. They take 3-4 years to become mature enough to breed so even spawn taken in now will take a little while to provide the next generation. Bringing in adult frogs will probably mean they try to take a long journey back to their original spot, so you will lose and they will lose too. But your pond will have time to grow and provide cover and food for your future frogs ( and they will come!) Make sure you have places for them to hide, and get back and forth to the pond safely too. There are some nice sites for frogs, http://www.erodent.co.uk/GardenPond/index.htm http://web.ukonline.co.uk/conker/pond-dip/pond-making.htm and for some great pictures and sounds, Alison froglady's site (I couldn't resist making a pitch for your site Alison!)
http://www.the-horsfalls.co.uk/ Have fun, wildlife ponds are terribly addictive... |
RE: Empty frog pond :-(
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| I doubt a pond would support tadpoles so soon, you may have to, or be as well to, wait for tadpoles until next year. If the adults like it they will spawn etc etc. |
RE: Empty frog pond :-(
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It's probably too late for frogs to spawn this year, so I would try to find a source of either spawn or tadpoles. I don't think it really matters which, but just be aware that importing them can import other problems like disease etc. Check the pond and it's inhabitants look healthy.
As I understand it the pond they are tadpoles in is the pond they will return to, so they won't go to find their original pond.
Don't try to import frogs.
Put in as many oxygenating plants and marginal pants as you can, and make sure there is a slope or beach area for them to leave the pond.
In my first year (built June 2 years ago) someone gave me some tadpoles and a bucket of odds and ends and pondlife to start the pond off. You can also often find "wildlife" in the garden centre's oxygenators tank.
So I say, go for it- even just a few tads will make it more appealing to your children. |
RE: Empty frog pond :-(
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If you know anyone with a pond near you that has frogspawn and some blanket weed put a bit of both into your pond. (normally I wouldn't advise blanketweed but as your pond is new the tads do need something to eat in the beginning) When they get a bit bigger as taddies they will eat any small fish food. I remember last year seeing three large tadpoles all nibbling at a small round pellet of fish food.
When I started my pond I put in just a clump of spawn and I adult frog. Obviously the frog would have gone back to it's original pond for mating the following spring unless it really liked my pond. But from that original spawning I had 30 frogs the following spring. Not as many the following year as I had introduced the fish by then but this year I had 51 frogs my highest yet.
You will also need some form of plant cover for the taddies to rest in. Watercress is something that grows very quickly. You can find it quite easily in a mixed bag of salad from your supermarket. Just throw a few sprigs in and it will take off. Frogs are wonderful to watch and are good for getting rid of your slugs etc, but they do not stay all year in the pond. They often live very near to it in the rocks etc round the garden but not in the great numbers as when they come back to spawn.
Thanks for the mention of the website Chippewacat. I have received lovely comments about it.
Alison |
RE: Empty frog pond :-(
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| NEVER put fish in your pond or they will eat your tadpoles. Visit your closest pond daily and get the fresest batch of eggs. Fill a container with the eggs ang the pond water you found them in. Put the container in your poun, cover the mouth with cheese cfloth and an elastic. Wait 24 hours. Pour out a bit of the water in the container and fill the container with some of YOUR pond water. Be sure to keep the water level in the container the same. Do this until the container is almost all of your ond water. Then pour all the eggs into your pond. Make sure they stay together in a mass. FLoat the eggs close to a rock so it is anchored. Cover the eggs with a floating lily pad. Now, there should be a lily pad floating over the eggs, now the wait begins. Ther are two reasons why you have no frogs. One, the compounf od chemicals may be different in your pond. By using this method, you are graually introducing the chemicals to the eggs. Twqo, the water temperature. Taking eggs which are 'older' will after them as the older eggs are used to the pond temperate in which there were living in. By using new eggs, they havenb't adapted to their climate so you can easily transplant them. I'm in grade eight and this is what my grade si teacher told me when we were studying living origanisms. Try it, i'm not sure if it works for a pond, but it works in an aquarium. Don't forgetr, make sure your pond has a lot of algae and plants because this is what tadpoles eat. A few mosquito larvae work when they are a bit older. Tell me what happens afrter trting this method. Good Luck! |
RE: Empty frog pond :-(
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RE: Empty frog pond :-(
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