frog / toad spawn

[digger]

my mother-in-law has a big pond in her garden ( run through four filters etc ) that should,judging by the last four years,be teeming with tadpoles.this year they spawned over two days,the usual amount but once the spawn was showing all the eggs were white (dead) and i found lots of dead toads.the frogs are still hanging about and calling late into the night but no more spawn.

has anyone else had a bad year ? its a real shame as the pond is a haven for wildlife,from frogs to foxes and my kids learn loads from sitting watching it.when i say its a pond its 22ft long by 8ft wide.

is it just surrey that wont have many frogs and toads next year ?

[Ferret Master]

Hi,

 

I have found that in the past when we have had eggs go white and die before if they have frozen on a cold night if they are exposed above the water. I currently have tadpoles on our kitchen window ledge in a plastic tank and am feeding them floating fish food pellets. Soon I will need to put a rock in so any froglets can crawl onto it and await deportation to the tadpole pond. We have 2 ponds. One bigger pond with fish in it and it is here that most spawn is layed. However we move most of it into the smaller pond because it is warmer in there and there are less predators to munch them. We also feed those taddys fish food as well and they are doing very well and growing fast in that pond at the moment. Perhaps it would be worth for your childrens enjoyment catching a few tadpoles next year or some frog spawn to hatch out in a tank inside as this way they have a high survival rate and they are quite interesting. Don't worry to much about the toads if they have had a slow year because a toadpole can stay as toadpole throughout the year and not turn into a toadlet until next Summer but you could if you wish hatch a few toads out as well.

 

As you can see I have a sad life and have pet tadpoles.

 

FM

[kwiky]

my pond had a really bad year last year but this year i have had record numbers, as a reptile and amphibian breeder by trade i also have the pleasure of being able to work towards the breeding and eventual release of the great crested newt and i have had excellent results with this species this year. despite all this succesful breeding british amphibian numbers are on the overall decrease as a result mainly of habitat loss and modern pollutions, i have seen several schemes imlpemented in my local area whereby tunnels and/or grates have been installed by the side of roads that these amphibians use as access to their breeding grounds and numbers of toads in particular in these areas have increased dramaticallty and i am pleased to say that public awarness is increasing all the time to preserve these wonderful creatures

[Devilishdave]

My local pond is teaming with them and I have seen more than normal amounts of frog spawn this Year. I even saw a load of spawn on top of a gate poste in a very remote area.

 

dave

[Ferret Master]

Hi,

 

Great Crested you say! That is an interest of mine. We have several come back to a concrete pond at my Gran's house every year but I have not seen any yet this year. Plenty of common newts though. I remember when I first found one in the duck's water bath when my Dad was cleaning it out. We have put some old freezer boxes in (the wire ones) that we are growing pond weeds in for them to lay their eggs on. Do the Great Crested newts lay their eggs on a single leaf and fold it over like a common newt or just drop them in the weeds?

 

FM

[kwiky]

Hi,

 

Great Crested you say! That is an interest of mine. We have several come back to a concrete pond at my Gran's house every year but I have not seen any yet this year. Plenty of common newts though. I remember when I first found one in the duck's water bath when my Dad was cleaning it out. We have put some old freezer boxes in (the wire ones) that we are growing pond weeds in for them to lay their eggs on. Do the Great Crested newts lay their eggs on a single leaf and fold it over like a common newt or just drop them in the weeds?

 

FM

 

 

hi mate, they lay them in a single leaf just like the common or smooth newt, be very careful as the law forbids the taking of them from the wild and the penalty is extremly severe, £5000 fine etc,

 

sorry if you were already aware of that but i have known convictions in the past resulting from people catching them unaware that the were protected and only people with a lisence from DEFRA are allowed to handle wild specimens,

 

you are extremly lucky to have them breeding in your grans pond and it is always nice to hear of such colonies, most people are rarely lucky enough to even see them these days as im sure you know.

please keep me posted on their progress and if you have any questions please dont hesitate to ask.

 

thanks........kwiky

[Ferret Master]

Hi,

 

I am fully aware of the law and we have fenced off the pond to keep them away from the ducks. Or rather fenced in the ducks. I dont go out looking for them to handle them but if I find them in a hazardous place like the ducks water bath I will pick them up and move them because by the time DEFRA would have got back to me it would have been eaten. The pond is an old concrete one and it is near woodland so I would imagine that the cresties live there when not breeding. Although I have rasied the efts of common newts in a tank before I have not been taking the Great Crested newts from the wild. We have several pond plants in these freezer boxes so hopefully they will lay their eggs in them as it is a safe enclosured area away from many predators.

 

I will keep you posted.

 

FM

[jonno 357]

http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/amphibia...urus_cristatus/

 

Some video clips of GC Newts

 

Jonno

[Quist]

Our frogspawn got mostly frosted. I think the newts ate all the surviving taddies. Now the newts are laying and they've got the pond to themselves.

[darebear]

@ pet tadpoles