tadpoles

fryup

My son collected some frog spawn and put in a jar, now they've changed into wiggling tadpoles.

So when is the best time to release them?? and if i release them in my back garden will i be over run with frogs in the coming years??

Baraboo

Yes your garden will probably be overrun if it is a suitable habitat for the tadpoles. I might not be and even if it were and you do not mind having lots of frogs in your garden, frogs are a protected species and he should return them to the area that he got the spawn from. This is obviously a suitable habitat for them or the adult female would not have been able to lay the eggs. Keeping them in a small jar without food and with limited oxygen will kill them fairly fast.

fryup

Baraboo wrote: »

Keeping them in a small jar without food and with limited oxygen will kill them fairly fast.

what food do they need??

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Release them where you got them. Alternatively any established garden pond. Your garden will not be "over run" with frogs as very few will survive and anyway frogs are good for the garden. Nowhere that I'm aware of has ever been over run.
Initially tadpoles eat the jelly around the egg; once this has gone they start on the algae on stones in the water, eventually, they become carnivores and eat the tadpoles which didn't make it.
It is actually illegal to collect frogspawn and in fairness to the tadpoles you should release them now.

luckat

Wait till they have legs, then put something into their habitat that will allow them to make their way out of the water (and back in). Put it near a nice place with lots of undergrowth and shelter for them, and near a pond.

Keep a big container of fresh water for a day and put it in to freshen up their water while they're little, by the way. You don't want their water getting too soupy and ripe. But the tapwater needs to stand for a day so it's less chemical-y.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

luckat wrote: »

Wait till they have legs, then put something into their habitat that will allow them to make their way out of the water (and back in). Put it near a nice place with lots of undergrowth and shelter for them, and near a pond.

Keep a big container of fresh water for a day and put it in to freshen up their water while they're little, by the way. You don't want their water getting too soupy and ripe. But the tapwater needs to stand for a day so it's less chemical-y.

Sorry but wrong. Release them back where you got them or into a proper pond (some neighbours may be delighted to have fogs in their pond). It will be some time before they are ready to leave the water and take to the land. Also, when the back legs of tadpoles emerge, they completely become carnivores within a short period of time. If there are not sufficient insects, larvae, microbes or other small animals in the water, then they eat each other. Keeping them in a jar or bucket means they have insufficient food and oxygen And it's illegal.

Funkyzeit

I always thought removing frogspwan was illegal? (unless it's for school research and the like?)

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Funkyzeit wrote: »

I always thought removing frogspwan was illegal? (unless it's for school research and the like?)

It is! Schools have a licence to do so.

fryup

Funkyzeit wrote: »

I always thought removing frogspwan was illegal? (unless it's for school research and the like?)

Bennett Noisy Yolk wrote: »

It is! Schools have a licence to do so.

:eek: You mean my kid is a criminal!!

how long is the jail sentence or is there a fine??

please don't tell

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

That's the attitude to have to nature and the law alright.:mad:

Amtmann

I remember years ago I was walking over a cattle grid to access a country lane and I heard a commotion beneath my feet. I looked down and saw literally hundreds of huge frogs - I mean these were absolutely enormous. There was a large pond nearby and I guess they were trying to access it. I got a farmer to lift the grid with his tractor and we removed the frogs and placed them by the pond. It took us hours to free them all (they appeared to be trapped). About a week later I looked down the cattle grid again, and again there were hundreds of frogs inside. That was around 1997 I think.

dathi1

Can someone here specify the law where it says its illegal to take frog spawn? News to me.
We should be encouraging people to introduce frogs to new areas and multiply. I have 2 ponds, one for Koi and one for frogs. I started the frog pond 8 years ago and now we have a healthy frog population across 10 mature gardens in south Dublin. Slug and snail population took a major hit. excellent!

Post above:

Dig a hole to take a bucket and anchor in well with stones arouned the edges. Plant some pond weed (Elodea Condensa) which will keep the water clear and allow surface algae to grow on the sides. (Tadpoles eat it) June / July is when they move out.

macdonagh

S.I. No. 282/1980:

WILDLIFE ACT 1976 (PROTECTION OF WILD ANIMALS) REGULATIONS, 1980.

WILDLIFE ACT 1976 (PROTECTION OF WILD ANIMALS) REGULATIONS, 1980.

I, PATRICK POWER, Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 23 of the Wildlife Act, 1976 (No. 39 of 1976), as adapted by the Fisheries (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1978 ( S.I. No. 195 of 1978 ), after consultation with the Minister for Agriculture, hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Wildlife Act, 1976 (Protection of Wild Animals) Regulations, 1980.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of October, 1980.

3. The Common Frog, Common Lizard, Common Newt, Pygmy Shrew and Stoat are each hereby declared to be an animal to which section 23 of the Wildlife Act, 1976 (No. 39 of 1976), applies.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 10th day of September, 1980.

PATRICK POWER,

Minister for Fisheries and Forestry.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The effect of these Regulations is to add the Common Frog, Common Lizard, Common Newt, Pygmy Shrew and Stoat to the list of protected species mentioned in the Fifth Schedule to the Wildlife Act, 1976 . It will be an offence to hunt, take or kill any of these species or wilfully to interfere with or destroy their breeding places.

luckat

The odd thing is that in England they encourage spreading of frog populations, while here they forbid it.

If you happen to have a local population of frogs, they'll gobble up a fair number of slugs and snails (assuming you're not using poison, of course, which will kill the frogs too).

Incidentally, I'm told that if the tadpoles cluster around the edge of a pond or well it's a forecast of a terrible summer; if they swarm in the centre, the summer will be good. Something to do with water temperature, I suspect.

gary82

There is a marshy wetland at the bottom of a field near us and almost every year frogspawn is laid in it.... and as the weather improved each year the land dried up leaving some jelly gunk and a load of little black dots on the mud. I thought maybe the frogs come back to where they themselves were born but this couldn't be so as it dried up every year.

Anyway one year when I was a kid... just when it dried up I got a bucket and collected a large clump of frogspawn. We had a rigid plastic paddling pool in the garder so I filled that with water from a nearby stream... added some rocks and mud which settled. I changed the water in the tub once a week so it always stayed clean (looked clear). As they emerged I added plants from the area they came from and they ate that... then later added slices of bacon (odd I know but they were mad for it) which was soaked in water to try dissolve some the saltiness. Eventually they grew into tiny frogs and swam up onto the rocks.

There were about 200 of em in the end and I brought them back near to where I got them. So I saved a load of frogs from drying up on mud... should this be illegal? Or maybe I have created pig-eating monsters?!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I appreciate what you are saying but it's not a matter of should this be illegal. The law is there as it stands. Campaign for a chage with you European Parliment candidates if you want. They made the law.

Alun

Bennett Noisy Yolk wrote: »

I appreciate what you are saying but it's not a matter of should this be illegal. The law is there as it stands. Campaign for a chage with you European Parliment candidates if you want. They made the law.

Maybe the "European" frogs for whom this legislation was made are more intelligent and always lay their spawn in viable ponds, but the ones here have a habit of laying it in shallow puddles that'll dry out as soon as that elusive thing called Irish sunshine makes it's once yearly appearance for a few days.

I'm usually a stickler for the law, especially when it comes to wildlife protection and preservation, but if taking frog spawn from a site where it clearly hasn't got a rat in hells' chance of surviving, and placing it somewhere where it has a fighting chance is illegal then, as Charles Dickens's Mr. Bumble once said, the law is an ass, and I'll carry on doing it.

Davaeo09

Right guys here's my predicament. I live in Kilkenny, and I am situated very close to the Millennium Wood's here in Kilkenny.

The council have made alterations to the way the streams used to flow and I have watched the frog spawn numbers slowly decrease over the years. ( as well as newts, we used to have loads around here but now there no were to be seen ). With the recent good weather, and no real torrential rains lately, I think its time I took action to save what little tadpoles (or almost frogs) there are at this stage.

Can any one help me with a plan of action?


P.S I am only 19 and I never really paid attention to the council work when it was happening, and it might be to little to late at this stage.

Kaldorn

I will volunteer to help you out but i worry that at this stage they will have imprinted on that particular pond and even if you do move them to a viable location then when they are old enough to breed the cycle will start all over again as they will breed in a puddle.i have been searching streams for newts for ten years now and havent found any since i saw some in an abandoned swimming pool years ago..id love to see them in the wild.

Davaeo09

I used to find them down in cattle grids, under rocks and under logs. The tend not to live in the water for too long.

As for the tadpoles, I am going to take a trip up to the woods later and see if I can find a small few tadpoles and put them in another little pond type thing about 7 miles from here.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I know your intentions are good but, to be honest with you, I wouldn't bother. The mortality rate among frogspawn and tadpoles is extremely high and their numbers are high to counter this. An effort to recover "a small few tadpoles" is not worth it. If the pond you are taking them to is suitable then there will be frogs there already.

private

Just looked in my daughters paddling pool. Full of tadpoles! What do I do? Obviously I won't disturb them but should I feed them?

Davaeo09

wow strange seeing my old posts, my concerns were purely for the newts as I was fully aware of how rare they are, its been years since I say one now. Il have to check down at those woods some time. I guess with the heat wave though every thing amphibious was well well hidden

OpenYourEyes

private wrote: »

Just looked in my daughters paddling pool. Full of tadpoles! What do I do? Obviously I won't disturb them but should I feed them?

You could put in some dandelion leaves to feed them, but tbh you need to transfer them to a pond somewhere if they're going to survive.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

How long has the water been sitting in this paddling pool? Very strange!

private

The waters been there 2 weeks and I have some dandelions. I live near the Phoenix park so I guess I could try and fish them out when they're bigger and bring them to the duck pond or the dog pond. My dad said he put a few frogs in the garden 40 years ago but we never saw them though we don't have many snails and we have a lot of compost. It's very bizarre alright

fryup

i thought march/april was tadpole season??

magicbastarder

are you sure they're not fly or mosquito larvae? you'd probably have noticed the froogspawn, and it's perfect weather for flies!

private

No I'm not sure what they are but they look like tiny tadpoles, big head long skinny body. will post pic tomorrow as lashing now. Garden will be so glad!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Oh for goodness sake just empty the water out and give the pool a good cleaning. These are not Tadpoles. A. It's too late in the year, B. They would not have been laid and hatched in the 2 sweltering weeks just past. C. You have mosquito larvae or suchlike.
That's why I asked how long the water was there. It is just stagnant foul water now.

private

Ugh! I think they're Mosquitos now. A good cleaning will happen.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

private wrote: »

Ugh! I think they're Mosquitos now. A good cleaning will happen.

Yes and for the sake of your child's health empty paddling pools every day. Goodness knows what was swallowed in 2 week old stagnant water.

Mothman

Or put in some goldfish, they love mosquito larvae

But yes, empty pool before they hatch....

fryup

Mothman can you answer this query over in gardening

kylith

If they're mosquito larvae they'll be small and will spend their time at the surface with their tails touching the top of the water; they'll swim downward if they feel threatened.

private

They were mosquito larve alright :eek:. Hadn't emptied the pool before we went on holidays. Thought it would be nice for the birds because of the dry weather. Just goes to show you how unusual the weather has been.

All cleaned and emptied now. Won't be using it again in a hurry if we have to change the water daily as I pay water charges. My little girl wasn't that keen anyway.

recalled

No offence but common sense dictates that you don't leave a pool of stagnant water sitting for more than a couple of days in any Summer. Even a bucket of water will attract mosquitoes etc and algae plus bacteria.

On that note it is also recommended to freshen water in bird baths regularly.

recalled

Just to add: You can add a cup or so of regular chlorine bleach to the water as a disinfectant. Chlorine bleach is sodium hypochlorite, exactly the same chemical used by most commercial swimming pools. At most add a cup every couple of days. This will not cause any significant skin irritation, but children should shower after using the pool when using any chemicals in the water.

If you can, cover the pool whenever it is not being used.

These measures would extend the life of the water to about a week.