# frog spawn



## ephiedoodle (Oct 22, 2008)

hi
i'm asking this for my mum.
every year she gets frog spawn,
could someone hazzard a guess as to why the tadpoles never
change to frogs ?


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## kettykev (May 15, 2009)

Maybe they are toads:whistling2:

On a serious note though, some more information would help
Do they hatch out?
Do they grow into large tadpoles?
Do they hatch and then disappear,eaten etc?
Do you have fish in the pond?
Are there newts in the pond?


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## ephiedoodle (Oct 22, 2008)

hi
they hatch,and grow into quite nice size tadpoles,quite big i think
maybe toads then ?
no fish in one of the containers,or newts in the other,she says
they just die,she covered the container with chicken wire
so the birds can't get to them.
she's having this happen every year,we even took some to the school
nursery in a tank,and although they are free swimming they don't seem to be
advancing.
in the school nursery tank there is weed,and some algae growing.


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## Tehanu (Nov 12, 2006)

No way for them to climb out? This is the most frequently overlooked consideration, the adults are much more able to get into anything they can spawn in, but the metamorphs need just the right kindof pond and access out of it 

Do they develop legs normally or die while still fully "tadpole" shaped?

Frogs don't select places to spawn that definitely have enough food or access for their offspring, it may be that the "containers" are simply not suitable and the tadpoles are always destined to fail.


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## ephiedoodle (Oct 22, 2008)

hi
yes they could climb out,as the containers are not deep,and mum always
makes sure she has things for critters to climb out onto.
i'm going to pop around there tomorrow and investigate further,
i think she said that they do get legs but that's as far as it goes.
thanks for replying.


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

you keep saying containers what kind of size are they it could be theres not enough oxygen in the containers


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## ephiedoodle (Oct 22, 2008)

sorry,they are deep planters,and she has a small
2ft deep pond too.


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## Tehanu (Nov 12, 2006)

You'd be suprised how bad metamorphs are at climbing out of steep sided ponds let alone smooth sided plastic containers. If the sides are vertical, you can almost guarantee 100% failure.

My money is on this being the downfall; they need at least one part of the waterbody they're living in to be shallow sided, sloping in, preferably with vegetation trailing in and a rough surface.


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## ephiedoodle (Oct 22, 2008)

thank you for replying,
i'll tell her what you've said,and hopefully she'll get
better results.


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