The tadpoles hatched from the frog spawn and looked pretty lively.

They were decanted into a plastic tub full of rain water which was buried
in the ground to form a mini pond.
Some bricks were added to provide a platform for mature froglets to use to
escape.
Plenty of pond weed for food.

Move on several weeks and it is hard to find any tadpoles, and those
located are still tiny and are not moving.

Internet searches suggest that one reason could be very cold water.
It has been very cold this last month with air frosts nearly every night
and it was a very chilly April, and May isn't looking much better given
the sleet and hail.

Has anyone else had problems with tadpoles growing?

Water seems fresh, there is algae and water weed for food.

If not the cold (and the water was screened for predators and a Mayfly
larva evicted to another tub) are there any suggestions as to likely cause?

Cheers

Dave R

--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
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On 05/05/2021 19:30, David wrote:
> The tadpoles hatched from the frog spawn and looked pretty lively.
>
> They were decanted into a plastic tub full of rain water which was buried
> in the ground to form a mini pond.
> Some bricks were added to provide a platform for mature froglets to use to
> escape.
> Plenty of pond weed for food.
>
> Move on several weeks and it is hard to find any tadpoles, and those
> located are still tiny and are not moving.
>
> Internet searches suggest that one reason could be very cold water.
> It has been very cold this last month with air frosts nearly every night
> and it was a very chilly April, and May isn't looking much better given
> the sleet and hail.
>
> Has anyone else had problems with tadpoles growing?
>
> Water seems fresh, there is algae and water weed for food.
>
> If not the cold (and the water was screened for predators and a Mayfly
> larva evicted to another tub) are there any suggestions as to likely cause?
>
> Cheers
>
>
>
> Dave R
>
>

Not an expert but sure there will be plenty here.

It took some time for frogs to use my pond, or the butler's basin sunk
in the ground at the allotment. I think you may have to keep trying.

This year, frogs laid in the sink on the allotment so I guess last
year's transport was a success.

Perhaps neglect and patience are the missing ingredients.

This year's tadpoles are fine, but they are not interested in the small
thin strips of cooked chicken I have offered them in the past. Amazing
how the numbers steadily decline. Cannibalism I suppose. Darwin was
right. The survival of the least edible.

On 05/05/2021 19:30, David wrote:
> The tadpoles hatched from the frog spawn and looked pretty lively.
>
> They were decanted into a plastic tub full of rain water which was buried
> in the ground to form a mini pond.
> Some bricks were added to provide a platform for mature froglets to use to
> escape.
> Plenty of pond weed for food.
>
> Move on several weeks and it is hard to find any tadpoles, and those
> located are still tiny and are not moving.

They are carnivorous and if there is nothing else to eat will eat each
other. Try ants eggs, live water fleas or fish food flakes to fatten
them up. It is so cold right now that I expect they are almost in
stasis. We had snow on the ground this afternoon and on Saturday.

I don't expect this year to be any good for plums, pears or cherries -
they have all taken a battering in the past couple of day. Hardly any
flying insects either. Swallows and house martins were wise to be late.

> Internet searches suggest that one reason could be very cold water.
> It has been very cold this last month with air frosts nearly every night
> and it was a very chilly April, and May isn't looking much better given
> the sleet and hail.
>
> Has anyone else had problems with tadpoles growing?
>
> Water seems fresh, there is algae and water weed for food.

I think they want a bit more than rabbit food.

> If not the cold (and the water was screened for predators and a Mayfly
> larva evicted to another tub) are there any suggestions as to likely cause?

My guess is shortage of food leading to cannibalism.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 05/05/2021 20:37, Martin Brown wrote:

>
> I don't expect this year to be any good for plums, pears or cherries -
> they have all taken a battering in the past couple of day. Hardly any
> flying insects either. Swallows and house martins were wise to be late.

I have a large "colony" of mason bees (many hundreds of filled tubes)
and haven't seen more than a few this year. They usually come out on
mass just as my cherry tree is in full blossom. So, after a few days of
very heavy winds that have cleared my cherry tree of all blossom and a
possible lack of pollinating insects I too don't give out much hope for
a bumper crop of cherries.

My crop last year wasn't too good - despite many cherries on the tree a
complete lack of rain for a couple or three months followed by a wet
week meant that the first of the cherries swelled with little taste
followed by quickly splitting skins and mould setting in. The very small
crop gathered in the in the sweet spot before spoiling were nice :)

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Wed, 05 May 2021 20:37:36 +0100, Martin Brown wrote:

> On 05/05/2021 19:30, David wrote:
>> The tadpoles hatched from the frog spawn and looked pretty lively.
>>
>> They were decanted into a plastic tub full of rain water which was
>> buried in the ground to form a mini pond.
>> Some bricks were added to provide a platform for mature froglets to use
>> to escape.
>> Plenty of pond weed for food.
>>
>> Move on several weeks and it is hard to find any tadpoles, and those
>> located are still tiny and are not moving.
>
> They are carnivorous and if there is nothing else to eat will eat each
> other. Try ants eggs, live water fleas or fish food flakes to fatten
> them up. It is so cold right now that I expect they are almost in
> stasis. We had snow on the ground this afternoon and on Saturday.
>
> I don't expect this year to be any good for plums, pears or cherries -
> they have all taken a battering in the past couple of day. Hardly any
> flying insects either. Swallows and house martins were wise to be late.
>
>> Internet searches suggest that one reason could be very cold water.
>> It has been very cold this last month with air frosts nearly every
>> night and it was a very chilly April, and May isn't looking much better
>> given the sleet and hail.
>>
>> Has anyone else had problems with tadpoles growing?
>>
>> Water seems fresh, there is algae and water weed for food.
>
> I think they want a bit more than rabbit food.
>
>> If not the cold (and the water was screened for predators and a Mayfly
>> larva evicted to another tub) are there any suggestions as to likely
>> cause?
>
> My guess is shortage of food leading to cannibalism.

Received wisdom is that tadpoles start out vegetarian and live on algae
and other plants.

Later on in their development (around when the develop front legs) they
become carnivores and we have some late stage tadpole food for when (if)
that happens.

One reason we were checking the tadpoles was to see how far along they
were with their development.

Answer was - not very far along at all.

I'm assuming that if they had turned carnivore there would be a small
number of large tadpoles looking suspiciously well fed.

Cheers

Dave R

--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

--
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On 6 May 2021 11:15:17 GMT, David <wibble@btinternet.com> wrote:

>On Wed, 05 May 2021 20:37:36 +0100, Martin Brown wrote:
>
>> On 05/05/2021 19:30, David wrote:
>>> The tadpoles hatched from the frog spawn and looked pretty lively.
>>>
>>> They were decanted into a plastic tub full of rain water which was
>>> buried in the ground to form a mini pond.
>>> Some bricks were added to provide a platform for mature froglets to use
>>> to escape.
>>> Plenty of pond weed for food.
>>>
>>> Move on several weeks and it is hard to find any tadpoles, and those
>>> located are still tiny and are not moving.
>>
>> They are carnivorous and if there is nothing else to eat will eat each
>> other. Try ants eggs, live water fleas or fish food flakes to fatten
>> them up. It is so cold right now that I expect they are almost in
>> stasis. We had snow on the ground this afternoon and on Saturday.
>>
>> I don't expect this year to be any good for plums, pears or cherries -
>> they have all taken a battering in the past couple of day. Hardly any
>> flying insects either. Swallows and house martins were wise to be late.
>>
>>> Internet searches suggest that one reason could be very cold water.
>>> It has been very cold this last month with air frosts nearly every
>>> night and it was a very chilly April, and May isn't looking much better
>>> given the sleet and hail.
>>>
>>> Has anyone else had problems with tadpoles growing?
>>>
>>> Water seems fresh, there is algae and water weed for food.
>>
>> I think they want a bit more than rabbit food.
>>
>>> If not the cold (and the water was screened for predators and a Mayfly
>>> larva evicted to another tub) are there any suggestions as to likely
>>> cause?
>>
>> My guess is shortage of food leading to cannibalism.
>
>Received wisdom is that tadpoles start out vegetarian and live on algae
>and other plants.
>
>Later on in their development (around when the develop front legs) they
>become carnivores and we have some late stage tadpole food for when (if)
>that happens.
>
>One reason we were checking the tadpoles was to see how far along they
>were with their development.
>
>Answer was - not very far along at all.
>
>I'm assuming that if they had turned carnivore there would be a small
>number of large tadpoles looking suspiciously well fed.
>

I'm not an expert but have adjoining rockery ponds, about 3' above
ground in this property that we moved into 5yrs ago. Last year there
were no tadpoles and the water wasn't nice so totally emptied, cleaned
and refilled (water butt rainwater, water butts also cleaned) and we
had 4 lots of spawn in March. Now have both ponds brimming with
tadpoles some bigger than others quite happily going along the edges
of the ponds eating the algae. Not added any food.

My understanding also is as they turn into froglets they get teeth and
become carniverous and hopefully will start devouring the daphnia that
are forming in the pond.

Apart from cleaning the ponds I'm hoping to leave nature to nature.

In the East Midlands and there's been thin ice during the growth
period but otherwise a sheltered spot.

Not sure if this is of any benefit to the OP other than the tadpoles
seem ok here.

--
AnthonyL

Why ever wait to finish a job before starting the next?

On Thu, 06 May 2021 18:54:24 GMT, nospam@please.invalid (AnthonyL)
wrote:

>
>Apart from cleaning the ponds I'm hoping to leave nature to nature.
>
If you want your ponds to be full of interesting wildlife, don't put
fish in them, otherwise you'll only have fish.

--
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall, very mild, sheltered
from the West, but open to the North and East.

In message <kkm99gts594up7b0vo9d3flsil6k3oik5f@4ax.com>
Chris Hogg <me@privacy.net> wrote:

>On Thu, 06 May 2021 18:54:24 GMT, nospam@please.invalid (AnthonyL)
>wrote:
>
>>
>>Apart from cleaning the ponds I'm hoping to leave nature to nature.
>>
>If you want your ponds to be full of interesting wildlife, don't put
>fish in them, otherwise you'll only have fish.
>
God damn heron has just eaten all our gold fish, 6 in all.
Thought the pergola over the pond would be a deterrent with
established vines growing all over it but the wild life camera caught
the heron in the act gobbling the fish, some of the fish were nearly ten
years old.
We may restock the pond again with fish and put the netting back which
we had not needed for 18 months until the other morning.

Stephen

--

Chris Hogg <me@privacy.net> wrote:
> On Thu, 06 May 2021 18:54:24 GMT, nospam@please.invalid (AnthonyL)
> wrote:
>
> >
> >Apart from cleaning the ponds I'm hoping to leave nature to nature.
> >
> If you want your ponds to be full of interesting wildlife, don't put
> fish in them, otherwise you'll only have fish.
>
That's not the case in our (small) pond, we have [gold]fish, lots of
them, but we also have newts, tadpoles at the moment, water beetles,
etc. etc.

I'm always spotting surprising new things in there.

--
Chris Green
·

On Fri, 7 May 2021 09:33:11 +0100, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:

>Chris Hogg <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>> On Thu, 06 May 2021 18:54:24 GMT, nospam@please.invalid (AnthonyL)
>> wrote:
>>
>> >
>> >Apart from cleaning the ponds I'm hoping to leave nature to nature.
>> >
>> If you want your ponds to be full of interesting wildlife, don't put
>> fish in them, otherwise you'll only have fish.
>>
>That's not the case in our (small) pond, we have [gold]fish, lots of
>them, but we also have newts, tadpoles at the moment, water beetles,
>etc. etc.
>
>I'm always spotting surprising new things in there.

We had dragonfly larvae that eventually hatched, damselfly larvae that
eventually hatched, water boatmen, pond skaters, and of course
thousands of tadpoles. But after a friend gave us some goldfish, only
pond skaters and tadpoles, the latter rapidly reducing in number over
a few weeks and the goldfish got fatter! Perhaps if we'd fed the
goldfish they would have left some of the dragonfly and damselfly eggs
to hatch out!

--
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall, very mild, sheltered
from the West, but open to the North and East.

On 05/05/2021 19:30, David wrote:
> Has anyone else had problems with tadpoles growing?

I just haven't seen any for a while. I should have looked today when it
was warm. There were lots when first laid.

Of course it's possible the newts have eaten them. Or those **** ducks I
keep chasing off...

They'll be back next year. There's been a pond in that area for at least
100 years.

Andy