Frog and Toad Spawn

[Madelinew]

I have 2 wildlife ponds in my garden which regularly attract frogs and toads. With the cold snap coming and the knowledge that some spawn can be laid quite early, I'm concerned about losing any to the elements. I'm sure I read somewhere recently that you can cover the spawn in bubble wrap if frost threatens. Is this true?

And how do I persuade the 2 dopey toads I keep having to fish out of the pond inlet that if they continue to block it by choosing that as their hibernating spot, they won't have any fresh water in the spring?!

[aeshna5]

I haven't heard about the bubble wrap, but an alternative is to remove some in a bucket + keep it somewhere not too heated, like a garage, cool greenhouse, porch, etc.

The spawn frosted heavily will perish + often get attacked by a fungus, but some of that below may survive. Fortunately my frogs aren't showing yet.

I think maybe we mollycoddle too much- these creatures have coped with snow + ice for longer than we've been around on this planet. I get c80 Common Frogs visiting my small pond + the pond resembles a giant samolena pudding, resulting in probably tens of thousands of tiny tadpoles. If they all survived there would be a plague, but natural forces of climate, predation + disease maintain an equilibrium.

I'm not trying to stop you saving any spawn, but they will cope without our intervention, provided we give them good habitat.

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by aeshna5

I haven't heard about the bubble wrap, but an alternative is to remove some in a bucket + keep it somewhere not too heated, like a garage, cool greenhouse, porch, etc.

The spawn frosted heavily will perish + often get attacked by a fungus, but some of that below may survive. Fortunately my frogs aren't showing yet.

I think maybe we mollycoddle too much- these creatures have coped with snow + ice for longer than we've been around on this planet. I get c80 Common Frogs visiting my small pond + the pond resembles a giant samolena pudding, resulting in probably tens of thousands of tiny tadpoles. If they all survived there would be a plague, but natural forces of climate, predation + disease maintain an equilibrium.

I'm not trying to stop you saving any spawn, but they will cope without our intervention, provided we give them good habitat.

Our frogs seem to have gone back to bed thank goodness.