Taddys

[Pondwatcher]

Can anyone tell me why the tadpoles in my pond are still tadpoles.
The frog spawn hatched in May. Some have now grown quite large but others are still tiny.
They do have enough to eat ( I think). Surely by now they should be froglets.
Any ideas??? Theres the natural food in the pond & also we put in bits of lettuce.

[chooonz]

I noticed this as well from year to year when I had a pond.

I'm no expert but there are many factors involved:
1. Genetics. Not all frogs are exactly the same. Some will grow faster than others, just as that is the case with other animals and also humans.
2. Food. There may or may not be enough of the right type. I noticed when I had a pond that the tadpoles liked to eat the algae that gathered on stems, rocks and the sides of the pond.
3. Temperature. Remember that reaction rate doubles for every 10C rise in temperature. If you're in a cold part of the country then your tadpoles will grow more slowly than in a pond in, for instance, London.
4. However, colder water can contain more disolved oxygen, as long as you have sufficient plants to produce it. This can offset slower reaction rates due to lower temperature.

Anyway, this is off the top of my head so maybe wait for an expert, lol.

[galanthus]

Some will probably overwinter as taddies in your pond and emerge next summer as mine did. Nature lets them develop so that they don't all emerge at the same time, thereby covering them if there's not a lot of food or there's an influx of a particular predator. Nature's way of not putting all it's eggs in one basket type thing

[galanthus]

posted same time as chooonz lol

[ron1863]

I also noticed hundreds of tadpoles in a pool near my house the other day, do frogs and toads only spawin in spring??

[chooonz]

Originally Posted by ron1863

I also noticed hundreds of tadpoles in a pool near my house the other day, do frogs and toads only spawin in spring??

I think anything is possible. I was reading about certain crabs I was catching in rockpools which were only supposed to be spawning in spring and yet they were spawning in spring AND summer.

[shei111]

I had about 120 tads born 27 march 08, put them in wildlife pond 2 months ago, turned into frogs and now about 1 inch long. shei

[cat72uk]

mine have all hopped away now
i did find 2 the other day when picking up rubbish in the garden that was about 30 feet away from the pond
i guess thay will all come back next year to spawn
how long dose it take for them to get full size

[galanthus]

My ones from last year are near enough full size now tho may grow a little. This year, I had no spawn, but last years tadpoles that overwintered are larger than the new emergents last year, they were tiny frogs last year. Think they are able to mate next year.

[shei111]

Wildlife in water is an amazing thing you never know what to expect do you. shei.