Missing tadpoles?

[cwilk]

I had 2 big clumps of spawn back in march but now have no tadpoles. I far as I remember they got to the just hatched 'hanging on' stage but never got to wriggling. I have lots of resident frogs and a few newts, and have had loads of tadpoles every other year.

We had a freeze after the spawn was laid, could this have made the spawn unviable? Its just unusual that I cant see even a single tadpole

Any ideas?

[dan-fisher]

If i had feathers and a beak i'd say YUM YUMMY YUM YUM YUM !!! Same goes for fish etc just about everything wants to slurp up some lovely frog spawn..

[jonnyblades]

Originally Posted by dan-fisher

If i had feathers and a beak i'd say YUM YUMMY YUM YUM YUM !!! Same goes for fish etc just about everything wants to slurp up some lovely frog spawn..

hahah yep sounds like you had a visitor, called the grey heron!

i had frog spawn this year, about 2 litres of the stuff, only 30 or so have made it to chunky tadpole size! ive heard (or read) to keep them indoors in nice cool but warm place with fresh water, then the viabillity will secome! also watch out for newts!!

[bobbarber]

Hello cwilk , have you checked out for Great Diving Beetles a common beetle in ponds all over the U.K. It`s a very voracious creature and will attack fish much bigger than itself, it is about 1 and 1/4 inches long and just loves tadpoles...Bob

[SheffieldLass]

My guess is the water condition of your pond became unsuitable at a critical point. Or, as happened in one of my ponds this year the cavorting male frogs managed to knock all the spawn (about 10 clumps) into a deeper section, and I only have about 2 tadpoles that have made it. I don't know if it was too cold/dark or whether not oxygenated enough there for it to survive. But I have 3 ponds, all very small .. they all get spawn in, but usually one pond a year is not suitable and the tadpoles do not survive. But it is not always the same pond where this occurs. It varies. Which makes me think that it is something to do with water quality. I've noticed that the jelly of the spawn sometimes seems to almost melt away, so isn't there to feed the developing tadpoles when they need it. Maybe that is due to adverse bacteria or something else?

I think if it were newts or beetles or heron eating the spawn that you would have had some survive, not lose the lot.