Jo - I have the same problem. My pond is two years old & has a healthy insect population. The past week I’ve seen frogs in the pond at night so was eagerly anticipating waking up to spawn one morning! Frustratingly this hasn’t happened & I think it may be because the frogs are juveniles. Frogs don’t breed until they are 2-3 years old so i will just have to be patient.
Hi, Jo and Nick. Can I suggest a jamjar full of frogspawn from a local pond, or someone local willing to donate. Anyone near me (junction 25 M1) can have a bucketful.
You don't stop doing new things because you get old, you get old because you stop doing new things.
My ponds are all still frozen, but there was a heron on one of them yesterday so I suspect the frogs are on the move again! Meant to be back down to -6 tomorrow so no chance of them getting into the ponds any time soon. I have never found spawn in our ponds, but we have millions of small frogs and toads every year so is must be there somewhere! I remember every year my mother would get some spawn from our pond and put it in a large icecream tub with a little sprig of oxygenating weed. Then once it had hatched and they had eaten the egg casings we would give them a little bit of liver or other meat on a bent paperclip. A month or so later the tiny frogletts would be put back into the pond.
I'm new to the forum and live in Hertfordshire. We've had frogs in our pond, up to 15 some years, since at least 1990. This year, they haven't arrived and we're just hoping they are held back by the cold snap.
Yesterday one big clump of frogspawn arrived, and still some big-bellied ladies around. Just before I had repotted the waterlillies, and the water was still pretty painfully cold. A local friend had frogspawn weeks earlier. I wonder whether the relative greater depth of my pond has made it colder and thus postponed spawning.
Daphnedean we are Herts too. Our neighbour passed some spawn to us over the fence only a day or so ago (his Koi were eating it!) and said yesterday they found another clump that morning, so still very much still spawning! I’m sure the weather has had a big impact, we’ve had some really cold nights. Fingers crossed for your frogs!
I have masses of spawn in my pond this year. I've never noticed it before but that doesn't mean it wasn't there! It's been there for a couple of weeks now but got badly frozen in the cold snap. Hopefully not too much damage was done and there was ribbiting going on on Saturday night when we had the bonfire going. I heard it but I think it may have been coming from the ditch rather than the pond. Two frogs were removed from near the fire too in case they leapt in!!! Both boys...apparently.
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I remember every year my mother would get some spawn from our pond and put it in a large icecream tub with a little sprig of oxygenating weed. Then once it had hatched and they had eaten the egg casings we would give them a little bit of liver or other meat on a bent paperclip. A month or so later the tiny frogletts would be put back into the pond.