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Magically appearing Tadpoles.

Last post 30-06-2009 10:01 PM by richardpeeej. 3 replies.

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  • 30/06/2009 09:06 PM
    • jennyandal
    • York
    • 30 Jun 2009
    • 2
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    Hi, new to this so hope I have posted in the correct place.

    My wife and I moved house in the winter and love our new garden (previously lived in a terraced house with small court yard).  We've been very good prior to creating a proper water butt system we left various containers to collect rainwater.  Tonight we've noticed that one of those containers have a lot of tadpoles in.  It's deep water (comparatively) and we don't want to kill them.  Does anyone have any advice on what/how to feed them?  And what sort of objects to put in the container to help them 'leave the nest' so to speak when it is time?

    Thanks in advance

    Al
  • 30/06/2009 09:22 PM
    In reply to
    • Lisa MTT
    • Cambs
    • 08 Mar 2009
    • 42
    Top 150 Contributor
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    Are they really tadpoles? I'd have thought you'd have seen the spawn beforehand.

    There are lots of types of flies who lay eggs in water, which you would not see. They quickly hatch into larvae that wriggle and could look like little tadpoles. Try Googling "simulium" to see blackfly larvae, which are fat at one end.

    Can you take some photos?

    L

    "Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is." H Jackson Browne
  • 30/06/2009 09:39 PM
    In reply to
    • jennyandal
    • York
    • 30 Jun 2009
    • 2
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    I will take some photos, hopefully up load them tomorrow.  In hindsight they are extremely small, the reason we assumed tadpoles is that we did have a frog living in and around the garden amongst the pots on the patio.  Thanks for your time.
  • 30/06/2009 10:01 PM
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    Hi jennyandal and welcome I once had a smallish, shallow water feature with fountain in my garden the edge of it was only a few inches higher than the ground. I had tadpoles in there, a frog must have got in over the side. I put a few stones around the insides for the small frogs to get out, I also put a slate in there as an extra 'ramp' for them. I did not put any food in there as there was plenty of weed and silty material in the bottom. As you have tadpoles in your water butt a frog must have got in there somehow I suppose, if it is not in there now it must have got out somehow (perhaps when the butt was full. Could you put some form of 'floating ramp? hope this helps -Richard

    Richard