Getting tadpoles early

[michaeljc70]

I am in the Chicago area and by the time all the garden centers and Koi supply places get their tadpoles, it is usually late spring. Then I don't have frogs until late in the season (usually August).

I am wondering if there are any sources for getting them sooner than that. Doubt they would make it through the mail.

I also looked into buying frogs at a petshop, but they seem to have only varieties that are more tropical not suited to this climate.

 

[addy1]

I had tadpoles shipped to me in arizona a few years back, they made it just fine and grew great. Do a search for places that sale them on line.

Here is a link to some places

https://www.google.com/search?q=buy...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

 

[coondog]

ebay has bullfrog tads for sale also......

 

[CountryEscape]

Michaeljc70, I live in IL, about 4 hours south of Chicago. I had tons of bullfrog tadpoles in my farm pond in the spring. You probably don't want them too early, before our waters warm up. If I knew how to ship them, I'd be happy to share some with you, just pay the shipping cost, but I have no idea how they are shipped. I don't have access to oxygen, if they needed that. I probably have smaller
frog tadpoles, too, just never looked closely. I had bullfrogs, Northern Cricket Frogs, and leopard frogs come to my pond last summer, and it was the first year for my pond! I know that the larger frogs, probably the bull frogs, are staying in the water, as I saw them in December when I was pulling string algae and they were hiding in it. Saw one again couple of weeks ago when I was pulling stuff out of the bog. I will probably have tadpoles in the bog this year, since it has about 2" of water in it all the time when the pond is up and running.
I'm sure you will find tadpoles on Ebay, and probably really cheap! I know I have bullfrogs in my farm pond, and the tadpoles from that wre about 3-4" long last spring! If you have friends who are also interested, you could make a trip down this way to gather some. I also have pond wiegelia growing wild, and you can have all you want of that. It floats and has tons of roots that help oxygenate the water, plus they have tiny yellow flowers. The bonus is that the koi didn't seem to bother it at all last year. I also had a baby red slider turtle find my koi pond, and am hoping he has hibernated either in the bog, or nearby. He/she was so much fun to watch! Learned to feed right along with the koi, and figured out to stay back or get "tumbled" when the koi would get aggressive with the food.
So, I have lots of critters in my pond. Let me know if you would like anything. It's probably not worth the trip alone, but if you have friends with ponds, might be a fun weekend trip.

 

[pecan]

My son in law wanted frogs in my pond badly after we finished it last year so he found a local pond that had lots of tadpoles. He went out one night and came back with a bucket full. Put them in my pond and they disappeared. We never saw them again I have mosquito fish and comets and I think the skeeter fish may have eaten them all We don't have many indigenous frogs and turtles in Utah though since most of the state is desert and doesn't stay wet enough for them. I don't suspect we will ever have any find our pond. So far though the quail, dove and dragon flies have found and love it.

 

[addy1]

I had a ton more tad poles in my non fish ponds, then the large fish pond. Maybe set up a small stock tank for some plants put the tads in there. They will take care of any mosquito larvae. When I was cleaning my large pond for the winter I had to keep pulling the tads out of the stuff and tossing them back in, these guys were all an inch plus in size. Some over winter as tads, some morph the same summer.

 

[michaeljc70]

My son in law wanted frogs in my pond badly after we finished it last year so he found a local pond that had lots of tadpoles. He went out one night and came back with a bucket full. Put them in my pond and they disappeared. We never saw them again I have mosquito fish and comets and I think the skeeter fish may have eaten them all We don't have many indigenous frogs and turtles in Utah though since most of the state is desert and doesn't stay wet enough for them. I don't suspect we will ever have any find our pond. So far though the quail, dove and dragon flies have found and love it.

I got a bucket full froma friend's natural pond. There had to be hundreds. They were smaller than 1/2" long. My Koi ate them in a day or two. The one's i buy are more like 2-3" long. The Koi don't seem to bother them.

I am going to try a few petshops that sell Koi. The garden center type places don't seem to get them until May because they keep them outside. I'd like to get them going in Mar or April even if I have to keep them inside until May.

I actually had 2 frogs last the winter for the first time last year. My pond is small and lined, so that doesn't leave them much place to go, so I was surprised. I believe a local cat got a hold of them because I didn't see them after August.

 

[sissy]

gosh you mean to tell me I have not populated the world with frogs .I threw tons of tadpoles in the creek down below the last 4 years .I get at least 6 kinds of frogs here green ones brown ones and frogs with sticky feet .I got some that sound like someone is playing a banjo and some that sound like a bird tweeting

 

[CountryEscape]

There you go, Sissy is populating the world with frogs! What next.... :twisted:

 

[CometKeith]

I think a responsible discussion of bullfrogs should include this cautionary. American Bullfrogs are considered invasive species and will eat almost anything including smaller frogs, birds etc. The EPA recommends: not to buy this species over the internet, and do not purchase or encourage bullfrog use in home water gardens or ponds. http://yosemite.epa....08?OpenDocument I had one for about a year and a half, but wouldn't get another one after learning about them.

 

[addy1]

I don't have bullfrogs, that I know of, if they end up here it is because they have come this way through the woods all by themselves. So far have seen maryland green frogs, pickerel frogs, some gray tree frogs. Some unknown frogs, just dark green, but small.

I had some neat frogs in arizona, my late hubby went out to a pond in the desert, picked up some bullfrogs, those suckers ate every frog I had.

 

[CountryEscape]

Now that you mention it, Addy, in the spring I had tons of northern cricket frogs, but in the later summer, they were all gone. I just figured they moved away from the water, as they only breed during the spring. Will be interesting to see if they return this spring. I sure hope the bullfrogs are not eating them, but even if they are, there surely will be tons more that will show up. I saw the bullfrogs eating bugs and things I would throw to them (caterpillars, big bugs, fish food, etc.) but never saw them go after another frog. But, I'm obviously not there watching all the time. Will be more vigilant and see if I notice any cannabalism!

 

[SmithRiverPond]

I looked in the pond yesterday and saw a clear sac with eggs in it. Originally being a city girl from San Diego, I had no idea what they were, so I asked my "country boy" neighbor. Frog eggs... I was so excited you would have thought I found gold. Upon closer look, I found numerous sacs attached to the roots of the parrot feather. Almost couldn't see them for the pea soup!

We have had tadpoles for the couple years we have lived here, but this is the first year I have paid any attention to the pond. It was previously filled with rocks until last spring when I brought it to life. Can't wait for spring to arrive!

 

[sissy]

frog egg gold wonder how much that goes for on the open market .You may be sorry after they gunk up your filter .I had to take buckets of them down to the creek because they were clogging up my filter .

 

[j.w]

Yippee you are going to be a frog parent Smith!