Identifying tadpoles

[Listener]

Hello people,
I made a diy pond in my garden and have some ponds plants in.

I would like to get some frogs to help clean the garden from slugs, flies, etc. But how to get them ?

Please see pictures, there are a few tadpoles in it, but think none are frogs…. Can you help to identify them, please ?
There are tiny ones near those kind of slugs, can you see them ?

Thank you

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

Sorry, but can barely even see the tadpoles, and without some information about what kinds of frogs and toads you have nearby, I think it would be impossible to tell just from looking at them.

I'm going to look for a web site I used a few years ago when my son & I "rescued" some tadpoles from a flooded field. I'll include that as soon as I find it.

This is what we did: Of course, had the taddies in a well-lit glass tank so it was easy to observe them for all the identifying traits [didn't even know if they were frogs or toads].

Using the "ID" chart and a magnifying glass, we'd look at them mostly when they were feeding off the glass 'cause you could see all of their anatomical parts much better. You'll understand better once you see the chart I refer to. It was fun, and we managed to raise about a dozen to be released in their field-of-origin. They were Southern Spotted Leopard frogs!

 

[addy1]

here is a guide

http://www.trentu.ca/biology/berrill/IdentificationTable.htm

 

[Mmathis]

Thanks, Addy!

http://www.cnah.org/pdf_files/430.pdf

http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/tadpole/tutorial.htm

Of course, Listener is from the UK, and these are all North American critters, but you get the idea. Surely there is a similar site that addresses toads & frogs from the UK.

 

[Nepen]

wow these guides are helpful. Thank you. I hoping to identify the tadpoles I ordered and that are still alived (counted 3 yesterday) from the hungry goldfish but they are so fast and hid under the rocks.. I'll just wait untilt hey come out

 

[Listener]

Thank you for all your input.
I think the long 'slugs' are pond leech (see this link http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/pond/coverpage.shtml ) as I put in google images and came a lot of them.

but the smaller ones, maybe flies growing in the water ? could that be ? (I've seen a few flies stopping on top of the water, one more reason to get a frog to eat them).

the 'wood lice' seem to be water slaters (http://www.pondconservation.org.uk/bigponddip/IdentifyingPond+Creatures/Invertebrates+in+your+pond)

I'll keep searching for the tadpoles

 

[JBtheExplorer]

If you want tadpoles, look in vernal ponds anytime between March-July. Vernal ponds are bodies of water that usually dry up by Summer, just enough time for tadpoles to turn into frogs, and they dont support fish life so they wont get eaten. Sometimes you can find thousands at once if they're freshly "hatched"... sometimes you wont see any.

I personally have a few tadpoles right now including 6 toads, 6 chorus frogs, and 2 green frogs. I'm hoping the Greens stick around. Chorus frogs usually head into wooded areas.

I don't know if your area has any specific laws about catching tadpoles, you may want to check that out before you catch any.


And just because, here's my first toad of the year to transform

 

[Mmathis]

If you want tadpoles, look in vernal ponds anytime between March-July. Vernal ponds are bodies of water that usually dry up by Summer, just enough time for tadpoles to turn into frogs, and they dont support fish life so they wont get eaten. Sometimes you can find thousands at once if they're freshly "hatched"... sometimes you wont see any.

I personally have a few tadpoles right now including 6 toads, 6 chorus frogs, and 2 green frogs. I'm hoping the Greens stick around. Chorus frogs usually head into wooded areas.

I don't know if your area has any specific laws about catching tadpoles, you may want to check that out before you catch any.


And just because, here's my first toad of the year to transform

Do you know what kind of toad it is? I really like all the speckles!

 

[JoaniePA]

Be careful what you wish for. I have had two or three frogs living in and near my pond for three years. They showed up again this spring, but then the toads came. At one point we had over 3 dozen toads in the water at the same time. They made a terrible mess of the plants at the edges, left literally thousands of tads in the pond, and kept us awake for nights on end. As soon as I hear the first trill next spring I will be relocating them to some distant pond. The frogs have disappeared completely.

 

[addy1]

We have a mix of toads and frogs. The toads lay first, the frogs next. The bog has around 6 frogs living in it. I saw two little tiny ones yesterday

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Do you know what kind of toad it is? I really like all the speckles!

American Toad. In their early stages of life they have an awesome glittery look.