Froggy dilemma

[Jo Lewis]

Hi,

I have a dilemma and am in need of some advice. I have a container pond in my garden containing some plants and one fish (there were two but one didn't survive the winter). I decided last week to clean it as it was filthy, so I hoovered the gravel at the bottom, pulled out as much blanket weed as I could and changed a third of the water. But as I was refilling, a frog suddenly appeared which I had no idea was in there. I was worried that I would have scared it off but I keep checking and it's still in there.
So my dilemma is, my pond could do with more cleaning as it doesn't have a filter and I'm worried about the temaining fish struggling in there. But I'm also worried that if I keep poking around in there I'm going to scare away the frog.
Any suggestions? Anything else I could add to improve anything? All advice welcomed.

Thanks,

Jo

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I'm also worried that if I keep poking around in there I'm going to scare away the frog.

Anything is possible, but I replaced my entire pond and the frog I had at the time didn't leave. As I was busy doing all the work of digging and everything else that went into it over that week or two, the frog just sat there along the former stream that I kept some water in for him/her. If you look closely, you can actually see it in this photo on a rock on the left side of the small body of water. It just sat there and waited. It did eventually leave, but that was well after the new pond was installed. I think it likely left to find a mate.

 

[zeuspaul]

Let the dust settle for a little while. You have already partially cleaned the pond so there is no rush. Create some frog habitat and hiding places near the pond to entice it to stay around. Then when it moves into the habitat clean the pond.

 

[Faebinder]

Frog will come back don't worry. I replaced my pond and it was out of commission for 3 days and they all came back..

 

[Spaceman]

Anything is possible, but I replaced my entire pond and the frog I had at the time didn't leave. As I was busy doing all the work of digging and everything else that went into it over that week or two, the frog just sat there along the former stream that I kept some water in for him/her. If you look closely, you can actually see it in this photo on a rock on the left side of the small body of water. It just sat there and waited. It did eventually leave, but that was well after the new pond was installed. I think it likely left to find a mate.
View attachment 98228
View attachment 98229

I have had frogs in the pond in Wisconsin. They invariably try to winter in the bottom and suffocate. Last summer I found a bullfrog that showed up in June. I wanted to introduce some new little goldfish. I expected that the bullfrog would dine on them, so I caught it in a net. As I lifted it out of the water I heard it sing "Take Me To The River", So I took it out and dumped it off the Tallahassee bridge. I was surprised to find an adult bullfrog, but mid summer is mating season for bullfrogs.

 

[Jo Lewis]

Okay thank you for your replies. I'll maybe have another go in the next few days. I'd better not leave it too long in case we get frog spawn.

Thanks,

Jo

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I have had frogs in the pond in Wisconsin. They invariably try to winter in the bottom and suffocate.

I have tons of frogs now, both Green frogs and Bullfrogs. They survive winter in my pond with my pond breather.
I've had a large bullfrog, & only one small fish disappeared during his time here, and there's no proof that he ate it. He did take down at least three House Sparrows, though! I was tired of removing dead birds (he'd catch them but they were too big to eat) so I relocated him at a nearby natural pond. About a month later he was back. The following Spring, he left on his own.