Tadpoles in December!

[Froggy Gal]

Greetings - I live in Northern California (50 miles south of San Francisco) and have a small 50 gallon pond I build in 2018 when I discovered a old bucket out in a pasture was full of tadpoles. The pond is located under some shade trees due to our hot summers. This year the tadpoles have been a bit slow to transition into frogs. I thought all of the tadpoles were gone by mid November. I just went out to clean up the pond, the water is the color of tea and smells a bit. When I was cleaning out the water, I discovered there are still tadpoles in the pond!

I changed the water, careful not to replace more than around 25 to 30%, so now it is the color of weak tea. I will do another partial clean up in a few days. There is still some algae in the water, so I think they have a food source. Do I need to feed these long term tadpole residents to be sure they stay alive? Most of the plants in the pond have died and were pulled from the water.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you

 

[j.w]

You could give them some flake goldfish food and bet they would love it! They do eat algae tho.

 

[zeuspaul]

If there is algae and any type of slime as in an established pond they should be fine. You could toss a piece of lettuce in the pond if you are concerned.

Here in SoCal this is the beginning of the breeding season for the tree frogs. They have started to croak and I expect to see eggs soon.

 

[addy1]

Our green frogs here are tads for a year, they only convert to frogs the next summer.

 

[Froggy Gal]

If there is algae and any type of slime as in an established pond they should be fine. You could toss a piece of lettuce in the pond if you are concerned.

Here in SoCal this is the beginning of the breeding season for the tree frogs. They have started to croak and I expect to see eggs soon.

Thank you. I put a small amount of boiled, chopped spinach in the pond. They are not that interested, so there must be enough food.

 

[Froggy Gal]

Our green frogs here are tads for a year, they only convert to frogs the next summer.

Interesting. The first year the tadpoles converted to frog by early November. This year was a little slower, but we did not have as hot of a summer. It looks like about 10 tadpoles will be wintering in the pond.

 

[Froggy Gal]

You could give them some flake goldfish food and bet they would love it! They do eat algae tho.

Thank you! I tried some boiled chopped spinach and they were not interested, so there must be enough algae.

 

[JamieB]

I did the algae wafers I feed my pleco when I was raising tadpoles.

 

[Tombstone]

Frog tadpoles, bullfrog, Leopard frog, and some tree frogs can take up to two years from tadpole to frog

 

[addy1]

Frog tadpoles, bullfrog, Leopard frog, and some tree frogs can take up to two years from tadpole to frog

Now toads, they convert fast and jump out of the ponds as tiny tiny lil ones

 

[Tombstone]

Thank you! I tried some boiled chopped spinach and they were not interested, so there must be enough algae.

Romaine works the best