Discovering, raising and releasing frogs.

We have raised many tadpoles at our house over the years. I've always loved frogs and remember discovering and saving many tadpoles as a child from drying puddles. I think finding, raising and releasing frogs is a wonderful and exciting experience for children.

During rainy periods, we often find big clumps of frogs eggs in a foamy mass in our pond. The goldfish love to eat the frogs eggs, so we have often scooped them out and raised them into frogs in a tank in our shed. Once the tadpoles have morphed into frogs, we let them go. It is legal to keep and raise tadpoles in Queensland but they cannot be moved. So if you raise tadpoles they must be released back where they came from. I've only ever taken tadpoles from areas where I know they will not survived to become frogs. This has been roadside puddles in my street, which dry up rapidly or from my own pond. Here is our tank in the shed among everything else. I'd have a guess that we have raised and released maybe 50 or more frogs.

I highly recommend raising tadpoles but there are a few things to consider before collecting any to raise. You obviously need a tank. It is best to have one with a lid, as tree frogs will climb the walls as soon as the morph. The tadpoles we have raised have taken a few months to morph into frogs. We've had to constantly top up their water from a natural source, as this provides them with food. If you are interested, have a little read up from the many frog websites there are.

It has been raining constantly here for the past few weeks. We have found yet another frog species living in and about our pond, the Graceful Treefrog (Litoria gracilenta). They have this lovely long and drawn out moaning 'aaaaaare' call. They are bright green with yellow underneath and an orange eye. They also have a distinct purple hind thigh, as you can see in the second photo. There are two frogs sitting on the wire mesh in the third photo, all puffed up as they call.

So after all this rain, we have been raising many frogs in our tank in the shed. When they first morph into frogs it's very hard to know what species they are. I can identify which are most likely tree frogs, as compared with marsh frogs etc. Tree frogs have a very sleek appearance and climb the walls of the tank. The other species we've raised prefer to sit on the rocks or partly submerged. They also have a mottled and darker skin colour. We collected many different sized tadpoles recently, so everyday when we check the tank, we've had one or two tadpoles morphed into frogs ready to be released.

I released these two this morning into our garden. I think (but cannot be sure) that they were Ornate Burrowing frogs. Just their body structure and mottled appearance resembled the adults I've seen before.

My daughter was very interested in the tree frog species we have raised, so we have decided to watch them a little longer. We have moved them into a small tank and placed them in the kitchen (as you do!!). This way we can watch them and remember to feed them. We have placed a container with food scraps outside to entice fruit flies. I then capture the fruit flies in a small container and release them into the tank. The frogs love them and we all get a little thrill from watching the frogs catch them. As they grow we will collect a wider variety of insect food from the garden for the frogs to eat. Below you can see two sitting on the wall of the tank, with quite a distinct white bottom lip.

My children absolutely love tadpole hunting. When it's raining, we put on raincoats and gumboots and go searching. Even if you don't want to raise any, it's always exciting for children to discover them and watch them in nature.