Okay, explain this to me. For apparently, I'm losing my mind.


I have Mr. Frog, who you guys have seen pics of. K. I have 2 more frogs that haven't surfaced yet cuz they still have their tails!!!! I discovered them last night. Thing is, I only bought 2 tadpoles. I did put 2 OTHER tadpoles in teh pond earlier this year, but they were only about the size of a pencil eraser, and I'm sure the fish ate them. (I had them in a floater so the fish coudln't get them, and one of the naughty guys pushed the floater over and dumped them out.)

Now, if what I've read about frogs and tadpoles is correct, tadpoles take up to 2 years to become full-grown and turn into frogs. So even if one of those tiny little ones that I'm pretty sure are dead, DID make it, there's no way it could already be a frog, right? (Am I making any sense here at all? GAWD I hope so.)

If the 2 tiny tadpoles were eaten, and the only tadpoles I had were the big ones that I bought at the LFS, then where the heck did the 3rd frog come from? I had a theory that it was normal nature, and maybe one of the birds that visit the pond carried an egg from somewhere, but then, that still doesn't make sense cuz there's no way an egg would survive in teh pond, let alone the 2 year growth that it takes for the tadpoles to change.



...........................................I'm really, really confused..........................................................

2 years?!!! I've never heard that, when I was little we had tadpoles from the lake in our neighborhood and it took weeks not years for them to turn into frogs, we kept them in a ten gallon and watched them change and then put them back at the lake.

How close is the nearest other pond or lake to you?
I dont know about where you live and what sort of frogs and stuff.. but here, frogs live anywhere, even where theres no pond near and travel around so they might have just come from somewhere else.
Its quite possible the other tadpoles survived. They might have found a hidy spot and got lucky. Ours take about 2 months to become frogs/froglets I think.

I think your extra frog has heard you have great digs and has moved in from another pond

I found that to be quite strange as well. I guess I can understand it taking that long if they're just hatched. The ones I bought at the store were about 4inches long, big tadpoles..... the other ones weren't even half an inch (they were black too, I'm thinking a different kind of frog?) All the frogs are the same species... bullfrogs. White tummies, greenish brown mottling on their backs.

As for a frog "moving in" on his own, it's highly doubtful. We have a pond about a mile away, down the hill, but I've lived in this area all my life and have never seen a frog in town.

I guess I'm going to have to chalk it up to "who knows". Logically, one would think that one of those tiny tadpoles survived, but I have a really, really hard time accepting that. I have 7 large fish in there that eat anything and everything, and underwater there really aren't too many hiding spots unless they got into a crease in the liner.

ya he was probably just attracted by the pond.

I wouldn't necessarily chalk up the original tadpoles. The metomorphis of tadpole to frog has a wide time period.I have heard as little as a couple weeks,and From what I've read,it seems though
Most tadpoles take anywhere from 12 to 16 weeks to go from tadpole to frog-although I have read that there are certain species of Bullfrog that do take up to 2 years for the total change.Temps have alot to do with how fast they grow.
When my kids were young,I bought them tadpoles and if I recall right,the whole thing took but a month -maybe 2 months.They too were Bullfrogs(Who knows from where)


Haven't you had a very hot summer since you put them into the pond? They really could have made it with places to hide and such.Plus the fact that they are dark along with the lining may have hidden them a bit too. I couldn't find what Bullfrogs take that long to morph,but I betcha they're not yours.