Time for gathering of frog eggs for the younsters to watch and hatch into frogs. I do this almost every year, not only for my grandkids, but for the kids of a few folks at work as well. I presently have two varieties on the shelf one sack has completely hatched, the other is just starting.

A lot of fun for the kids. Costs nothing but a small investment of time.

All are released as soon as they dissolve their tails.

Note: must be kept out of sunlight.....overheats the water very easily.

Great idea! Iwill gather some for my grandson tomorrow.

we got a pond littered with frogsters. We get those big chicken nugget sized tadpoles.

Tutorial?

sent this off to a buddy's kids today....

A FEW FROG GROWING TIPS FROM UNCLE DENNIS
(actually from Google)

Collect a few of the eggs to grow into tadpoles. At the same time dip water from the same place as the eggs or tadpoles are taken. This water will have the same temperature, some of the stuff the tadpoles will eat, like decompasing plants and bugs. Though it will look dirty, this is the best for the tadpoles. Clean tap water could hurt them.
March, April and May are the months when you find frog eggs in masses in ditches and the edges of ponds and lakes. Be careful--don’t fall in. You will see the globs of eggs which look like dark yet clear jelly with dots like black beads in them. Use your net to scoop up some from several clumps of eggs—not too many! You can only have about six tadpoles in a gallon jar of water, but get a few more because some won’t hatch. Collect some plants and some water from the place you take the eggs and tadpoles.
The eggs are slimy and slippery. Be sure you only take a few from a clump. Leave the rest to hatch. Very large eggs might be bullfrog eggs and they take two years to develop into frogs. They will probably not survive that long so look for small frog eggs.
To catch the tadpoles just scoop with your net around the egg globs and you should easily catch a few.
Home Sweet Home:
You will need a large glass pickle jar or a small aquarium or glass container to grow your frog in. Keep two containers—one for frogs and another for tadpoles—each about ¾ full of pond water. Not tap water! The one with tadpoles should have some plants floating in it, but no plants in with the eggs.
Place your jars in a nice warm place away from sun or heaters. Every day the black dots will grow and divide and change shape. They will change until the tadpole hatches out of the egg on the eighth day. (Since you can’t tell how many days old they are when you found them, the eggs will likely hatch in five or six days or even sooner. Be waiting and watching.)
If you use a magnifying glass you will be able to see the black part of the egg change and grow a head and tail and begin to move around. Since frogs come in many types and sizes from tiny spring peepers to huge bullfrogs the time from hatching to tadpole and the time from tadpole to frog varies. Most frog eggs hatch in 3 to 25 days depending on the type of frog and the temperature. Warmer water develops the eggs faster. A bullfrog take two to three years to develop into a frog! Most smaller frogs change in a few weeks.
Hatching:
After the tadpole hatches put a leaf in his water and he will attach itself to the leaf by some sticky spots on his head. You will notice that he has no mouth yet! After feeding for a few days from the yolk that is still attached and breathing through gills it will begin to swim around.
Feeding : Soon he will swim around in the jar with his mouth open looking for food. Feed him with some more pond plants or if you can’t get anymore, try a little piece of lettuce or boiled spinach. If more than six hatch you will need to take the extras back to the pond or put them in another container.
A Baby Frog:
The tadpoles will grow for several months developing lungs and learning to breathe on the surface. When his legs are grown and his tail is gone, he is a baby frog. If you have an aquarium and know how to feed frogs, (They must have live moving food, small enough to swallow.) cover the top of his tank with plastic screen so he won’t jump out. If not, return them to a pond or creek.
The change from tadpole to frog is called metamorphosis--just like caterpillers changing into butterflies.
Children have always loved tadpoles and liked to keep them to watch them grow into frogs. Have fun with yours this spring!

Here's a few pics of a polywog I rescued from the muck...all the water had dried up, so I raised it in a salad bowl on the kitchen table until it was big enough to fend for itself.

it started out as a polywog, but these pics started when the front legs popped









FREE AT LAST!!

Sweet. I took this pic last year in my pond.



We hacked some bushes and some foliage fell in the pond. All the tadpoles congregated next to it. They liked it for some reason. The water was super clear because the rains had just started letting up.

Chicken nuggets....

My neighbor said they are the kind you can eat.

Great post....

Keith

Aw, man! Broodstock frogs? Just let Mother Nature take her course. If we artificially propagate frogs they'll have weaker genetics. Once one of those *fake* frogs breeds with a wild frog their offspring will be retards and have a poor rate of survival.

And let's not even get started on the whole wild/hatchery frog debate!!

Glad to hear though that you practice WFR - Wild Frog Release when the adipose tails disappear.

Great Idea Slap

I couldn't find any frog eggs. We might still have a week or so. I can hear the frogs getting ready!

Same here. Too cold, I think. Will try again next week.

I found some. They were too deep for me to grab. It seems the tree frogs have a smaller population near my pond than the big ones, which seem to come later in the season. I think I'll leave them at peace.

While you guys save the species, I think I'll try curing some frog eggs with Ultimate Egg Cure and see what happens...