to have reservations about frog spawn??

[zebedeethezebra]

DS's nanny (he's 2) wants to collect some frog spawn and keep it in a large tupperware container.

Is this cruel? Wouldn't the frog spawn rather be in a pond? And if its left outside, will the sun scorch them or will they get eaten by the birds?

Whaddyathink? Is it all harmless fun?

We used to collect some in a big tub along with the pond water it came from and keep it indoors, when they started growing legs and stuff we took them back to the pond they came from.
It part of growing up, but you have to let them go when they start needing to come out of the water! and not keep them until they are hopping around your living room, like I did one year. Dm was not happy

You can bring it indoors & let them develop right thru to froglets ready to be released back out, but there's a lot to it, what to feed them when, how to keep water right, etc.
Read up more online before making a decision.
Not ok to leave it out in the sun, though.

Frogspawn is a brilliant idea.

You will need a proper fish tank, weed for them to eat and hide in, gravel for the bottom, water purifier stuff to cleanse the tap water and tank before you put them in (about a week before anything live goes in the tank) and a big log so the froglets can climb out of the water. You'll also need a safe place to release them - pond in your or a neighbour's garden is best.

As your nanny clearly doesn't know much about them, why don't you ask her to do a project with dc about how to care for tadpoles with a list of what they'll need and how much money it will cost? My 20l tank with filter cost approx £20 so they won't need a huge budget, but working it all out will involve trips to the library and pet shop at the very least. All good learning!

They'll be fine, as long as you take a few basic precautions. The spawn itself is just a bunch of eggs, and the tadpoles won't know any different. Once your son has had all the fun of watching their legs grow and their tails shrink, they can be released back into the pond you got them from.

Just make sure you use a nice deep container (at least six inches deep), don't use tap water, give them some pondweed to hide in and don't leave them out in the full sun. If you look after them properly, they'll probably stand a better chance of survival than if you'd left them in their pond!

(Oh and don't do what we did as children and let them out in the hall so that they all hopped straight down the back of the nearest radiator...)

My ds always scoops ours out of the pond, where our koi carp think it's their caviar, and puts it in a big container outside in a shady spot. It is a luxury hotel for tadpoles and tiny frogs. He makes sure it's got ledges and climby bits and he feeds them.

I'm sure you're not meant to do this as it can upset the natural balance. It's great for kids though, to see them growing and changing. Several of the resultant frogs get eaten by our ducks or mangled by the lawnmower so we do redress the balance once more.

Oh that doesn't sound too bad. However, the nanny is only part time. So in the space of 3 consecutive days when she doesn't work, could they be jumping round the garden looking for a pond at the weekend?? I don't particularly want to have to take them back to a pond myself - there's none anywhere near here. Once they look like they need releasing, how quickly do you have to do it??

If I were you I'd treat it as if you were getting any other pet and make sure you are prepared to take them on - a 2yo is too young to take responsibility. I doubt they'd develop that quickly (not sure, but Google is your friend) but they will need feeding and cleaning etc.

If d's gets into it, maybe you could use the tank for fish? 2yo is old enough to put a pinch of food in every day and poke play with them in a small bowl while they're cleaned out every week