AIBU to keep an illegal pet

[bimbimbap]

Apologies for the clickbait title!

The real question is has anyone seen frogspawn in public areas around North or East London? Please comment or DM me with details as my son is obsessed with frogs and would love nothing more than to collect and keep a little frogspawn in a fish tank as ‘pets’ for a few weeks then release them back into the pond.

We’ve been looking for weeks and not spotted any despite it being the right time of year. I understand technically it’s not allowed to move the spawn but we would only take say a dozen eggs and they should have a better chance of reaching maturity than if left where they’re laid.

To anyone who can help - thankyou! I’m sick of all our walks revolving around searching for some!

As a child I used to get about 6-8 tadpoles every year and watch them turn into little frogs then release them where we got them from. You will have to get more pond water every time you change their water and put a couple of large stones into tank so they can climb onto. They will need pond weed too. Once in tank I was never allowed to touch them just watch them and I used to draw them. If one died my Dad would fish it out.

My mum has unwanted frogs in her garden and a toad (we think). She doesn’t encourage them (would like it if they weren’t there) but has running water, water features, rocks, we think they live under the water barrel.... she avoids the area lol

[quote BigWolfLittleWolf]Here they are.
Very cute and fully aquatic.
www.fishkeeper.co.uk/help-and-advice/freshwater/miscellaneous/african-dwarf-frog[/quote]
We had one. I'm not a lover of frogs anyway, but it got out of the tank and has never been seen again .

@Suzi888

My mum has unwanted frogs in her garden and a toad (we think). She doesn’t encourage them (would like it if they weren’t there) but has running water, water features, rocks, we think they live under the water barrel.... she avoids the area lol

Why on Earth are they unwanted? Wildlife in gardens is a wonderful thing and frogs and toads are the best slug catchers, they are a true gardeners friend.

Oh god please don't do this. My friend did when we were kids and they ate each other/died, it was absolutely horrible. They need to be left alone where they can get the food they need.

Agree with everyone else. Do a little research on creating a small frog pond and let nature take its course. Its doesn't need to be anything fancy.

@ViperAtTheGatesOfDawn not when they jump out at you and you didn’t know they were there! She’s 80, was a bit of a shock.

Why on Earth are they unwanted? Wildlife in gardens is a wonderful thing and frogs and toads are the best slug catchers, they are a true gardeners friend
So everyone says, newts too.
I have loads of newts in the front garden and a toad in the back.
So, so many slugs
I like frogs and toads and newts but when it comes to slug control, I think they are overrated

I did this with my ds years ago didnt know it was illegal. We had a small fish tank filled it with water from the pond and put leaves rocks in etc and they hatched and we released them when they became frogs.

And we also bought specialist tadpole food

I wouldn't put them in a tank, can you build your own pond though and put some in there? A person in our village usually is looking for someone to take some of his frogspawn each year as he has too much so you could see if there's anyone around in a similar position?

@Clappingforjoy

I did this with my ds years ago didnt know it was illegal. We had a small fish tank filled it with water from the pond and put leaves rocks in etc and they hatched and we released them when they became frogs.

It’s not illegal - a lot of people assumed it was, probably provoked by a deliberately clickbaity title - but it isn’t.

Clearly there would be a problem if everyone was grabbing bucketloads of frogspawn with no consideration for the habitat. But sensibly caring for a small number of tadpoles and releasing back to the same habitat doesn’t seem to be discouraged by the main conservation groups.

It’s illegal, cruel and stupid
Just because little wants to experience the joys of nature doesn’t mean you should do it.

@Clappingforjoy

I did this with my ds years ago didnt know it was illegal. We had a small fish tank filled it with water from the pond and put leaves rocks in etc and they hatched and we released them when they became frogs.

Unfortunately I bet most people won’t do it like this

I didn't know this was illegal I remember in the 80's having them at school

I'd go with taking him to see the progress, maybe once or twice a week? Many parks have nature reserves where the habitat is kept as natural as possible for this very reason.

I'm not a parent but I know my local school has a wildlife area next door to it where the kids do Forest School-does his school do similar? (I'm in the area you're asking about, it's Rhodes Ave Primary in Ally Pally.)

A pond is a really good idea. We had a dragonfly appear the day after we dug our pond, and frogs soon after.

It

Is

Not

Illegal

Whether or not you think it’s a good idea or not is another matter, but it isn’t illegal.

@BobBobBobbin

It

Is

Not

Illegal

Whether or not you think it’s a good idea or not is another matter, but it isn’t illegal.

This/\

Unless you can be certain that the spawn you are taking is not from a protected species then it is potentially illegal.

But whether illegal or not, it is a shitty thing to do.

Great Crested Newts are the only protected species in this country and their eggs looks nothing like frog/toad spawn, so you’re unlikely do anything illegal if you do even the most basic research.

We have so many frogs having loud and persistent sexy times in our modest suburban pond right now. They are very loud sex croakers! They seem quite into threesomes and the poor swollen lady frog in the middle of each threesome looks quite uncomfortable. Last year one of the females was squeezed to death in coitus and we found her floating with the male still clinging on for dear life. Some are very open about their activities right in the middle of the pond but the less exhibitionist ones are furtively mating under the pond plants too. The frogspawn is now crowding out the fish. I estimate we have 16-20 of the horny little buggers. Lovely to see, I am not near you but perhaps you could see if anyone in your neighbourhood has a similarly froggy garden pond (post-covid)?

Interest in wildlife is great to encourage but it can be handled sensitively and in a way that teaches your son to conserve not consume wildlife. He might be the next Chris Packham, who knows.

Please don’t take frogspawn, apart from being illegal it’s helping to spread a deadly virus called Ranavirus through our native frog population.

A few weeks ago the pond I manage on a nature reserve was full of frogspawn, it has all been taken without exception despite signs by selfish people. It disrupts the ecosystem of the pond.

@Sparrowfeeder

We have so many frogs having loud and persistent sexy times in our modest suburban pond right now. They are very loud sex croakers! They seem quite into threesomes and the poor swollen lady frog in the middle of each threesome looks quite uncomfortable. Last year one of the females was squeezed to death in coitus and we found her floating with the male still clinging on for dear life. Some are very open about their activities right in the middle of the pond but the less exhibitionist ones are furtively mating under the pond plants too. The frogspawn is now crowding out the fish. I estimate we have 16-20 of the horny little buggers. Lovely to see, I am not near you but perhaps you could see if anyone in your neighbourhood has a similarly froggy garden pond (post-covid)?

Interest in wildlife is great to encourage but it can be handled sensitively and in a way that teaches your son to conserve not consume wildlife. He might be the next Chris Packham, who knows.

I should say, my point wasn’t clear enough, I am not advocating taking any spawn - but watching it develop in situ (in the pond)! I am of the leave wildlife alone and protect it school of thought, 100%.

Just by way of an update to this thread:

We took about 20 frogspawn from a local pond (which had thousands of eggs). We cared for them carefully following advice online about what to feed them and an creating an appropriate habitat.

One tadpole died, most turned into froglets and a couple stubbornly remained tadpoles. Pretty confident that’s a better success ratio than they would have had in the wild.

We released them all back to the pond where we found them last week.

They were a joy to have in the house, an amazing lifecycle to watch and the DC loved them. No regrets at all, hope to do the same next year.