My frog died this winter, what'd I do wrong?

[Delco]

I have a small plastic Pond in my Yard in NJ with some Gold fish and COmets. I also had 2 frogs living in the pond but 1 died through the winter, I found him at the bottom. For the winter I took out the filter and put in a heater which kept the pond from freezing which was recommended to me by a friend. Last weekend, with the arrival of some nice weather, I was scooping out some decaying leaves from the bottom where I found one of the frogs dead. When I bought the house the pond and frogs were there already and had survived a winter already. So what did I do wrong or what didn't I do right? WHat do I need to do to give the frogs what they need for the winter time?

I would appreciate any help you can give me.....

 

[schiejr]

Hibernation can be time of stress, perhaps the weaker one died or there was too much decaying organic matter in a small volume?
Feeding goldfish when too cold can cause problems due to no digestion-perhaps the frog too?

 

[Delco]

Thanks for the reply. I didn't feed them in the winter, nor did I filter the water. I was told to remove the filter and not to feed them until the temp. was above 50 degrees F.

The good news is that the other frog is still alive! I saw him yesterday so maybe your right and the larger frog was old and couldn't take the stress. I'm going to buy a few tadpoles to put in there and see if they grow into frogs. Anything I should know about frog care? Do they eat the food I feed to my fish?

 

[schiejr]

I have not done much with frogs and nothing with them in ponds. There are pelleted foods made for them so they may take the fish food too. Depending on how much other food is available, often they may be finicky and prefer live food or one they are used to, to the prepared. They will go for small fish also. Cannot tell you a whole lot more from practical experience despite the frog eye in my avatar.