I have had my pond for 5 years. I have had frogs live in it every year. They come and go. Last year we enjoyed watching 3 and sometimes 4 in our top section. I built a skippy filter last year and I also discovered a frog living in it. We had a very mild winter until January. This year when I was cleaning the pond I found 5 dead frogs. This is the first time we had dead frogs. can anyone tell me what may have happened? I really miss them and look every day to see if any have showed up again.

They probably weren't deep enough to hibernate. When that January freeze hit my area it was fast. If it was like that in your area the frogs were probably out when the temps. dropped. It also took a toll on the evergreens around here

I'm sorry about your frogs. Was the filter they were in running with water during the winter or was it off? If it was running, they should have gotten enough oxygen and not frozen. If the filter was off, then they may have suffocated (not enough oxygen) or frozen if the water level dropped. If the filter was off, did it drain or was it full? If drained, they would have been exposed. If full, and the surface froze, they may not have gotten the gas exchange they needed. In the early winter, you may want to check your filter for frogs. I clean my biofilter (which runs all year) every 5 weeks even in the winter if the pond is not frozen over. When I do so, I often find pickerel frogs which I then move to the main pond.

My frogs have always wintered over. At least I have never found any dead frogs in the spring. It has always been a treat for me to come home from work and see the first plop. In the beginning they are shy. I live in Johnstown, PA. The winter came suddenly in January. I am wondering if they did not have time to hibernate. I keep my water circulating through the filter all winter. I love the look of the stream flowing with the snow on the groung.

I appreciate your feedback.

Since they did okay before, and your filter was running in the winter, it was probably the sudden cold that hit after a mild early winter. When the weather got cold in February (after a warm January), I found a pickerel frog frozen on top of the ice. The pond was frozen over. The only way he could have gotten there was that he was living in the biofilter. Then, he came out to hop around. He didn't expect it to be frozen solid so he got stranded on top of the ice. The next day, his little body was gone; some predator ate him. Drastic changes in weather can be devastating for animals.

You live in Johnston? That's actually about an hour from where I live... in Huntingdon. (I'm about an hour from Altoona.) Cool, lol.

How deep is your pond, just out of curiousity? Since the temps in Johnston and in my county aren't much different, I just wanted to know how deep a pond had to be for our region... in case I might happen to build a frog pond. ^^