Advice

Reptiles and Amphibians in Winter: #WinterWildGardening

November 18, 2025 by Admin

Winter is traditionally a quieter time in the garden, but this is in fact the busiest time of year for habitat management for reptiles and amphibians. As the temperature drops, these animals become dormant, making it safer to clear out ponds and build shelters causing as little disturbance as possible.

For our winter campaign #WinterWildGardening, we have put together some tips and tricks on how you can make our species lives a little bit easier in your gardens and green spaces.

How to tackle icy ponds:

If you have a garden pond, the colder weather can cause it to freeze. The best thing to do is to periodically sweep away any snow so that sunlight can reach your pond plants and produce oxygen. This will help to prevent ‘Winterkill’ which is caused by toxic gases released in the pond (through natural decomposition of dead leaves) and not being able to escape, causing the water to become deoxygenated.

Melting a hole in the ice won’t necessarily affect the amount of oxygen diffusing into the water, but there is no harm in playing it safe! You can gently melt any ice with a cup or pan full of hot water to allow more active animals like newts to move to the surface to breathe.

You can also try floating a small object, e.g., a tennis ball, in the water or keep your fountain going (if you have one) to prevent ice formation.

If you have frog spawn, the upper portions may freeze, but the spawn that is underwater should survive. However, if you have a very small pond and/or it is shallow and prone to freezing throughout, you can temporarily place your frog spawn into a bucket of pond water and place in a garage, or similar place, out of the freezing conditions.

Remember that moving spawn to other ponds risks spreading disease, so once the cold weather has passed, ensure that you return the spawn to the same pond to allow it to continue to develop.

Creating overwintering sites:

Something as simple as a pile of leaves or areas of dense vegetation and scrub close to your garden pond will provide areas for amphibians to take refuge during periods of cold weather.

Log piles and rockeries are another simple idea to provide our species with somewhere to see out the winter months. As well as providing cover from adverse weather, dead wood attracts insects on which reptiles and amphibians will feed.

If you want to go further, you can build a hibernaculum. You can find instructions on how to do this here.

If you don’t have space to create a hibernaculum, you could consider a toad home. These can be made simply by upturning a plant pot and knocking a hole in the side for a door. Place old leaves or grass inside your toad home for extra protection. You can find instructions on how to build one here.

What to do if you disturb a reptile or amphibian during winter:

Reptiles and amphibians lie dormant during the coldest months but will take advantage of milder patches of weather to come out and forage. For this reason, if you do disturb an animal in winter, it should be unharmed if covered up and left undisturbed.

If you are unable to put the animal back where you found it, place it somewhere that offers protection from frost and predators like cats and birds, for example, log piles, under a shed or within your compost heap. It should not be somewhere ‘warm’, just a place that is frost free.

If you spot any of our species out and about, please remember to record them on our free Dragon Finder App. Data from the Dragon Finder App is crucial going forward to monitor the relationship between temperature changes and the behaviours of reptiles and amphibians in the UK.

If you spot any sick or injured reptiles or amphibians, please report them to our partners at the Garden Wildlife Health project.

Further Resources:

For more information on how you can help reptiles and amphibians during winter, check out….

Pond Maintenance
How-to guides (hibernaculum, toad homes etc.)
Frequently Asked Questions

Remember, Remember the Wildlife this November!

October 23, 2025 by Admin

We know that our amphibians and reptiles like to find dark, warm places to hide in at this time of year, which is why we love building hibernacula, log piles or compost heaps in our gardens. These are all very similar to bonfires, so please keep an eye out for our species and other wildlife hiding in your bonfire materials!

Here are some handy tips on how to keep wildlife safe:

Wait until the latest possible time to build your bonfire. This will reduce the chance of wildlife taking up residence. If you want to be organised and collect the materials beforehand, stack these up in a separate place and ideally away from your usual wildlife-friendly spots.
Check, check and check again before lighting the bonfire, use a torch to make extra sure and only light the fire from one side giving any wildlife time to escape.
Make sure the bonfire is out, or safe before leaving it, ash can remain hot for a while and can potentially harm wildlife.
Think about creating a permanent home for wildlife in a quiet area of your garden. This can be a log pile, leaf pile, hibernaculum, rockery, or compost heap. Find out more here and let us know how you get on.

Amphibian winterkill and how to prevent it

November 28, 2023 by Admin

Written by Jade Walton, Transforming Lives Trainee

As the weather gets colder, it becomes increasingly likely your garden wildlife pond will freeze over. Though at first thought this may not seem like much of an issue, this can be dangerous for the wildlife beneath the surface.

Whilst newts and toads tend to find other places to brumate (a process akin to hibernation), some frogs will choose to overwinter amongst the silt at the bottom of a pond. In regular conditions, this poses no threat to the frog, but should the pond freeze over for a prolonged period, it can become deadly.

It is thought the death of frogs overwintering in ponds is likely caused by a lack of oxygen in the water as sunlight is unable to reach plants and algae, making them unable to photosynthesise and oxygenate the water. Another theory is that gases are expelled by dead plant matter within the pond as it decomposes which are blocked from escaping into the air via the surface of the water. This may lead to a deadly build up of these toxic gases, causing ‘winterkill.

There are some ways, however, that you can minimise the risk of winterkill in your own pond. Make sure to brush any snow from the surface of your pond to give sunlight the chance to hit the ice. It is also thought to be a good idea to ensure there is always a hole in the ice to ensure gases can escape. This can be done by floating a tennis ball in your pond, preventing it from icing over fully, or by putting a container of hot water upon the ice to melt a hole in it.

It is not good practice to create a hole in the ice by force as the physical shock can harm the wildlife beneath, also be sure not to use chemicals or pour hot water directly onto the ice as this too can have a harmful impact on pond wildlife. And, of course, be sure that, when conducting these preventative measures, you do this in a safe, controlled manner.

With your help, the risk of winterkill in amphibians can likely be reduced in just a couple of steps.

Find more tips on what you can do for amphibians and reptiles this winter here.

How to make a wildlife pond

October 19, 2023 by Admin

Written by Jade Walton, Transforming Lives Trainee

Autumn and winter are the perfect times to create your own wildlife pond in your garden. Whether big or small, a pond dedicated to wildlife can be hugely beneficial to the wildlife in your area.

To support amphibians, it is best that the pond you create is at least 2 metres in diameter to give them ample space for breeding. Shelves of different water depths are also beneficial to create habitats for a diverse range of pond invertebrates. However, do make sure part of your amphibian pond is at least 60cm deep to protect any future amphibian inhabitants from extreme temperatures.

The next step, once the pond is dug, is to use the appropriate liner. This could be made of rubber, clay, PVC, or you could use a preformed pond made of plastic or fibreglass. To fill your lined pond you could either wait for it to fill naturally with rain over the winter months, or use appropriately treated tap water.

After the pond has filled, you can either wait for it to naturally populate with plants, or you could plant it up yourself with specific local pond plant species to encourage our amphibian friends.

Then comes the wait. It is likely your pond will quickly become home to invertebrates such as water snails and beetle larvae, but it may take a little longer to attract amphibian populations. You may get lucky and have amphibians breed in your pond in the spring after its creation, but do not be disheartened if it takes a few years. Your pond has much value beyond being an amphibian breeding and hunting site. It will support a plethora of underwater invertebrates and will provide drinking water for your local mammal and bird populations.

Some frogs may overwinter at the bottom of the pond and so need some consistency of water temperature. Should your pond freeze over, it is advised to gently brush away any snow as this blocks out valuable sunlight used by your pond plants to create oxygen. This is the best way to prevent winterkill in frog populations. Be sure not to crack the ice with force, as this can cause harm to all pond inhabitants.

For a more detailed guide to pond creation, look to your Just Add Water guide downloadable on our website or available for purchase in the Froglife Shop.

Be sure to let us know how you get on!

How can you help wildlife this winter?

October 19, 2023 by Admin

Written by Ellia Cobb, Transforming Lives Trainee.

As the weather is getting colder and the temperature starts to drop, reptiles and amphibians are getting ready for brumation. Brumation is similar to hibernation in that it is a state of deep sleep undergone throughout the colder months as they cannot survive winter conditions. Amphibians and reptiles will however come out to forage during warmer periods.

There are different things you can do at this time of year to help brumating animals such as building your own hibernaculum or creating a log pile. Creating a hibernaculum is simple and if you have leftover garden waste from the summer, this is a great use for it!

You start by digging a hole, it doesn’t have to be too wide or deep, just enough to retain heat to keep reptiles and amphibians warm. Once you have done this, you can start filling the hole with logs, rocks and bricks. Once you have filled some of the hole, you can start piling the larger logs and sticks a little higher than ground level to then cover with softer things such as leaf litter and bramble (these help to trap the warmth). Finally, you can use the mud you dug up to then cover up the hibernaculum, remembering to leave some gaps so that the animals can get in and out.

If you don’t like the idea of digging, log piles can be just as effective by stacking logs, branches, rocks and leaf litter. This also makes a great habitat for brumating reptiles and amphibians.

It is super important not to disturb compost heaps, log piles or even piles of leaves during the colder months.

More Ideas:

You can find even more resources and ideas for making your green space more wildlife-friendly here.

Disease in Amphibians

September 28, 2023 by Admin

Written by Ellia Cobb, Transforming Lives Trainee

Disease is a huge issue for our amphibian population, Ranavirus and Chytridiomycosis being two of the main diseases that threaten our native species. It is thought that these diseases were introduced by non-native species being released into the wild. One third of all amphibians are at risk of extinction with heavy declines across the globe.

Ranavirus is somewhat new to the UK and is mainly found in common frogs, some of the symptoms are skin ulcers which are commonly seen on the skin around the legs and pelvic area. The frogs infected will also suffer from internal bleeding which you may only be able to identify from redness around the mouth and cloaca. Frogs may also show signs of lethargy, but they won’t always show obvious symptoms of this virus. Ranavirus is only active during warmer temperatures, but can be devastating to pond populations around summer time, it is fatal and can affect the entire pond population.

Chytrid infection has been responsible for mass mortalities within the UK’s amphibian population and in some cases, it has caused extinctions. Most native natterjack toad populations have tested positive for the infection, but seem to be unaffected. That however, doesn’t stop them from spreading it to other amphibian populations. Evidence suggests that chytrid causes death by preventing sufficient uptake of salts through the skin. Amphibians need these salts for their circulation and without this, their hearts cease to function. Symptoms of this include ulcers, reddening, shedding and unusual behaviours.

There are steps everyone can take to prevent the spread of amphibian disease:

Do not transfer animals or plants from one pond to another.
Do not purchase wild-caught spawn, tadpoles or adult amphibians online. Not only is this against the law, but you do not know the origin of the animals.
Do not release pet/exotic amphibians into the wild. It is against the law and can cause severe damage to not only the released amphibian, but the local population too.
If you suspect disease in an amphibian, report it to Garden Wildlife Health