Successful pairs of common toads will spawn. Females release a double string of eggs, which the male fertilizes by releasing his sperm simultaneously. The pair moves around whilst spawning, so that the jelly-coated strings of eggs become wrapped around vegetation. One female may produce up to 5,000 eggs.
It takes 8 to 12 weeks for tadpoles to develop. When they first leave the ponds the baby toads look like miniature replicas of their parents.
Common toads typically live for 10 to 12 years in the wild. In protected environments they live significantly longer, often reaching 20 to 50 years.