So, I'd like to share with you all one of my main passions aside from fish: frogs! I had a passing interest in frogs as a child limited to watching them in the wild, then mostly go into birds and rodentsas I aged. I thought of them the way most people do: as a kindof boring, instinct driven, cute but not terribly interesting beast that wallows around in swamps and ponds all day. However, as soon as I started to study biology and ecology more closely, I realized that they were so much more than meets the eye. They are a vital indicator species, a highly valuable contributor to the food chain, and have diveristy of anatomy, behavoir, ecology, etc. that rivals many other major vertebrate taxa. I've become totally enamored with them.
But I've also become very disheartened. Amphibians are suffering major global decline. They are being attacked on all fronts by human activity, and one of those fronts is the pet trade. With one exception, every single frog I own was an adoption or rescue, rejects of a pet trade that sees them as a fun childhood novelty and little else. Many were mass bred in captivity under less than favorable conditions; others were robbed from the wild only to be neglected by human caregivers. Their suffering is ignored due to their low priority in society, where they are given so little regard that people make jokes about unruly hooligans blowing them up with firecrackers.
My frogs are all education animals. I bring them to schools, scout troops, childrens' parties, etc. and teach about amphibian biology, ecology, and conservation. I'll be presenting on April 30th, Save the Frogs day, about threats to amphibian survival. I'm even an admin on a frog forum. In short: I'm a frog freak!
I just took new photos of my horned frogs yesterday and thought I'd share their photos and stories.
Platelet, one of my few purchased frogs (captive bred), who was a gift from my fiance. He is an argentine horned frog. He's on paper towel because he's still ababy, and thus more prone to impaction from ingesting substrate.
Sr. Corn Nuta, a Suriname horned frog. He came from a guy who was getting rid of his whole collection due to financial strain. I was SO psyched to get this fellow, as they're both rare and expensive in the pet trade.
Taz, a Chacoan horned frog who lost his home when his owner's finances became strained by the birth of a disabled child. He's reaaaally obese from a poor and excessive diet; believe it or not he was even FATTER when I adopted him O_O I feed him about once a month but his weight is slow to come down.
Quell, a Chacoan horned frog whose owner decided he didn't want her when he realized that breeding horned frogs is rarely profitable. Quell has the biggest head of all the horned frogs I own; she's really quitea beast and still growing.
Pyxie, a Chacoan horned frog from the same owner as Quell. He's tiny but FIERCE! Hence being named after the notorious african bullfrog.
Maloris, a Chacoan horned frog surrendered by a pet store due to his severe jaw deformity. He needs small prey and often takes a long time to successfully feed, but he's otherwise a very healthy little frog.
Lichen aka Jimmy Legs, a Chacoan horned frog who was given up by his owner for being "boring." He had a severe nutritional deficiency when I got him and was very underweight; he was also too weak to walk without flailing and flipping. The reason he is on paper towel and not soil was that he didn't self feed for months, and when he just recently started self-feeding, his strikes were clumsy due to his weak hiind legs. He's finally getting good enough that he should be going on dirt ASAP.
Fetus, a Chacoan horned frog who was at Petco's adoption table after being returned, along with another frog (Gulo) who has since passed. Fetus is not a healthy frog; she's had issues with parasites, chytrid, anorexia, and more. Every once in a while, she goes off food and refuses to soak herself, at which point I need to pull her and manually soak her & force feed her every day until her apetite picks up. She is recovering from one of these bouts in this photo, hence being on paper towel.
Fen, a Chacoan horned frog who was rescued by a frog keeper on the forum I am an admin of. He couldn't keep her, however, due to dorm policies, so I adopted her.
Chompy McBiterson, a Chacoan horned frog who lost her home due to a child's disinterest. I was told she was a chubby frog (another name for a malaysian painted frog), which is why I was interested in adopting. I got there to find the wrong species, but oh well; I love horned frogs so I took her anyways.
Amaranth, an albino Chacoan horned frog who lost her home after his owner's fiance - who gave him the frog - left him. he didn't want the reminder of his failed relationship around. She was SUPER obese when I adopted her, and while she's still chunky, her weight has really improved.
I have other frogs, including a bullfrog, leopard frog, chubby frog, and clawed frogs, as well as toads and newts. But I'll save those for another day! In the mean time, for those of you who are sick of looking at frogs and want to see something cuter, here are those two mice of mine:
D'aww.
We're *hoping* to work for a few years then open an (open to the public for viewing) exotics rescue & reptarium. Lofty ambitions I know, which is why we're going to save up big time before even considering trying it so we have something to fall back on if it totally falls flat on its face (which it might). Thankfully we both have super supportive families who don't care if we come crawling home with our tails between our legs five years from now needing a place to crash while we get back on our feet after a failed business attempt.
