As I noted on July 3rd’s post, part of our outside time with Lori’s family involved Madeleine, a frog lover, discovering cricket frogs in our backyard. She was amazing. As soon as I pointed one out to her, so pounced like a cat and got it in her hand. Lori retrieved a plastic container, she caught some more, Kaylyn wanted some too, and thus the Pet Frogs Era was born.
The next day we went hunting for frog food. Apparently wild little cricket frogs like live bugs. Fruit flies to be exact. Picture a frog sitting on a log and zapping a flying bug with its tongue and you get the picture. So we went to the nearby PetsMart. We bought a little habitat for them but struck out on food. They weren’t very helpful. The worker said maybe I should try one of the more “animal-oriented” pet stores like PetCo. (Animal-oriented? Aren’t all pet stores animal-oriented?)
So we drove around the Metroplex. Eventually we discovered tubes of flightless fruit flies at PetCo for $6 each. Mike pointed out that they were about 25 cents per fly. Lori bought a tube. I balked. I wasn’t sure Kaylyn was committed to frogging like her cousin.
We got home, set up the habitats, and fed the frogs, who promptly tongue-zapped every poor fly dropped into the new frog house. Kaylyn named her two new pets Weezle and Heezle. Madeleine named hers Wally, Toad and Cleeb. (Spellings are approximate.)
Within a day the fly tube was about empty. We analyzed the financial situation of frog feeding and said, uh, no. $6 a day for flies is not going to become part of the budget.
After Lori got home she emailed me that she learned fruit flies are supposed to breed within the tube, and a tube is supposed to last 4-5 weeks. A little better, but seriously: who ever heard of buying flies? So, now we’re stuck with having to make another run to PetCo for more bugs, before the frogs… wait for it… croak.
July 12, 2007 at 11:58 pm |
Wally, Toad and Cleeb continue to grow apace. Wally is emerging as the leader of the pack, by virtue of being the largest (and I suspect the piggiest). Toad is the shrimp of the group and mostly hangs out and looks confused while the other 2 chomp down. They eat ants most days, and occasionally fruit flies when one hatches in the tube (or matures or whatever it is fruit flies do). Madeleine continues to LOVE frogs, and her bathroom is now decked out with frog paraphenalia. Fishes have become somewhat passe, although not totally forgotten. I never imagined that her first pets would be fishes and frogs!
April 15, 2008 at 11:25 am |
you have got to keep a look at your frogs born all the time so that you now that they are growing and they are ok. And if you hav some in a tank at home make it look like its a pound and they will feel fight at home becouse i have some at home and they are growing fast thay are so cute.
August 30, 2008 at 6:41 pm |
hey, i feed my toads and frogs crickets found near the garden because of their love of veggies
January 21, 2009 at 9:51 am |
Ohh,that sounds like somthing I would do. Catch some wierd animal and find out it is like 5 dollars a day to feed it. Then It’s like Uhh,no. I’m not doing that. I am woundering,do you know anything about the swimming type of frogs? They look sortta like those on your picture,but they live in a sub,marine habbitat. You can almost always find them by the Betta Fish in stores. Just woundering,because I was considering that to be my next pet…
Thanks.
February 15, 2009 at 3:46 am |
Are you talking about Fire bellied toads? (To the person above).