Guest 
Re: Hi from Tujunga, California!
Wow, great pics on that website--thank you! It's amazing how many different frog species there are. I visited the Okavango Delta in Botswana a couple years ago, and when I asked the guide to show me some "reed frogs," he showed me something that was quite different from any reed frog I've ever seen pictured or for sale in this country. There must be many unnamed and undescribed frog species from such a huge continent!
I guess I really need to look more closely at my frogs, but I haven't really handled them yet, since they are recent acquisitions, and I want them to settle in for a bit before I get too familiar. The small one is certainly Leptopelis vermiculatus, but the largest one (the one that was so thin, given to me free by the store owner) COULD be Leptopelis barbouri, just going on the pictures. The third one is a tough one to call--it's much more plain than the other two, but still has some spots on its back. I would not have thought they were all the same species, at first glance--but I would assume they were all wild-caught in the same area, at least.
Quite honestly, since you mentioned it, I don't know of any vet in this area who has expertise in treating frogs. Reptiles, yes, but frogs, no. Luckily, the thin one has been eating well, and looks much better now. In fact, all three are eating, and at least one is vocalizing every night. I have mixed feelings about buying wild caught frogs, but at the same time I'm hoping the store where I bought them will get more of these, because they are so beautiful. I will try hard to get a decent photo of them in the near future, to post on this site.
By the way, the mountain king snake was zonata, I believe, from the Santa Monica Mountains where we lived. I was only about ten years old when I found it in the street--one of our neighbors saw it and rushed to inform my mother (who was very much afraid of snakes anyway!) that I had picked up a VENOMOUS CORAL SNAKE!!! Everyone in the neighborhood came to see the terrifying creature, and my mother was ready to kill it. My dad, however, trusted me when I said that I knew it was a king snake, because I had seen it pictured in a field guide at school. I also knew that coral snakes did not live anywhere near us, so I was allowed to keep it. Sadly, I didn't know how to care for it, and I should have released it--but kids learn by making mistakes, don't they?
