my new buddy:Red-Banded Rubber Frog (Phrynomantis bifasciatus)

[deranged chipmunk]

this is my new buddy. rescued him from a local LFS tonight:

[Sunshine]

He is neat looking! Have you had one of these before?

[deranged chipmunk]

Nope. Never even seen one before. This guy/gal was at the local pet store i buy crickets in. He's been there 6 months. I look in that tank every time i go in there and never spotted him once. They were fishing him out today because they obviously couldn't sell him and one of the employees joked about feeding him to one of the snakes. I said whoa! Pack him up, he's coming home with me. The girl told me they couldn't even return him to the supplier, they had him too long. I felt bad for the little guy.

[Sunshine]

Do you have a care sheet for him yet? I can help you find one if you like. Is he still on the wood chips? It looks uncomfortable.

[deranged chipmunk]

There's not much out there on them, but i read most of what i found on a quick search. I had a 20L paludarium almost completed, so i started throwing it together for it. I needed to do some touch up work on it, but oh well. The critter needs the home more than i need it to look as nice as it could. I took him out of the wood chips right away. He's in a sweater box with coco fiber. Even ate a small cricket, which pleases me.

[Sunshine]

It sounds like he has found a good home! I am glad he ate for you I read on Pollywogs world of frogs that they burrow? I have no idea if that is true but if he does will you let me know? I am curious. They seem very interesting!

[deranged chipmunk]

He started burrowing into the coco fiber almost immediately. By the time i put his lid on, went to my white's tank to retrieve him a leftover cricket and turned around, he was dug in nicely after he ate, he walked around a bit. I also read they like to burrow and hiding spots. So i have a couple of moderate humidty plants i was saving for an upcoming fbt tank he can hide under. I think i might have a coconut hut lying around as well.

[Sunshine]

Awww! That sounds so cute! Now I want one! I am very excited for you both and I am looking forward to some more pictures once he gets settled in!

[deranged chipmunk]

here is where he will be living until i get his permanent home set up.


i still have a few more plants for it, but i was tired. i did a lot of work on the 125 and this one tonight.

[Duriel]

In other news, 3 of mine decided to leave the sanctuary of hiding under the plants (I occasionally have to check to make sure they're not all dead) to have a meeting to overthrow my fascist dictatorship and install a puppet democracy.

[Pluke]

Lol, cool frogs guys.

[Duriel]

They're definitely not an active bunch. As I said they pretty much hide under the plants (particularly one which I chose poorly... it's dying and I will remove it tomorrow during my weekly cage cleanings...) Even frogs that are known to be very inactive (like my American toads and my pacman) move around a lot more. I had to get these guys after seeing how unusual they are. Cardiotoxic AND they walk instead of jump? SOLD! Also my sig is frequently out of date. I got these guys 3? 4? weeks ago? Can't remember for sure. Might be longer ago. One of them died 4 days after I got them. Just out in the open, apparently healthy/no apparent disease. Thinking it (no idea how to sex these) was just old or (more likely) died because frogs lay hundreds to thousands of eggs. SO FAR my running tally is 1 dead American bullfrog (wild caught, juvenile size was 1/3 of a normal TADPOLE'S girth, not length), 1 American toad (wild caught, very small and caught late into the year, had red leg, possibly because I found it under my trash can), and 1 Firebellied toad (sadly, this one is my fault. He was an escape artist and I found him dried out on my bathroom floor). Still going: 2 American toads (wild caught, got one that was very large and not at all shy of me... I "suspect" she's old, but cannot speculate as to how/when she will pass), 2 Fire-bellied toads (Petco rescues... resilient species or I might be very paranoid, the male calls every night, attempts amplexus but gets denied, and they "frog pile" nonsexually frequently), 5 red and black walking frogs (off of online breeder, supposedly captive bred, but who knows? Very secretive and inactive... hard to say how the remaining 5 will hold up, especially with such limited information), 1 bearded dragon (even more ravenous eater than described on ANY site I've visited, gets fussy when removed from his "bath", intends to bankrupt me with food costs), 4 "common" Illinois tree frogs (wild caught, official websites show 2 similar species, but the ones I caught look like a mix. Impossible to properly identify without an expert it seems. Also, very stable temperament, and will instantly eat whatever food items are provided, unlike other species. I predict uneventful ownership, aside from the fact that they all are of "full grown" tiny size, and determining age is near impossible), 1 gray's tree frog (wild caught, part of a larger late-season spawn, SHOULD survive handily), 1 pacman frog (Petco, originally thought to be ornated horned, but later found to be cranwell's.. rescued young and tiny, as opposed to the one I got when I was young which was a juvenile? from Petsmart and died overnight...) and 4 juvenile American bullfrogs (wild caught, biggest one will flee into the water section if she can see me within ~20 feet or longest sight range, one lives almost exclusively on the dry side of the tank astonishing me by not drying out, and one became almost albino in color a few days after ownership and likes to sit on the edge of the glass that is closest and most visible to me. The fourth one kind of mulls around the water.) Oh and also my puppy, but so long as she doesn't go all Saw/Hostel on her fresh spaying stitches while I'm sleeping, I imagine she'll live for quite some time.

My adult dubia are too stubborn to breed. It's 90-95 with moderate humidity throughout the day in their container. 4 (of 50) died (within 1 month of acquisition) living in a clean area with plenty of mushy fruits/vegetables. I'm HOPING they are just taking their time, as opposed to the youtube seller having sold me "old roaches" or something...

Either way, too many beers, therefor, bananaphone. Night.