Greetings From The Forest

[Wood Nymph]

Just thought I'd stop in and introduce myself. My name is Raven. Gotta admit I was a little reluctant to register after reading another introduction thread here. But, I'm accustomed to forums with their inherent occasional bickering, so I'm hoping that this sort of thing is not the norm.

Little bit of background: I was a computer systems engineer. Y'know - back in the day when a 10 megabyte hard drive could move the world. LOL. Gave up that career to bring my son into the world and give him a good start. Growing up, I'd always been known by everyone as "the artist" alternating with "mother nature". Both fit equally well. I spent all of my time in the forest preferring the company of the woodland creatures to my own species. Critters are generally quieter and less offensive. Just sayin'. At least my parents always knew where I was. So, my late husband encouraged me to pursue an art career to supplement the whole son-rearing thang. Little did he know that he created a monster. I became a professional wildlife artist. That involved touring the country and exhibiting/selling my paintings and limited edition prints at about 26 wildlife art shows per year. For 15 years. Inotherwords: I was on the road A LOT! Here is one of my paintings entitled "Lean Cuisine": (Lemme know if it doesn't show up, okay?)

My career came crashing down in 2004 when I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I was no longer physically capable of traveling those long distances. Haven't been able to paint since 2008, but I am determined to return to it. And, once I commit to a goal, I generally achieve it. It's just a matter of getting the body to cooperate.

Until then, I've been spending my time roaming my own private paradise. My forest has a lovely wide creek flowing through it which I visit when I am able. Other times I watch it from the back of my house which is built into the side of a ravine overlooking it about 75' down. I designed the house so that almost the entire back of it is glass for maximum forest-viewing pleasure. Shoulda bought stock in Windex. Lately a serious physical setback and ridiculously hot and rainy weather has kept me cooped up indoors. That's when I decided to bring nature indoors.

I began researching the web for info on providing and caring for amphibians. Frequently, I ended up here learning from all of you. Thank you for that. So I'm a newbie at this whole thing but I have some experience with providing a home and complex care to wild critters. As a kid, I had a pet raccoon that had been caught in a leg hold trap. She was only a kit. After her leg was mended she spent time as my companion until she was about two and got "the call of the wild". I'd already taught her how to find grubs and other yummy things under bark. She knew to fear dogs. We'd caught crawdads in the creek together after I trained her in my baby brother's wading pool. Mom wasn't happy about that! We'd gathered and munched berries together and then napped up in the tree branches together. She knew the woods as well as I did. She was ready even though I wasn't happy to see her go.

A toco toucan was also one of my pets in my late twenties. Not a bird that you put in a cage with a bowl of seed! In fact, I didn't house Schnoz in a cage at all. I presently have a colony of sugar gliders that require that a fresh, nutritionally-balanced meal be made nightly. They eat bugs too, so I figured they could share bugs. Although I won't be putting live crickets or roaches in the glider cage! Not gonna happen.

Sooo ... right now I have nine frogs. Don't worry - each species is in it's own terrarium. LOL! Here's what I have:

Litoria caerulea (White's Tree Frog)
(2) Australian blue phase
(3) Indonesian green phase


(1) Ceratophrys cranwelli (Albino Pacman)


(2) Polypedates leucomystax (Golden Tree Frog)


(1) Dyscophus insularis (Tomato Frog)

I'll be hitting you all up with questions before long. Still looking around here and trying to find the answers myself. I also don't have pictures of my frogs or setups yet. They are still settling in and I was afraid the flash would frighten them. The WTF's don't seem to be afraid of anything though, so I might photo them first.

Anyhow - Hi There!!

[Kapow]

Lol your introduction post puts mine to shame! I've looked over this thread once earlier and somehow missed the fact your lean cuisine was a painting, it's so well done! I love my whites, tomatos, and my pacman we have 3 of the same species, my forth however is an african clawed frog! Fully aquatic fun guy to watch.

I am glad you've found a way to bring a slice of nature into your house :

[Wood Nymph]

Ha ha! We DO have the same choices for the most part. Although sometimes I'm not really sure that I have a tomato frog. She (?) is just a tiny froglet and perfectly blends in with the substrate. Not red at all yet. And, like my tiny little pacman froglet, the little bugger never seems to move! The only way that I'm certain that the pacman does in fact move around is that her little pool is a dirty mess in the morning. I thought they were supposed to be diurnal. ??? Both are housed in smaller temporary terrariums so that they will be able to find their food. And so that I can find them!

I'm a wee bit jealous of your African clawed frog. Bet that one is fun to watch! Do they ever haul themselves up outta the water? My WTF's are my favorites and have completely won my heart. Their antics crack me up.

Thanks for the welcome!!

[Kapow]

Hahaha I have like 3 or 4 of those wooden reptihut or habbahut whatever they are things in my tomato frog tank and i almost never see any of them. I dangle food in front of the huts and a tongue shoots out to grab it thats how I know they're still there haha, I try not to lift up the huts unless im trying to spot clean, but when I do the frogs puff up and stand high on their legs its so cute and funny. The largest of the three will actually like...headbutt my hand sometimes if I interrupt his day too much! My pacman frog almost never moves! I read from one website that they're diurnal but man I don't believe it either that guy almost never moves unless its feeding time or he pooped The easiest by far to take care of though is the african clawed its the frog that started it all, my girlfriend has had him for 13 years and hes got the nicest little call he does all night. He has hopped out of the tank before, but its definitely not fun for him or for us as he just freaks out and flops around, he's A LOT like a fish lol.


Don't tell my other frogs but the whites are my favorite too i love to watch them jump around the tank and eat their food and i got one that jumps on my face sometimes and that's just too cute to not love

[Wood Nymph]

LOL! Your WTF gives you "face hugs"! At least, that's what we call it when a sugar glider does that. I have a colony and one in particular was always giving face hugs. Not comfortable. Their little claws are like needles.

Well I'm kinda glad that I'm not the only one with frogs that impersonate statues or The Invisible Man. The WTF's are really great. Truth be told, I have their terrarium in the bathroom right next to the throne. Frankly, watching them is much more fun that reading whilst enthroned. But, you have me interested in the African Clawed frogs. Might have to look into them. I think I saw that Backwater Reptiles carries 'em. I'm getting ready to set up a semi-aquatic tank for fire bellied toads. Got a used tank setup from Goodwill. Just need to clean it up and make sure that it doesn't leak.

Maybe I'll go try to photograph my WTF's while they are up and about. If I can get a good shot or two I'll post 'em here. Thanks for talking with me. So far you're the only one here that has said a word.