Pyxie Project Update

[Jeff Kennedy]

This is October's update. Some very insighful information here in regards to diet and growth as well as an additional post focused on sexing. An updated growth chart will be added shortly. It is complete just having technical difficulties uploading it at the moment. Enjoy and please leave feedback!

Jela's Pyxie Project

[pixiefrogman]

Looks great so far! Can't wait for more updates!

[Jace]

Wow, guys, I am really impressed with how indepth your documenting is! It was really great to read the charts and see all the photos. Out of my three, I've only had the joy of gettting one as a young froglet (the size of a Canadian loonie or so) and watching him grow to the size he is now. Seeing all your pictures, and I want another small one to raise!! Sigh....thanks a lot!! Great job to the both of you and I can't wait for more updates and, of course, more photos.

[Jeff Kennedy]

Thanks guys. We are both perfectionist and obsess over every tiny detail, so we drive ourselves a little nuts. I am glad that some of you are enjoying it though. We are soooooo excited to see where some of these guys will end up size wise.

[Malachi]

Great stuff!
I hope you guys get a 10" beast !

[Jeff Kennedy]

So do we Malachi, so do we

[John911]

My money is on p4, that thing is out of control. Well, for the younger group.

[Jeff Kennedy]

Yes John, P4 is showing a lot of promise. We are seeing that the ones which favor the dubia are definitely benefiting from it.

[Jace]

I would love to have another girl-P12 and P22 have definitely caught my eye. I wouldn't give my boys up for anything, but Obi has such personality and I would love to have another girl to spice things up a bit. I agree, P4 is showing great promise. Ooh, so exciting!!

[pixiefrogman]

P4 is a beast!!!!

[EpicFrogMan]

nice, i would be willing to donate my big male if you guys need him for breeding. I have no room for him and would love to give him to people who appreciate verocious fat frogs.

[Kevin1]

Nice.


I think it would be interesting to experiment with different roach species. There's strong evidence that roaches are superior feeders but I think us herp keepers would be interested in knowing which species is the best of the best.

I kept a growth chart for a forum of pyxies. There are some gaps but if I can find it your welcome to access it for your project.

[Jeff Kennedy]

Thanks so much all of you. This is nice. Ella and I have been busting our rumps this past month and will continue to do so for the next couple of months as we want to get these guys started off at a young age, ingesting only the best of the best. So often, crickets are the only thing that are offered to these guys as babies and then when they are old enough, they are then offered rodent after rodent. Don't get me wrong, we too will begin rodents as soon as they are all large enough, however this will only be a once a month offering just to bulk them up a bit. Hopefully they will all benefit from this nutritious diet and grow in to beasts. Epic, we definitely have plenty of room here at the Pyxie Project headquarters to house another beast. PM me and we can work out the details. Kevin, sure thing man. When you find that stuff, send it over. We are thinking that the dubia are the superior roach species as these things are so soft, yet so meaty. We have noticed that the ones that like them, REALLY like them. They will eat them till they pop. Jo-Anna, if it is possible to ship Pyxies to Canada (I haven't never checked in to it) you can have the pick of the litter in a couple of months when we are ready to free up some females. You just let us know girly

[Jace]

That would be really amazing Jeff, let me tell you!! However, so far, past attempts at getting frogs across the border has been futile. The government is really strict on it and if the paperwork doesn't bury you, the waiting time will. I am still trying to figure it out...but I now have new incentive for sure!!

[onedge30]

Wow, Jeff K. Great stuff.

Hey, don't forget the Florida Pixie Breeding Project! I am going to give the well aestivated, outdoor enclosure, large rain chamber, kiddy pools for tadpoles breeding pixies a shot. I am very serious about trying it with out hormones. Getting the water temp just right. I have 3.2.4 housed, right now. And my eye on another adult female at the shows.

Jeff K., are you thinking of trying your hand at breeding pixies?

[Jeff Kennedy]

Hi Jeff. Thanks for the compliments! Yes we are kicking it around. We are going to begin with our 2 ornates this spring and see how successful we are with them first. It should be interesting.

[XSpringer]

Awesome blog, I just finished reading them all. Really looking forward to following it too. You guys planning on doing a breeding project following the experiment? You'll have a great chance at it.

Xavier

[Jeff Kennedy]

Hey Xavier! Glad that you actually took the time to read the blog in it's entirety!! I think that a lot of people haven't done that so it means a lot that you were interested enough to do so. As far as breeding ventures??? Well my friend, you will just have to stay tuned to the blog now won't you???

[XSpringer]

Hey Xavier! Glad that you actually took the time to read the blog in it's entirety!! I think that a lot of people haven't done that so it means a lot that you were interested enough to do so. As far as breeding ventures??? Well my friend, you will just have to stay tuned to the blog now won't you???

Yeah I saw your post and was totally hooked! I'm all for data & good record keeping when it comes to herps. Are you planning to raise them for a certain period of time before you start selling them? I'm not sure what to expect for period of rapid growth so it will be curious to read. I'd like to look into purchasing one or two myself. I can't say I can afford to dish out the funds for a well established pyxie yet I'd not mind looking into it.

Keep up the great work!
Xavier

[Jeff Kennedy]

Hey Xavier, Yes Ella and I recently ventured in to the world of vending at expos. We are enjoying it immensely and probably will continue vending. As attached as we are growing to these guys (and gals), it is a lot of work daily and a lot of $$$ in food. It is unrealistic to think that we could keep them all forever, so to answer your question, Yes, we will be selling them in the future. We will begin with the females first and this will occur probably as soon as springtime arrives. By our estimation, we have about (10) females at the moment. We know that this could change as they grow over the next couple of months but feel like we have a pretty decent handle on the sexing of them this young. By spring, it will be defenite who is male and who is female. We will be hanging on to a couple of the lady's for another project and then donating a handful back to The Frog Ranch, so that Kim can insert them in to his group of breeding ladies. What is left after that will then be offered up for sale. As far as the males, we are doing this study to try and see if we can influence and produce some 10" monsters. We will be hanging on to them much longer and continue to experiment with their diet and monitor their growth. Once we are confident that they are done growing, then these too will be offered up for sale. When it is all said and done, we will be waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy upside down on our investment but we are doing it for the experience. We are still throwing money in to the project as this week, we just purchased a large, established hisser colony so that we can insert it into the study to see what effects different roach species might have in regards to the Pyxie's growth. This was suggested by Kevin on this board and we thought it was worth checking in to. This is as much a part of your guys life as it is ours. Although we are the ones investing the money and resources, we are open to ideas and suggestions. We are doing this for all the Pyxie lovers out their so give us your input when you have some!!!