MOTW - Aug 18 - Aug 24 2013 - Carlos (Mentat)

[Mentat]

Collecting and breeding fish for 50 years have had lots of different ones. Here are pics of a few that gained pet status!

Achilles (RIP), my Blue Bacara Kamfa, super powerful fish with carbide hard teeth that ruined it's aquarium side glass.



"Nightfall" (RIP) a Modern ZZ with Kamfa genes; awesome pearls and colors.



Briseis a female Vieja Fenestrata - P. fenestratus (tried to cross with Achilles but he wasn't into that).



Pinball (RIP) a Vietnamese AC Kamfa (this fish had no immune system... zilch).



Plata a Silver Vieja (P. argentea) and a show quality fish!

[GrifTheGreat]

Great to actually know more about you Carlos! Love the pictures. Very interesting fish!

As for the Pyxi. I'd have to say male and it does appear to be a Pyxicephalus adspersus that became stunted, BUT it may be one of the lesser known/seen species.

[Mentat]

Some of my saltwater critters!

Cleopatra, a Peacock Mantis Shrimp.



Smack, a Chiragra Mantis Shrimp.




Antenita, a Red Angler fish.



Blade, a Leaf Fish!



Sarah, a Townsend Angel (natural occurring hybrid between Queen and Blue Angels)



Zee, my first Moray (Echidna polyzona)

[Mentat]

Great to actually know more about you Carlos! Love the pictures. Very interesting fish!

As for the Pyxi. I'd have to say male and it does appear to be a Pyxicephalus adspersus that became stunted, BUT it may be one of the lesser known/seen species.

I enjoyed the read Carlos, very interesting. Great pictures as well. Congrats on your new pyxie.

Thanks guys ! Now got two votes for male, any other says? IRT species, will try and take more pics today during maintenance and feeding. But will give you couple tips in the meantime to throw you off: the tympani has a white spot on it, the distance between eye and tympani is one eye diameter and the feet are slightly webbed. On the other hand, the dorsal ridges are long and unbroken and the upper lip is barred. No knowledge about frog's care before it got to pet shop. They had it in a large plastic critter keeper in water with a flat stone to climb on. Will go now and see if can get more pics .

[GrifTheGreat]

Thanks guys ! Now got two votes for male, any other says? IRT species, will try and take more pics today during maintenance and feeding. But will give you couple tips in the meantime to throw you off: the tympani has a white spot on it, the distance between eye and tympani is one eye diameter and the feet are slightly webbed. On the other hand, the dorsal ridges are long and unbroken and the upper lip is barred. No knowledge about frog's care before it got to pet shop. They had it in a large plastic critter keeper in water with a flat stone to climb on. Will go now and see if can get more pics .

Description is of a Dwarf P. edulis. Hmmmm....Hybrid maybe.

[Mentat]

Description is of a Dwarf P. edulis. Hmmmm....Hybrid maybe.

Exactly ! Just changed it's water, fed it two huge night crawlers, and made him (called loud and clear a few times already and checked presence of nuptial pads) mad by taking pics. Good news is, now it's eating the NCs from substrate without tongs help . Consider that a safety issue when feeding a Pixie since Stilgar would target my hand...obviously out of love .

Ok, here are today's pics, sorry for quality, these are taken with phone. BTW, decided to name this guy Duncan in honor of Duncan Idaho, Swordmaster for House Atreides in Frank Herbert's Dune novels.

P. adspersus traits: long unbroken dorsal ridges, and barred upper lips.





Yeah, sure, get close and make my day !




P. edulis traits present: small 3 in. SVL size (told age is over one year), distance between eye and tympanum is equal (or nearly so) to eye diameter, white spot on tympanum, and slight webbing between toes.





And finally do note Duncan's eyes do not look like either species. The whole eye is black !

No matter what species is it, I'm starting to like it a lot . Still hoping it stays as is and I do not accidentally trigger a growing spurt that will make it a monster. The short time Stilgar was with me, he ate a couple hundred dollars of food!

Next is to start his new home buildup with a water base, rock slabs creating a tiered platform to climb onto and out of water, and a little land area in case he wants to go landlubber ! A week or two from now, also plan to get a fecal and weight in. Can use numbers later in case need to get to get de-worming treatment. Thanks for reading and do let me know what you think is this Pixie !

[N3XU5]

Thank you Lynn and Mark! I'll answer your question soon Mark; want to make sure don't give you bad advice ! Yes, Lynn, Stilgar was a little playful monster and it was hard to take my tanks and enclosures down and get my pets adopted. Sold a lot of equipment too; but still got enough around for starting a few projects. Will be posting in the vivarium section and ask you guys for help with decor.

OK; just had some nice homemade chicken soup and ready to upload more pics. My left shoulder is unhappy because the Dr. gave it a shot with a big cocktails of steroids, painkillers, and anti-inflammatories. Physical Therapy starts next week, happy, happy, joy, joy !

A trio of P. terribilis that was for sale at a local store (such a temptation).



Green is nice, but I like these blue ones too:

Thanks Carlos!

[Mentat]

I know Jen is lurking around.. Good Morning Jen ! Crazy shot the Dr. gave shoulder yesterday kept me awake most of night . I'm hungry, sleepless, and numbed out. Will go wake up critters and make breakfast, then back for a while, then mow grass (maybe see a toad), then back again.

IRT question; if you have any about fish, algae, Mantis Shrimp, Global Heat (not a friendly "Global Warming" any more), or the meaning of life... go ahead and make my day !

[Jenste]

Haha lurking am I?
Lol the Thursday announcement usually goes unspoken as lots of questionsget ask ed during the week.

I love love love love your pictures! They came out amazing!

[flybyferns]

Thank you Lynn and Mark! I'll answer your question soon Mark; want to make sure don't give you bad advice ! Yes, Lynn, Stilgar was a little playful monster and it was hard to take my tanks and enclosures down and get my pets adopted. Sold a lot of equipment too; but still got enough around for starting a few projects. Will be posting in the vivarium section and ask you guys for help with decor.

OK; just had some nice homemade chicken soup and ready to upload more pics. My left shoulder is unhappy because the Dr. gave it a shot with a big cocktails of steroids, painkillers, and anti-inflammatories. Physical Therapy starts next week, happy, happy, joy, joy !

A trio of P. terribilis that was for sale at a local store (such a temptation).



Green is nice, but I like these blue ones too:

I don't know how you could, possible , leave the Jr Mints without tanking them home !
Are they bi-color or mint froglets? I think P terribilis - juveniles- yes?
Great thread, Carlos !!

[Mentat]

Congrats Carlos,

Do you have any advice on how I can get motw.

Keep posting in other areas of the forum - not spamming and not just to increase post count - but genuine, creative, encouraging, knowledgeable, helpful posts and in time I am sure some one will nominate you. Nominations are often in the form of "So-and-so gave great advice/really helped me out/put together an awesome tank and I want to know more about them/their methods" etc.

Carlos - your frogs are lovely! I don't mind you beating me to the punch! Hope your morning goes well!

OK Mark, Jen already gave you some good tips and there are some more in the MOTW sticky. What I did was be myself and always make the forum experience pleasant and fun. At least if you go by my standards will see it took time and effort. Now, it meant to me lots because the members who nominated me and the moderators that supported that nomination are people I've learned from and respect. I found the responsibilities for the week fun, revisiting my past, selecting pics, and introducing my Pixie "Duncan." Now you asked for tips and here they are, but be aware this is what worked for me so you will need to fine tune it to your personality.

First and foremost I treat forum members as persons! Behind each forum name, no matter how private or impersonal it sounds, there is a human being. We need to be compassionate, emphatic, and respectful to everyone in the real & digital world, or we can loose our way in life. Yeah, I know there is lot's of bad out there; but with few exceptions frog people are nice . Learn about frogs (read lots, many good books around) and care for your animals well. Web information is a mixed batch and could mislead anyone starting anything, but there are good places to utilize. Among a few I use are: AmphibiaWeb; In Depth Information on Common Aquatic Clawed Frogs; International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature; Melissa Kaplan's Herp and Green Iguana Information Collection; New England Herpetoculture LLC - 10 Commandments of Vivarium Building; POLLYWOGS WORLD OF FROGS; and The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Do not make MOTW an objective above everything but rather be yourself, grow in the hobby, participate in forum, and eventually it should happen. I had almost 2K post and probably over 1/2 of those are helping others when it happened! When helping, read the original poster thread carefully and ask any questions needed to get the whole picture. The sticky "Trouble in the Enclosure" is a great way to figure out problem areas, even if it ticks off some members . It's not about being the first or of creating a clinical thread. It's about listening, feeling the sick frog, visualizing the wrong set-up; and then communicating and guiding the usually new member in a way they understand. Remember, we are helping out the sick frog first and foremost. Sometimes it is about helping them do available options; not everyone has deep cash pockets or a frog veterinary available so sometimes we need to find a workable solution .

If you go out the thread writer route; then need to read a lot so your writing is as perfect as possible. Also, this and every forum article section has a flavor... a style. Do read the present articles and learn that. If for example I get a frog that does not have a care article; once experienced with it (including breeding and raising tadpoles to juvies) then would write a proposal which format is as close as possible to John's. He writes excellent articles so if you want to get published in there... you got to beat him in his game . I haven't done that yet, but looking forward to it; only takes time... and $$$ to buy the frogs!

Can also increase your member reputation by creating informative threads or at least ones that members find interesting, participate on, and give you positive rep. No matter which way you go, have fun! Take breaks as required so you do not burn out. If another member(s) feels abrasive to you, avoidance is better than confrontation, because no one wins a forum flame war. I can get in middle of conflict and defuse it; but have 3 decades of experience in that. Do not create conflict and walk away from it when you can, not only here but in real life. Hope did not bore you to death and good luck Mark and all others desiring the MOTW selection !

[Mentat]

Well... my week of fame is soon coming to an end ! Don't have videos of my frogs, but do have some of my three remaining fish.

Sunset is 13 in. long (without fins) Thai Rainbow Kamfa. The marks on tail are scar tissue, he arrived home with internal nematodes.



Morning is 6 in. long (without fins) Thai White Dragon Short Body.



And my bad boy, Red is 12 in. long Thai Super Red Shock. No hands go into tank, he loves me and is very interactive; but likes to bite everything and has razor sharp carbide hard teeth.



Enjoy !

[Hypnotic]

They look awsome Carlos! Congratulations on member of the week!

[Jenste]

I ***LOVE*** Red - - have a soft spot for naughty boys lol

[Mentat]

They look awsome Carlos! Congratulations on member of the week!

I ***LOVE*** Red - - have a soft spot for naughty boys lol

Thank you guys !

[Bolisnide]

Carlos, wow! You Rock \m/!!
I have always enjoyed your friendly, gentle manner. So nice to get to know you!
Thank you for sharing, and thank you for serving our country. Love and big hugs to you!
p.s.- I have a feeling Mrs Right is coming around soon (if you're so inclined, and it's not me, sorry!)

EDIT: sorry that didn't sound right, I just had a margarita! but you get the jist.

[Mentat]

Carlos, wow! You Rock \m/!!
I have always enjoyed your friendly, gentle manner. So nice to get to know you!
Thank you for sharing, and thank you for serving our country. Love and big hugs to you!
p.s.- I have a feeling Mrs Right is coming around soon (if you're so inclined, and it's not me, sorry!)

EDIT: sorry that didn't sound right, I just had a margarita! but you get the jist.

Thank you sweetie, you made my day and brought a smile to my face ! Enjoy your Margarita, stupid meds won't let me have a nice Modelo Especial or some Cabernet with dinner ! Oh well... such is life !

[Sasha]

Can't believe I missed a new MOTW. Congrats Carlos, it was nice to read about your life. The pictures of your frogs and fish are beautiful. Sorry to hear about your TIA but it's good that you got treatment. I'm dealing with someone right now (which is probably why I missed MOTW) that ignored signs, had a stroke early this week and didn't go to the hospital. I forced him to go and he found out that he had actually had previous strokes that he was unaware of (or that he ignored). So I am so glad that you are here with us still to share your wisdom

[Mentat]

Thank you Patsy ! Actually, I lost control of my left foot for 20-30 minutes and had palpitations (130 pulse) for couple hours. Did not go to emergency room until the next morning when my sister chew me up on the phone and the Tricare appointment lady told me to hung up and dial 911 ! So I took a shower and drove myself to Sentara's emergency room where the ball started rolling... men ! Did found out in there it's very important to reach emergency room within 4 hours of TIA, because they have better treatment options to prevent permanent damage .

[N3XU5]

Thank you Patsy ! Actually, I lost control of my left foot for 20-30 minutes and had palpitations (130 pulse) for couple hours. Did not go to emergency room until the next morning when my sister chew me up on the phone and the Tricare appointment lady told me to hung up and dial 911 ! So I took a shower and drove myself to Sentara's emergency room where the ball started rolling... men ! Did found out in there it's very important to reach emergency room within 4 hours of TIA, because they have better treatment options to prevent permanent damage .

I'm Glad you're alright.