The Lily Pad

Fun and Frogs since 1994

Our friendship site about animals, dogs, cats and all pets - dog.

 

Leopard Frogs and Hibernation

Submitted by cat 19 dog on Wed, 2007-04-18 12:12.

My leopard frog in pond with gold fish isnt out of hibernation, we are zone 5 chicago area-does the water temperature have to be at a certain point. The frog is about five years old and very good size. Thank you for any help.

 

Overwintering Indoors

Submitted by jtl60047 on Wed, 2006-11-08 16:42. Ask Frog

Hi Frog -We had a HUGE Bullfrog become rather tame and have decided to overwinter him in the house.We have created a terrarium for him that includes a pool like area with 5" of water to swim in and get wet - and a nice moss (live moss) area for him to sit/perch in/on.The terrarium is in the basement - the temp is a constant 65 degrees. Given that it's cool down there, how much food will he need (today he wolfed down 4 big crickets)? Should I set up a warming light set to go on for several hours a day (currently there is a huge 8' UV grow/florescent lamp that he is under).

 

Two frog species feared extinct found in Colombia

Submitted by frog on Tue, 2006-06-06 15:35. Habitats

This story can be found at Yahoo! News

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent 1 hour, 22 minutes ago OSLO (Reuters) - Two frog species feared extinct have been rediscovered in Colombia, a boost for scientists battling to save rare amphibians threatened by a deadly disease. "These finds show there is still hope...a lot of these species were pretty much written off," Claude Gascon, a senior vice-president at Conservation International in Washington, told Reuters on Tuesday. Scientists have found the Santa Marta Harlequin frog and the San Lorenzo Harlequin frog, rated critically endangered after no sightings in 14 years, in a reserve in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta massif on Colombia's Caribbean coast. A fungal disease that smothers amphibians' skin is decimating dozens of species of brightly-colored frogs in Central and South America, adding to pressures such as pollution, climate change, deforestation and expanding cities. The rediscovery of another species -- a painted frog -- in Boyaca, Colombia, was announced last month. Some scientists say amphibians are on the front line of what may become the worst extinction crisis since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago. Gascon said it was not clear if the frogs had resisted the skin fungus -- chytridiomycosis -- or were in a region as yet unaffected. The disease had killed frogs 40 km (25 miles) from the site of the two latest finds. Alarmed by extinctions, amphibian experts are seeking more than $400 million to fund captive breeding in zoos and aquariums -- already aiding about 35 species. However, frogs cannot be re-introduced to the wild because of the disease. DOOMED TO FAIL "We can treat the disease in captivity but any re-introduction program is doomed to fail," said Joe Mendelson, a curator at Zoo Atlanta and the acting head of the amphibian specialist group at the World Conservation Union. "Capture programs are usually all about supporting populations in the wild. Because of the disease this can't work," he said. He said captive breeding could be expanded to help "hundreds, if not thousands, of species." Amphibians -- toads, frogs, newts and some worm-like creatures -- are highly vulnerable to disease, pollution or changes in temperature because they live on both land and in water and have a porous skin that absorbs oxygen. Some vanished species might have had skills valuable to humans. The Australian Northern Gastric Brooding frog, considered extinct and not sighted since 1985, could shut off its digestive juices to incubate its young in its stomach. "You can imagine the kind of knowledge in terms of helping fight ulcers that the gastric brooding frog might have held," Gascon said. Gascon said the rediscovery of the frogs showed that preservation of small habitats -- such as the El Dorado reserve where the two frogs were found in Colombia -- could be a key to saving many threatened species. A global group of conservationists, the Alliance for Zero Extinction, said last year that preserving 595 sites around the world could help save 794 endangered species.

 

Cope's Gray Tree Frog (Hyla chrysoscelis) and Common Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor)

 

Submitted by frog on Fri, 2004-09-10 15:29. Gray Tree Frog | Tree Frogs | Frog Types

The two frogs named above are morphologically identical, and their habitats overlap, so they will be described together as they are in most reference material. They differ primarily by call and number of chromosomes. Since it is so
difficult to tell them apart, they are generally called Gray Tree Frog.
Description:

The size of this frog ranges from 1.2-1.8 inches long in males and 1.6-2.2 inches long in females. The skin on the back is green or gray with large, dark blotches on the back. Due to changes in activity and environment, they may change colors even more to include brown, pearl-gray, or even almost white. There is usually a light, white spot below the eye. Their bellies are white, and the hidden skin behind the limbs is yellow or bright orange mottled with black. For a tree frog, the skin on their backs is quite warty, but these warts are not nearly as prominent as those on the average toad. These warts help them to camouflage especially well against the tree bark.

 

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