Update on the Big Bad Frog!

As you can see, Bonnie has a new shape and has earned her name as the Big Bad frog. I suspect that Bonnie is pregnant with a new batch. We won't know for sure till she lays the eggs. We have no clue who the father will be as there are several males in the terrium. Bonnie will eventually lay the eggs in water or under damp vegetation. Then one of the males will fertilize the eggs. It takes about 6-8 weeks for the eggs to hatch into tadpoles. 

Over the winter, the frogs have been growing tremendously. We are now finding out who's male and female. The males are loudly croaking and making them selfs heard. The females seem to be getting  ready to lay eggs and are large like Bonnie. We lost several over the winter. It was a very horrible. You could tell that they were feeling the lost. They all huddled together around the dead frog. 

I will keep you posted on the eggs, the Toad, the gecko, and the turtle.

Alyssa's world: A New Addition to my Menagerie

Alyssa's world: A New Addition to my Menagerie: One night I was with my best friend and we went to drop her brothers off at her house. Her brother hopped out and screamed, "There'...

A New Addition to my Menagerie

One night I was with my best friend and we went to drop her brothers off at her house. Her brother hopped out and screamed, "There's a frog!!!" So immediately I jumped out and grabbed it. As soon as I picked it up, I knew it was a toad because of it's rough skin. (The tree frogs I have are different because they have smooth skin and tend to be smaller.) I got back into the car and held him in my hands, and he kept trying to jump out of my hands. 

When I got home I ran in the door screaming, " I found a new member to the family". Both of my parents were curious about what kind of toad it was. When my mother was little she used to catch toads that found there way into the window wells.  (Window wells are basement windows in the midwest). She was excited to meet my new friend. My dad was excited too and wanted to do research immediately. A short time later I left for a school football game. When I got back at 9 o'clock I found a new cage with a happy toad inside. My dad went to the pet store after he dropped me off.  He bought what we needed because he didn't want to see the toad let go right away and wated him to be happy. 

This toad is like my tree frogs because he eats crickets. I have a funny story. One night I fed him crickets. I set the clear plastic container of crickets outside his plastic cage while I was feeding the tree frogs. He saw the cricket container and was trying to eat the crickets through the plastic side of his cage. He was bonking his tongue as we'll as his head against the cage wall. I finally had to move the container of crickets, otherwise he would continue to try to eat them. It was hilarious and we all laughed at his funny behavior. 

Looking at this toad who we named, Beast Mode after Caleb from Big Brother, he has one stripe down the center of his back and spots on his belly. From this we know that he is a certain type of toad and a male. In his cage he likes to hide under the moss and play or sit in the water. When I reach inside the cage he freaks out, jumping everywhere, splashing water, and hiding. Perhaps this is because of the way I grabbed him when I caught him. In just the short time we've had him he's gotten bigger and more tame. It will be fun to watch him grow as we don't really know how big he will get.

Here are some photos of Beast Mode.

My Summer Trip Part 2

One of the highlights on my trip in Illinois was going to the Illinois state fair. I've never been to a fair with so much compatition, animals, and amazing food. It was exciting and I have pictures to prove it. My first adventure was riding a mechanical bull. It was very challenging but I was able to stay on for a while before I flew off. My cousin and mom were there cheering me on. Next i went for a walk and found a man with many animals such as geese, farret,and a skunk. The man likes to dress up his geese. They had bandanas, little vest, a few of them even had baseball bats and mitts. The farret and the skunk both were on leases. For the first time I held a skunk and farret. He had taken out the sprayer I from the skunk so it was safe to hold him. They were both very docile and friendly. 

My favorite rides were the Ali Baba,The Farris wheel, and hang glider. The Ali baba is a magic carpet, that goes very high up in the air. The hang glider was probably most fun because I shared the fun moment on the ride with my cousins. 

Our trip to the fair was fun but the weather was hot and humid it didn't take any time at all to feel exhausted. But I guess that did matter to us because we managed to stay all day. Here are some photos that show my exciting time at the Illinois state fair.

My Summer Trip part 1

I took a vacation to Illinois and Ohio with my mother. We visited relatives, had a BBQ every night, and I did lots of things I've never done before. In this blog I'm going to talk about the things I did in Illinois and a bit of my time in Ohio.

We went with my aunts and uncles to a tractor pull. A tractor pull is when they hook a tractor or truck up to a semi with weights. As the tractor goes forward the weight increases. Each tractor is timed and the winner is the one who is pulls the weight the farthest in the fastest time. It was very fun to watch from the stands because there was lots smoke, screaming, and flames! It was a true Midwestern American experience.

My next adventure in Illinois was to go four wheeling on my Uncle's ATV's. He has 4 acres where he has added dirt jumps and trails. My cousin who is 6 asked me if I was ready and I said, "Yes!" and ended up going on a jump and stopping. Luckily, I got through it.   He stopped and said, "Next time go faster!"  The ATV's can go up to 40mph but I decided that was too fast. We rode for an hour or two and it was very fun. We only came in because it got dark. I rode riding past a bonfire we were having. 

We left Illinois on our way to Ohio to see my sister and her kids. When we got to my sister's in Ohio the weather was great. She lives in a development that is made around 2 man made lakes. We went to sleep. There was a storm that night and I slept right through the thunder and lighting. It had rained 5" over night and into the morning. My sister's house was fine but many others' basements were flooded. The lake had risen and flood over onto the grass past the pavement. I saw a lot of carpet on the sidewalk as people had to rip out the water soaked carpets and pump out their basements. That 5" did a lot of damage in a short amount of time.

California Academy of Sciences

California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco located in Golden Gate park is a place full of adventure. There is lots of fun things to do such as tropical atrium, aquariums, stuffed animals in there habitats, feisty penguins, an albino alligator, always special exhibits, and a planetarium. Although this place is very expensive it is worth the admission as there are so many things to see that you can't see anywhere else. There is also an expensive cafeteria that has a wide range of food.

I love this living museum. My favorite thing was the tropical atrium filled with insects, reptiles, birds, and many more kinds of tropical wildlife. You get to go through the Borneo, Costa Rican, and Madagascan rain forests. I also enjoyed the ocean reef filled with anemones, starfish, stingrays, and beautiful tropical fish.

In the aquarium area there are large viewing areas with many types of fish as well as smaller cases with special fish. One fun area is the live pool where you can touch starfish and sea urchins. 

In the marsh area there is a large reed boat. The man I took the basket weaving class from at Point Reyes actually made it! 

One of the last things we did was to visit the living roof. It covers several acres and Uniquely filters the rain water for use in the building. It is a great example of recycling and conserving resources.

Social media to the rescue!!

One day my Mom saw on Facebook that a close friend had a Afraican Fat-Tailed gecko that needed a new home. Her daughter was going off to college and couldn't take the gecko with her. We made an offer and it was accepted. I had to wait a week because our busy work schedules. I could hardly wait to meet this cute little gecko! 

His name is Obi which means heart in Nigerian. The African Fat-Tailed gecko is from West Africa. Obi came with a cage,water bowl, plant, huge log, and special silica. His cage is in my room. Obi and I have created a unique bond. At night he's very active and I normally take him out and snuggle with him in bed. He likes to snuggle up under my neck and loves my furry bed set. Obi is a huge cricket fan. He will eat live crickets right out of your hand.

So far, Obi has had some very fun adventures. One night my Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch and I decided to bring Obi down for a visit. My Dad decided it would be fun to feed Obi on the couch. When my Dad put the cricket in front of Obi,  he bit it so fast my Dad didn't have time to react and Obi ended up holding on to my Dad's finger. 

Another fun story was when Obi met Dash this week. I put Obi outside of the tank so that Dash could see him.Then Dash got excited and started swimming rapidly into the glass trying to eat his legs.