Name that Toad!

Hey ya'll!

So the gardener came over earlier today and found what I suspect might be mum's "mystery toad". We're still at a bit of an impasse as to what we should name it and have narrowed it down to

Puggle (Ray's suggestion)
Big Momma (Mum's suggestion)
Yo Momma (My suggestion)

Please cast your vote in the comment box below.

Latest update: We have released Puggle back into the garden as of yesterday night! I daresay he enjoyed his time while he was here but a wild toad should always be allowed to do what a wild toad does best! Hop about to its heart's content! I will always be leaving out a dish of worms for him every night though! Perhaps one day I shall see him again. (4/3/2013)

Cheers,
Cyren

Geckos and Toads.

Hey ya'll 

It's been awhile since I last checked back here! Work has been pilling up and so have the butterflies on the spreading board. Unfortunately, until I can find the perfect shadow box to display them in (I'm looking for something large, that will accommodate all of Khalid's donations, and some of my own besides) they will just have to wait. Last week one of the specimens fell apart though, a beautiful arhopala sp. that had striking purple colored wings. As you can imagine I was simply crushed! Perhaps as crushed as the disintegrated body of a beautiful butterfly gone to waste! Such is the problem when spreading specimens dating several years back! You never know what sort of pests (psocids in this case!) have gotten to them! Oh well, Khalid assures me that he has more spares and maybe the next time I go visit he will be kind enough to donate another one (fingers crossed!) 

In the meantime, I've been getting my amphibian love on! I received, for my birthday, a pair of very beautiful Oriental Fire-Belly toads (bombina orientalis)! The toads, which are really a kind of frog, are green and black on the top and striking red, orange, yellow and black on the bottom! their markings, in fact, are very reminiscent of the markings of Japanese firebelly newts and Paddletail newts but I assure you the species are in no way related. As you might imagine, the brilliant coloring of the toad's underbellies signal to predators that the toad are poisonous, and when attacked, the toads can secrete a milky poison from their legs. When threatened, they have a very interesting behavior of flipping on to their backs to display their brightly colored bellies! They seem to be saying "eat me, and you just might croak!"  (ps. I do NOT lick them! They're NOT that kind of toad!) I initially started out with two toads, but have since gone and gotten a third. Their names are Kermit, Redtumbles, and Greentumbles (you can "credit" Ray for the last two names!) and although they are all male, seem to thoroughly enjoy mounting each other on a fairly regular basis! Kermit would often object to such an intrusion of his privacy with bark-like croaks but have since been fairly compliant. 

The boys

Planted terrarium with a makeshift "pond" that is their current habitat. More plants have been added since taking this photo. 

Aside from the toads we also have one relatively new addition to our family. Another leopard gecko, that was ALSO presented to me on my birthday! She came to us rather small and dull in color (I suspect it might have been the shock of being boxed...) but have since blossomed and grown in leaps and bounds! She's not as friendly as our previous gecko, Evil Keneevil, but she has a certain charm that is unique in her own way. We have named her Penelope Petite (credits also go to Ray). 

With all the new animals joining our household, though, I feel it is my duty to remind the average reader that pets do NOT really make good presents! An animal is a living creature with unique wants, needs, and requirements and purchasing one should never, ever, be taken lightly! These pets were gotten for me not on a whim but with the knowledge that I in fact already possessed the necessary equipment, knowledge, and skills to care for them. So please, obtain pets responsibly, and let's all do our best for our animal friends.

Cheers,
Cyren.

Titillating Tadpoles pt. 4 ~ Coming of Age

Hey ya'll 

the first of the toads have finally began to break the surface of the water to metamorphose into their adult forms. Turns out this happened over the past few days and (because I had neglected to install a floating island device into the fish tank *I COULDN'T FIND ONE*) they did so by clinging on to the branches and leaves of the small vines that I have got growing in there. As it turned out, only one of them was truly ready to make the transition to land and it signaled so to me by making its way up the sides of the tank. As fortune would have it, toads have incredibly humid skin which (when removed from their aquatic habitat) becomes extremely sticky. Indeed I think that might have been the only thing that saved the poor thing from drowning! As it was I rescued the small animal from its little leaf-island in the fish tank and put it into a more terrestrial habitat. 

Black-spectacled toadlet. (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)

An interesting fact about these little toadlets is that they do not require food right away. When they finally grow big enough to emerge on land, they still retain a small stump of what is now a vestigial tail (no doubt a relic from their aquatic lives) and this tail will actually sustain them and provide them the nutrients that they need at this early stage in life. It is only after the tail is absorbed back into the toad's body and is no longer visible that the toad will begin actively hunting for food. Well, I suppose this saves me the trouble of culturing springtails for them to feed on!!! For now!!! 

Cheerity-cheers,
Cyren

Titillating Tadpoles pt. 3 ~ In Arms Way

Hey ya'll

the little toadlets that I collected from a few days back have finally reached the stage in their lives where they begin to sprout arms. I'm not sure how/when it happened really as I never even saw the little arm-buds emerging but perhaps the process is a lot quicker than that. I'm thinking what really happens is that these limbs develop inside the body and don't emerge until it is pretty much ready to come out (which is very different from the development of the legs, which start off as little trailing extensions). At any rate this means that the little toadlets will be about ready to start walking on land soon! Yipes!!! I'm so unprepared for this!!! Time to start coming up with solutions on how I can help them make the transition. In the meantime check them out!!! They kind of look a lot like newts at this coming of age stage.

Speaking of coming of age, I'll be turning 23 soon... in precisely ten minutes, to be exact. Not sure how I feel about it. Kind of scary, if you think about it... especially when you look at it as if I'm now approaching what would be (if I am lucky) the quarter mark of my life. But away with such morbid thoughts! Life is meant to be celebrated, and I intend to go about doing so to the very last minute!!!!

Cheers,
Cyren

Titillating Tadpoles pt. 2 ~ Baby Steps

Hey ya'll 

It's just been slightly over a week since we first got our tadpoles and they must really be enjoying their diet of algae, decaying leaves and fish food because some of the larger ones have already begun to sprout the beginnings of tiny little legs! I find the process extremely interesting because these "legs" pretty much start of as tumor-like buds that eventually extend and give shape to toes!!! What's also interesting is if you turn the tadpole to its side and hold it up against the light you will notice the formation of other organs as well, the beginnings of a pair of lungs and what I suspect are a pair of "tumors" that will soon erupt from the tadpole's front to produce it's front pair of limbs! 

Oh! I just hate how "wizened" my palms look when I photograph it up close like this!!!

In the meantime I suppose I need to start taking serious consideration into what I am going to do with the little toadlets when they emerge. Also, note to self: Install floating island in fresh-water set up to provide toads with place to metamorphose! 

Cheers,
Cyren

Titillating Tadpoles

Hey ya'll 

If there's something I especially love about insects and invertebrates, it is their ability to change almost completely in terms of form, shape and color as they grow up. Not many other animals that I know of, specifically vertebrate animals, can boast of such a radical change in their entire physical structure as they age. Indeed, insects and arachnids aside, one of the other animals I can think off of the top of my head that does this  are the amphibians, frogs and toads and salamanders as such. Starting their lives as fish-like tadpoles before they emerge as full grown amphibians that can walk on land, I always fantasize that the growing up process of these animals resembles somewhat the transition our own aquatic ancestors must have gone through millennia ago!

Tadpoles of the Common Asian Toad (bufo melanostictus)

And why shouldn't I be reminded of that, when Charles Darwin himself remarked in the study of embryology, that the immature stage of many metamorphosing animals, amphibians and certain insects for example, are often so similar to each other (the larvae of a beetle is really quite similar to the larvae of a butterfly or moth, so too are the tadpoles of almost all species of frogs, toads and newts) is that they in many ways resemble the original form of these creatures before evolution bestowed them with so many diverse and wonderful traits. In that sense, although many of these animals adapted to be able to live in both land and water, they never quite cut their ties with their land of birth and consequently must continue to reproduce there. Indeed, certain species of toads which are almost entirely terrestrial still breed in pretty much the same way and go through several life stages from tadpole to adult. Conversely there are species of salamanders and newts which do not entirely mature at all, suggesting stronger ties between the creature and its embryonic "original" state. Indeed, though they may seem superficially similar to reptiles, Amphibians are really quite a distinct order. While all reptiles are amniotes (which means they lay eggs that have been terrestrially adapted to land) amphibians are not and therefore exhibit closer ties to their aquatic ancestry. It is no coincidence, that the tadpole breathes with gills when the species as a whole evolved from bony fish like creatures that adapted to "walking" short distances on land.

Try to imagine a dinosaur sized, one of these!!!

All the aside, I'm really quite psyched to begin raising these guys (which I obtained from my aunt's place, by the way) as it has been quite awhile since my last amphibian. You will remember, of course, our darling Trevor that was eventually released back into the wild so that he may partake in the breeding rituals of his kind. I wonder what he is doing now... indeed, if he is even still alive. Considering how I released him into a forested area, I am hoping he would not have been accidentally run over by a car, although, I suppose there are always snakes around. Meanwhile, I've housed the current tadpoles on my table tank, together with the rest of my fishes although I am rather concerned what to do with the toadlets when they emerge (they need to find dry land to transform or risk drowning) but I have put in lots of plants for now that they may cling to and eventually climb to the surface. I suppose, however, if I find any sprouting legs I can always fish them up with a net myself. For now they are very useful as the bottom feeders of my tank.

Cheers,
Cyren

My Manic Menagerie

Hey ya'll

three posts in one day! That must be a record of some sort!!! Anyway, following my completion of My Family, and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrel, I decided to make a headcount of all the pets I've ever had. Of course, I use the term 'pet' here rather loosely as it also refers to the various other animals I've taken care of for varying periods of time (my butterflies, for example) and then released into the wild. Because I'm guessing there's going to be a lot of them... I shall make it as brief as possible.

1. Dogs

Blossom and Buffy, my two shih-tzus have been the two animals who have been with our family the longest. Although it's been some nine years since they came into our lives, I still remember how we had decided - quite randomly - in my opinion to one day adopt a dog into our household. Of course, the moment between deciding to have one, and actually getting one took some time (we wanted to make sure we got the right dog) but eventually settled on a shih-tzu. Supposedly for easy maintenance. Boy were we wrong. Either way, Blossom and Buffy, for all their attitude and flaws have been amazing additions to the family and can diffuse any tense situation with their antics (unless they're the cause of the situation in the first place)

2. Rodents

Our house has seen quite a large number of its fair share of rodents during its time. And no, we did not have an infestation or a problem, we just had a little boy (namely me) who cannot resist adopting any creature he's come across. From the first pair of white mice Terri got me for my birthday (luxuriously named Chanel and Dior by her), to the ones I 'rescued' from being dissected at science labs, and finally, my darling single-mother of a mouse, Dandelion who gave birth to up to thirteen young, all of which survived to adulthood, mice have been welcome additions in this house and instead of trapping them with cages or cruel glue-lined papers, we have come to see these rodents in new perspective and light.

But the favorite rodent in this household, was arguably the only hamster we ever got. Strawberry, the female, Syrian hamster that was given to me by Robyn and Nigel when Dandelion finally succumbed of old age. Strawberry - unlike most hamsters - has always had a very sweet temperament and would never bite a person - not even a stranger. In fact, she loved humans so much, she would be content by simply curling up in one of the family's laps for her afternoon siestas. Throughout the three years of her life, Strawberry never ceased to entertain and amaze us. From learning to pick the locks to her cage, to performing simple tricks for our (and presumably her) amusement, she must be one of the most intelligent hamsters I've ever seen. In fact, her presence was so cherished that, when she at last left us, we made a small monument out of tiles and wax in the front garden to bury her. We sometimes bring flowers to that spot till this very day.

3. Turtles

Turtles have been very much loved in our household on account of their 'good luck'. We currently still have three of them, the tiny one, Shelldon (who is currently living quite happily at Ray's) and the other two colossal giants from a forgotten point of memory in my childhood. 

4.Fish

Fish have always been a particular favorite of my father and so, we have had quite a history of fish living with us. From my earliest memory of possessing a common siamese fighting fish (betta splendens) to our large tropical fish tank of angel fish and discuss, to the outdoor pond of goldfish and guppies, we have always enjoyed the serenity and calm watching fish swim around seem to invoke on some of those lazier days. Of course fish, being fish, don't live very long, but it has always been that when they die - indeed if they do not have offspring to replace them - that they would be almost instantaneously replaced by a quick trip to our local pet store.

5. Birds

As I may have already stated elsewhere here, birds have always been a particular favorite of mine. Generally, I admire birds for their beauty, their ability to create complex vocal sounds (singing, in some people's terms) and not to mention their beautiful feathers and their capacity for flight. Unsurprisingly, therefore, I have kept many different species of birds from the point of my childhood till I grew up. Some of the earlier species of birds I kept were common fowl. Jungle chickens and pheasant chicks and the like, until I eventually moved on to rescuing baby birds in nests which were abandoned by their parents, or upset during a storm. I recall in particular, the chick of a yellow vented bulbul which we raised quite succesfully. All these birds, however, were released into the wild upon recovery and although I would love to play the romantic and say they have constantly frequented my garden, I never saw many of them again since. Things took a change though, some few years ago when our garden saw its first budgie visitor, an injured bird we subsequently named Tweety (mostly because of his incessant vocalizations) but I've already talked about that and you can read more about him and his family here, and here, and here. (or simply go to the homepage, and click the link "birds" on the sidebar whereby you will be presented with every single ornithological related post I've ever written here) At any rate the result is that we have a pretty large outdoor aviary at the side of the house now which - I hope - will soon house a beautiful white Java Dove I have named Snow White. 

6. Frogs and Toads and other amphibians

Aaaah, the lovely amphibians with their interesting life-cycles. Unbeknowst to most of you, Trevor was not my first - and most certainly won't be my last - amphibians. Since I was a boy growing up, I've always had a soft spot for amphibians (and almost everything else that crawls, creeps, jumps or flies!!! But I digress) and some of my earliest memories in school was of me crawling in mud-filled ditches, scooping up their tadpoles by the palmful to be kept in plastic tanks to adulthood whereby they would be released in my garden with hopes that they would someday reproduce in our pond. Nothing came of it, though, and I never did see a single tadpole. Some species which I'd previously kept include the African clawed frog, and a pair of lovely fire-bellied newts which I had rescued from a rather forlorn looking establishment. I was, by all accounts, extremely fascinated by their life-cycles which reminded me greatly of the metamorphosis of butterflies as well

7. Insects and Other Invertabrates

Which brings us to the height of my passion. The magnificent insects! Growing up, I've had a very mixed relationship with the world of insecta. But despite my ill-feelings towards certain species (grasshoppers and cockroaches being the top two), insects under the order of lepidoptera, the butterflies and moths, have always capture my fascination and wonder and thus hold an extremely special place in my heart. This blog, is perhaps the biggest testament to that and you only need scroll through my posts to see why it is so. I do breed butterflies still, and raise them, but while some individuals are kept within a netted enclosure on the outside of the house, most are released so that they may return to populate the wild. 

Praying mantids are another breed of insects I like. Mostly because of their fascinating mannerisms, their (sometimes) brilliant coloration and their infamous reputation, they are perfect specimens that I use in my bid to educate people on the fascination, usefulness and integral roles insects play in our lives and ecosystems. Being mostly tame - except when she's hungry or angry! - my latest mantis, an impressive female specimen by the name of Artemis, basically sat in a cage on my office table to this effect until quite recently where she's recuperating after producing me a particularly splendid Ootheca.

Also, who could forget Hector, the walking-leaf insect (phyllium bioculatum) that was so difficult for me to procure. to read more, click here.

I've also raised a wide assortment of land-hermit crabs of various names which I can't quite recall now... 

And of course, who could forget the scorpion... Sting. Which caused quite a stir when he first appeared.

And though I must admit that all these animals were had in different points in time of my life, we are able to identify at least 8 different main groups here (not to mention the various individual species under each category I've raised) which really leads me to wonder, should I really counter people with a cutting remark, the next time they make the obvious comment "Cyren!!! You've got a ZOO there!" or not? Either way all these animals have brought me many good experiences, yes, and it was an extreme charm and challenge to raise them all... but for warning's sake, I must confess that raising animals can be quite a chore. It is an incredible responsibility to take upon oneself... placing another creature's life in the palm of one's hands (literally!) and I definitely would not recommend it to anyone on a whim. And really, at my high point, I barely had any time for a social life - what with the ammount of cages that needed cleaning, mouths that needed feeding, growths that needed charting and the like... which is all fine and good for an animal enthusiast like myself. But I daresay it is not for anyone. And now, before I go, truly, and leave you for your amazing weekend and Hari Raya celebrations, it seems I have managed to forget one last animal that is dependant on my love and care.

9. Human Being

Teeehee!!! Just joking!!! 

Selamat Hari Raya and Happy Holidays ya'll! 

Bye, bye Toadie.

I once had a toad I named Trevor, 

I thought that I'd love him forever!

He was fat he, was brown and his face bore a frown

also, he had warts but, whatever. 

But in time he started to get lonely, 

and though the tank was quite homely,

it was mating season outside, and so he would cry

as he thought to himself now, if only.

So a decision was made on my part, 

that now it was time that we'd part. 

So he could live in the wild, like an uncivilized child

and make love to the most of his heart. 

So then I said, goodbye dear Trevor, you will always be missed,

here's one to the toad that I never did kissed.

Meet Trevor!

Hey ya'll!!!

You know, I don't know why I've never considered this before... but now that I think about it, toads/frogs/amphibians are actually pretty adorable little creatures! I mean, they may not look like much at a glance...and Goddess knows those species which produce slime can be quite foul... but really, there's something about those bulging eyes, the ever-twitching burlap, their short, stubby little feet that just screams in a fangirl voice..."OMG SO ADORABLE!!!!"

Okay.... so its not exactly the same as looking at the real thing but... 

SEEE!!!! Cute right?!?!?! ... okay, okay... so I get it that my standards of cuteness aren't exactly up to the 'norm'... no need to get your panties in a twist... but I think, maybe if you just look at it a little longer (maybe tilt your head to the side... squint one eye...) you can see the similarity? =D 

Then again, perhaps it could really just be me seeing it here... and as Ray can most certainly attest to (I'd be turning the house into a zoo if him/mum weren't around to control me) I really do love all animals to the extent that I would very much like to have one in my home. And I really do mean ALL animals (snakes, lizards and creepy crawlies included... all but raoches... they're not animals... they're horrible, horrible beasts...).. but I digress. We adopted a toad lately, Ray and I, through rather peculiar means. In fact let me just out and say that the toad we adopted is the very same one in the picture I've just uploaded here... and the circumstances surrounding its subsequent adoption were strange, to say the least. I mean you'd imagine that a toad, seeing something as large and intimidating as a human would quite simply flee for its life, as far as its back legs would carry it... but no, not this one. Instead he simply stepped up into the little cup I had held near him and sat there  on the bottom, as smug and snug as a bug in a rug, staring at me with those brilliant golden eyes of his almost saying "well...? Are you going to take me home or what?" and take him home I did. Fortunately I still had some things left back from when I used to keep newts and, conjecturing that since they're both amphibians and would therefore require similar housing, managed to come up with a quick setup for the toad who made itself at home without further ado by chomping down on three crickets, all in a blink of an eye. Such a cutie pie...

And he sorta got stuck with the name, Trevor.

Anyway, something really interesting, turns out almost all toads have poison (they secrete it from a poisonous gland on their bodies) and apparently this poison can still retain its potency long after the toad has died... now this brings be back to the moment in Sabah when I was sick... now we all thought that it was a spider bite that did it... but now I recall the gift Ray presented me as an anniversary present... that bag made out of toad leather... toad leather that he made me 'kiss for good luck' thus ensuring ingestion of the poison in my system...In fact now that I think about it I'm almost positive it was the bag (I cross checked the symptoms of toad envonomation) but the bright side is, people do develop immunities to it over a period of time... although I don't see myself kissing a toad anytime soon... but I guess that's a good thing. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger eh? Anyway I don't love Trevor any-less than I did after knowing all of this and really today he climbed out of his tank to sit next to my palm as I write this post. What a lovely thing isn't he? Anyway I shall stop now, because I know amphibians are not many people's thing... so till next time~

*ps. Its Ray's last week of holiday... what say you, do I really have it in me to take a few more days off to have fun with him before term starts?

Hi, my name is Trevor and I have an ash-tray as a bathtub. :3