Frogs
One of our most interesting captives is our large frog, Gordo. He was purchased at the All-Maryland Reptile show for a mere $20 because the vendor really wanted to get rid of him. We were told he was a "Mountain Chicken Frog", he came with no scientific name of course. He is a beautiful animal, about the size of an American Bullfrog. We think he may be Leptodactylus fallax, an endangered frog native to several Carribbean islands.

At first Gordo was set up in a 40 gallon tall aquarium with gravel built up on one side and a large swimming area. He would dig a shallow divot in the gravel to hide in during the day, and come out at night. He was a voracious eater, consuming crickets, nightcrawlers and thawed hopper mice. He also "sings" for us every night from March 21 - early September. His calling is a deep but melodious trill, "Ooooooooooah".

We took him and a stool sample to Dr. Stahl, an excellent exotic vet in our area. Dr. Stahl was concerned about our setup because it was quite easy for Gordo to eat gravel in his frantic feeding attempts. He suggested that we toss the gravel and use a pile of large rocks for Gordo's land area. He also found strongyles in Gordo's stool and started him on a Panacur regimen. Otherwise he gave Gordo a clean bill of health, he was a good weight and had perfect skin and eyes (often illnesses in amphibians show up first on the skin and eyes).