[Guest]

Woo Hoo!! Just saw the first signs of having a pair of imitators. The 3 I have are 2(Jan) months, 3(Feb) months and 5(Nov) months out of the water so I have been expecting to see some adult behavior from at least the oldest of the 3. To my surprise, I saw just that this morning upon watching them for a few minutes. My vents and imitators are fed from film canisters which have suction cups on the side. This prevents excess supplements from spilling into the viv, makes feeding a bit more interesting as the canisters are stuck to the upper front of the tank. This morning as I was watching the 2 oldest imitators hanging around the feed canister, I witnessed a 'touch and respond' behavior of the 2. The largest (which I suspected to be a female) came out of the canister while the smaller, male hug around just outside of the entrance, on the glass. Upon leaving the canister, the female made contact with the male and he did a little jerky/robotic half turn and let out a half-call. I suppose inexperience played a role here as his vocal sac hadn't expanded quite like it should, but rather ruffled a bit. I could tell it was a call as he ballooned himself up with air and quickly forced it out. I've only had these 3 for less than a week and I'm already seeing breeding response!! I'm not expecting eggs anytime real soon, but it's very reliving to know I have a pair out of them. I'm going to be keeping my eye on the smaller, younger one and pull it if I see any problems. So far, he has been left alone and is feeding good.

-Bill J.

 

[Guest]

GRATS! thats awesome news.

I like that idea for feeding, probably keeps the stress levels down too as the bugs probably dont escape very often. is that something you could use with larger frogs?

 

[Guest]

for larger species, I just use deep petri dishes or something similar. I'll put in a few to get the frogs over to the dish and finish placing the rest of their share into the dish. My prime concern with feeding is keeping the supplements off of the substrate as the accumulation of vitamins is bad news for moss and alot of other plants.

-Bill J.

 

[Guest]

good advice! i never thought of that. i will have to change my plans a little to make for a good sized open area to feed in.