Post by bullfrog on Aug 14, 2023 23:22:21 GMT -5
No pun intended with my screen handle.
Commencing long term project to improve the genetics of captive bred frogs of the genus Ceratophrys, their proper English name being "horned frogs" and most often called "pacman" frogs in the pet trade.
Why? Because I can and because I'm bored. As I refine the genetics of my chickens, planned breedings are becoming more scheduled and spread-out. I'm currently in the grow-out phase with my improved Cracker gamefowl and terrorfowl. I can't do anything with them until these batches are grown. So in the meantime...
Horned frogs have been popular in the pet trade for several decades. In their original form, they're highly aggressive, hardy, and very sessile. A grown one the size of a baseball can live a happy life in a large goldfish bowl. They sit still for days at a time but viciously attack anything that comes within striking distance. They don't have teeth, but they bite with the force of a dog and have enough teeth-like projections in their mouth they can draw blood.
My first creepy crawly pet from a pet store was a kind of horned frog called the Argentine horned frog, Ceratophrys ornata, which is often called the ornate pacman frog in the modern pet trade. I don't know how old the frog was when I got it. It was almost grown, so maybe 6-8 months. I kept it from the third grade until my senior year of high school. I fed it crickets, snakes, mice, chicken chicks, and anything else that would fit in its mouth. My dad would rent the frog for parties so as to temp drunk people to offer it their fingers. When it died of old age, I got other pacman frogs from pet stores and none lives more than a year. They were not very aggressive and never bit me.
I only recently discovered that the pet trade focuses on two main species of horned frogs, the ornates and another called the Cranwell's, Ceratophrys cranwelli. All of the pacman frogs I had since my first one were Cranwell's. They look very similar to the ornates to the untrained eye, except they come in dozens of different colors. The various colors have come from years of inbreeding by hobbyists and commercial breeders, as where ornates historically came straight from the wild.
Frogs, like fish, spawn by the thousands. Only the strongest few tadpoles will make it to adult froghood in the wild. However, the pet trade encourages most tadpoles and frogs to survive so they can be sold in mass to pet stores. That means that the strongest individuals no longer perpetuate the species in captivity.
We've basically turned horned frogs into domestic chickens or lap dogs. We've taken the oomph out them, and I want to put it back. The ornates still have it because they're often collected from the wild and those bred in captivity haven't been inbred to produce various color morphs.
So on one hand I want to start breeding ornates so as to be a source for them for hobbyists, as they're nearly impossible to find on demand compared to the commonly available Cranwell's. But I also want to improve the Cranwells, and I think that happens by breeding them and then rearing the young in a large enclosure outside where survival of the fittest can happen. It is also possible to cross Cranwells and ornates, but I am not sure whether the offering will be fertile.
For starters, I got myself a baby Cranwell's. I'm going to grow it out in my study. I have a terrarium set up in my daughter's room for the first ornata I can find. I want her to have the pleasure of having a murder frog in her room that she can drop critters in that it can demolish within seconds. I'll need to collect a spread of each species to make sure I have viable males and females. It won't be possible to sex them until they get nearly grown.
I'll add pics tomorrow and begin spelling out my plans in detail.
Commencing long term project to improve the genetics of captive bred frogs of the genus Ceratophrys, their proper English name being "horned frogs" and most often called "pacman" frogs in the pet trade.
Why? Because I can and because I'm bored. As I refine the genetics of my chickens, planned breedings are becoming more scheduled and spread-out. I'm currently in the grow-out phase with my improved Cracker gamefowl and terrorfowl. I can't do anything with them until these batches are grown. So in the meantime...
Horned frogs have been popular in the pet trade for several decades. In their original form, they're highly aggressive, hardy, and very sessile. A grown one the size of a baseball can live a happy life in a large goldfish bowl. They sit still for days at a time but viciously attack anything that comes within striking distance. They don't have teeth, but they bite with the force of a dog and have enough teeth-like projections in their mouth they can draw blood.
My first creepy crawly pet from a pet store was a kind of horned frog called the Argentine horned frog, Ceratophrys ornata, which is often called the ornate pacman frog in the modern pet trade. I don't know how old the frog was when I got it. It was almost grown, so maybe 6-8 months. I kept it from the third grade until my senior year of high school. I fed it crickets, snakes, mice, chicken chicks, and anything else that would fit in its mouth. My dad would rent the frog for parties so as to temp drunk people to offer it their fingers. When it died of old age, I got other pacman frogs from pet stores and none lives more than a year. They were not very aggressive and never bit me.
I only recently discovered that the pet trade focuses on two main species of horned frogs, the ornates and another called the Cranwell's, Ceratophrys cranwelli. All of the pacman frogs I had since my first one were Cranwell's. They look very similar to the ornates to the untrained eye, except they come in dozens of different colors. The various colors have come from years of inbreeding by hobbyists and commercial breeders, as where ornates historically came straight from the wild.
Frogs, like fish, spawn by the thousands. Only the strongest few tadpoles will make it to adult froghood in the wild. However, the pet trade encourages most tadpoles and frogs to survive so they can be sold in mass to pet stores. That means that the strongest individuals no longer perpetuate the species in captivity.
We've basically turned horned frogs into domestic chickens or lap dogs. We've taken the oomph out them, and I want to put it back. The ornates still have it because they're often collected from the wild and those bred in captivity haven't been inbred to produce various color morphs.
So on one hand I want to start breeding ornates so as to be a source for them for hobbyists, as they're nearly impossible to find on demand compared to the commonly available Cranwell's. But I also want to improve the Cranwells, and I think that happens by breeding them and then rearing the young in a large enclosure outside where survival of the fittest can happen. It is also possible to cross Cranwells and ornates, but I am not sure whether the offering will be fertile.
For starters, I got myself a baby Cranwell's. I'm going to grow it out in my study. I have a terrarium set up in my daughter's room for the first ornata I can find. I want her to have the pleasure of having a murder frog in her room that she can drop critters in that it can demolish within seconds. I'll need to collect a spread of each species to make sure I have viable males and females. It won't be possible to sex them until they get nearly grown.
I'll add pics tomorrow and begin spelling out my plans in detail.