This is Slim the frog. I call him Slim because he joined our pond community a few weeks ago and was very skinny. He heard the eats were delicious at my pond, so he decide to stay. I am happy to say that he has been
making great progress putting on weight and has been filling out very nicely.
This is slim when he first joined us . Too Skinny! I like my little princes with a little meat on their bones!
This is a shot of him three day after joining our group. He is already beginning to fill out.
What a face! I love him!
Brenda
Well today was just an ordinary day down at the pond. I spotted Slim sitting in a pot of elephant ears. He was just chilling !
All of a sudden this frog was going crazy. I have never seen such behavior. His legs were thrashing about and he kept opening and closing his mouth. I grabbed my camera so I could use the zoom to see what what was going on. He was on the opposite side of the pond from where I was working.
Well have you ever seen a frog with their mouth open.. Oh my gosh!
and another shot closer...
What's a mother to do??!! . He was choking on what at first I thought to be a wing of a dragon fly?
I also realized that what ever this foreign object was, he had his legs tangled in it also. He struggled for a good 15 minutes trying to pull it out of his throat and untangle himself. I knew if I tried to catch him he would have jumped into the water and that might have made it worse. I felt so helpless that there wasn't anything I could do to help.
In this shot he is trying to pull it out of his mouth with his front toes.
This message was edited Jun 20, 2009 4:05 PM
This message was edited Jun 20, 2009 4:33 PM
Oh no, what was it???? Is he okay?
This was the last pic I shot. It really bothered me to watch this. I turned the fountain on in the pond which splashes the pot he was sitiing in. I thought extra water might help wash down his lunch.
Now that I have looked at these pictures close up, I think he had some decomposing plant material
stuck in his throat and entangled around him. Probally forgot to keep his mouth shut while swimming and diving. Poor little guy.
He has left the pot and I am looking out for him and hopefully will find him soon.
When you find him, would it be possible to net him or something so you could help remove whatever it is? I hope you can find and help him! Good luck...
Brenda
I was just out there and I do not see him or any of the another frogs for that matter. I am hoping he was able to remove it or at least finish swallowing what ever it was. I will try to catch him with my koi net if I find him and he is still in distress. Hopefully he is fine and just resting from his ordeal! Keep positive thoughts!!
This message was edited Jun 20, 2009 4:34 PM
Sendiing positive thoughts to both of you....
Brenda
Bea,
I think you are right about it being decomposing plant material. If Slim is back swimming in the pond, he may be able to dislodge it on his own by brushing it against something. It appears to be a twig with some algae attached? Hopefully, just being submerged will soften it enough so he can move it one way or another.
A touching story. Well told and with great photos. Please keep us apprised. My prayers go out for your skinny prince, may Slim continue to swim and prosper!
WIB,
SW
LOL please don't laugh at me.
But do frogs shed their skin? That's what it reminds me of. But I didn't think frogs did that?
I hope he is ok :(
Frogs do indeed shed their skins and that's what slim was doing. They eat their skin while they are shedding it and it all comes off at once. Its a good sign, it means he is growing.
JayinMN. Thanks so much for informing us about frogs shedding their skin. I never knew that!! Amazing. With all the photos I take of my frogs I have never seen that behavior. It was horrible to think that he was choking, but I can now sleep well knowing he is not in danger. I found this video on youtube of a tree frog shedding. His movements were exactly what my bull frog was doing. Scarry to watch when you think they are choking, but I had my science lesson for the day.
Thanks for "shedding" some light on this situation!! (bad pun!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-lr_3SzIgc&feature=related
Wow, I didn't know that, either! Hooray! So glad all is well... post more pics of that handsome frog when you can...
Brenda
What a neat story! Glad all is well.
Well what do 'ya know! I didn't know frogs shed either! lol!
Guess we all had a froggy lesson today. Glad it's a natural thing and he is o.k. I would have been beside myself too!!
I imagine that by eating it, they get some sort of nutrient from it?
The other thing is by eating it, they may detour predators from finding them.
And it's tasty too! LOL! Yuck!
Slim was back in his pot today just chilling!
Poor little fellow. Glad everything turned our ok for him. I thought that was a foot sticking out of his mouth when he was choking.
BeaHive, could you post a pic of your entire pond snd waterfall please? Lots of places for frogs to relax and view their Neighbourhood!
My DH would like to know what lens you use for your close up photos of your frogs.
Thanks. ps. I have tadpoles and more eggs! All still in the temp. small prefab pond. Today I believe the temp record was set. 100 with high humidity. Its like a steam bath outside! Hope the temp pond does not become so hot that plants, fish and tadpoles give up the ghost. I see the pesty heron is still visiting, cheeky thing! Now he sits on the edge of the the plastic pond, nearer to his breakfast, lunch, hors'dourvres and dinner. Cheeky, cheeky thing!!!
This message was edited Jun 28, 2009 10:54 AM
Bedouin, my 100+ fish and many pond plants survived and thrived even in the 110 degree plus heat of Arizona when we lived there... though our ponds were pretty deep. Is your pre-fab pond in the ground? If so, everything should be okay... if not... shade it as much as possible on the sides.
Brenda
bedouin... I have a sony cybershot DSC-H2. I use the built in Macro setting, auto focus and the 12 x zoom to take these shots of the frog. I have more lens for the camera , but I never use them. One of these day I intend to play with them, but for right now this does the trick.
Here is a picture of my 3200 gal pond in its first year. I will try to get a more current picture as things have grown and filled in since then. Now on my third year! Yeah!
Here is the pond a few days ago. As you can see it has filled in nicely. Still a few planting areas to to develop..but all in time!
Ahhhh, just beautiful, BeaHive... thanks for sharing (and feel free to post more pics!)...
Brenda
Slim was out checking out rocks and getting a little sun today. He is filling out little by little.
And how DOyou tell them all apart?
It is not always easy. Slim is Skinny, Penny has a scar below her right eye and Melvin is just good looking! LOL
Slim is looking a lot better. He loves his new home!
Bea, I just came across this thread. I was so worried about poor Slim! Glad he is o.k. Love your pond; so pretty and we get so much entertainment from it.
