Reptiles and Amphibians

Mt Magnet, Western Australia

Several 2cm long frogs were found in this tiny little granite pool in the desert. Any IDs would be welcome, I suspect it could be a Litoria of some sort.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/13688681

On the 9 June 2023, at Mala, Karkala, Karnataka, India, researchers found Rao’s intermediate golden-backed frog, (Hylarana intermedia) with a rather fetching, fungal companion growing out of it's side

Mycologists identified the fungi as Common Bonnet, part of the Mycena genus, a type of fungi that mostly grows on rotting wood from dead trees, however it has also been discovered to be able to thrive on living plants as well

The frog appeared to be quite healthy and was not caught, so there's no definitive answer why it was hosting a mushroom, however...

...one of the possibilities is that there is a small piece of woody debris under the skin of the frog after it got lodged in the skin and it has sprouted a mushroom from it....

All info from here and here

All photos by Lohit Y.T. one of the researchers who discovered the frog and co-author of the paper

Link to the article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.10926

Abstract

Temperature is essential for the survival and development of eggs. Some anurans have evolved and developed foam nesting traits, with thermal insulation considered to be among their functions. Foam-nesting frogs tend to exhibit reproductive plasticity. For example, they oviposit on both trees and the ground. How such plasticity affects foam nest function is of major relevance and is likely related to the adaptation of foam nesting frogs. However, this has not been well studied. In this study, we examined the interaction between foam nest site, foam nest function, and egg fate using the Japanese green tree frog, Zhangixalus arboreus, and analysed how nest site differences (arboreal or terrestrial) affect the thermal function of foam nests. We compared the thermal functions of foam nests between arboreal and terrestrial oviposition sites of Z. arboreus. We artificially replaced half of the arboreal nests with terrestrial environments and recorded temperature in and outside of the experimental terrestrial nest and original arboreal nests. We also examined egg survival and hatching rates for all the nests. The results indicated superior heat insulation in terrestrial nests, with warmer temperatures inside than outside the nests, especially at night, which led to a high egg survival rate. Therefore, terrestrial ovipositing should be valid under cold weather conditions. This may be related to the evolutionary history of oviposition site plasticity of this genus, which originally had an arboreal oviposition trait but evolved into terrestrial site use owing to global cooling. Our novel insights into the evolution and adaptivity of foam nesting and oviposition site use in Z. arboreus make an important contribution to animal ecology.

I think that is what it is. Extraordinary climbers. I find them on the second floor of the house every few months. I see them outside a few times a week. Colouration is highly variable locally. Here they are green and black.

Wikipedia and a few other sources say this

Also, it is reported to take snakes occasionally, and to avoid frogs, though frogs are also reported being eaten.

In Cambodia they always take frogs, and will strike poisonous toads, then spit them out.

Lovely things, quite relaxed as babies. This one was rescued from a palm tree after a storm. Another photo in body.

I was browsing through some literature about color-changing in chameleons and stumbled upon this relatively recent paper about how chameleons will change color where mosquitoes bite them.

From the discussion:

While determining the particular mechanism(s) of color change is outside the scope of the current study, we nonetheless serendipitously discovered multiple instances of mosquito bite-induced color change in wild chameleons. This demonstrates that citizen science can produce discoveries of previously unknown natural phenomena, as our study represents the first formal documentations of mosquitoes feeding on chameleons as well as chameleon color change induced by arthropod hematophagy. These findings provide additional insights into the parasite-host interactions, such as the mosquitoes feeding on sleeping chameleons and particularly at the mouth.

Still a lot to do and fill out. All surfaces are sealed a long time ago and should be reptile safe. Cat palm is reptile safe from what I’ve seen.

4 nozzle MistKing sprayer setup for humidity, heat+uva/b provided by multiple bulbs. R.O. water provided in basin and spraying.

Always open to more advice for husbandry! His name is Julian and he gets a large variety of veggies minimizing oxalates

Link to the PDF: https://amphibian-reptile-conservation.org/pdfs/Volume/Vol_17_nos_1-2/ARC_17_1-2_[General_Section]_143-160_e327.pdf

Link to the paper:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10193848/

The paper is from April, but I just became aware of it now!

Some other cool images if the newly discovered species (Bolitoglossa muisca) taken from the paper:

And its habitat:

Edit: We have already freed them. We were worried that they were poisonous and something could happen to our dog. Thank you very much to all.

Found it near our front door and moved it closer to the river.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I wrote to this community, asking for some advice about our new blue tongue's eating. And the advice I got really helped us start to understand the lizard brain a little better.

It's been nearly three weeks since we brought him home, and we've figured out he really likes tinned dog food, strawberries and raspberries. No luck with veggies just yet, but we're still trying new things. The important thing is he's not going hungry, and gets his calcium supplement with the dog food.

But he's still very reclusive, and quite cranky with us. Most of the time, he'll hide under his basking log, or bury himself under some substrate. When we've reached in to try and pat him, he jerks suddenly and hisses.

My daughter's been afraid to try patting him again herself so, the past week, we've just been getting her to hand feed him a small piece of fruit each day, to try and build some trust between them. It's gone well, and he's eaten out of her hand a few times now.

My biggest concerns are that either his behaviour isn't that normal and we've not done something right, or that we're running the risk of letting this behaviour become his new "normal", and my daughter won't get to have a relationship with her pet.

So I guess my question, without trying to sound too anxious or impatient, is if his behaviour at this stage would still be considered normal? Should we be doing anything different?

Once again, thanks in advance for any knowledge and experience you can share.

We got our daughter (9yo) a blue tongue lizard for her birthday this week. We picked it up on Tuesday afternoon (it's now Saturday morning, here in Australia). The store says it's about 6 months old.

We also bought a really nice enclosure for it, with all the bits and pieces: 4' wood enclosure with glass sliding doors; twin 75W ceramic heat emitters; thermostat (located around the mid-zone); UVB light (on 12hrs per day, from 7:30am); good substrate, a basking log, a hide-out, and some fake grasses and leaves to hide under.

I'm not convinced the thermostat is particularly good, but I've kept a digital thermometer at the basking end, and the heat seems to consistently sit at around 30°-35°C (~86°-95°F) there, which at least tells me that zone is OK. I'm not sure the cool zone isn't too cool. I plan on buying another thermometer for that end.

The problem is, it's not eating much. It tends to find a hiding spot near the cool end, and bury itself under the substrate. We gave it some diced strawberries on Wednesday. I ended up putting it right near the food, and it eventually ate about a strawberry's worth.

The past couple of days we've tried some diced apple (freshly cut each day), but it hasn't gone near the food at all. Most of those two days, it stayed hidden and/or buried under the substrate. Per the store's instructions, we're taking the food away again around mid-afternoon - 3pm-ish.

Today, we put some beef pet food out and moved the lizard next to the food bowl. It had a tiny, little munch, but didn't really eat what you might consider a meal.

The store says it could take a week or so for it to settle into its new home, and I understand that. We're being disciplined and resisting the urge to take it out and hold it, to try and keep stress levels down.

But, I'm a touch concerned at all the staying hidden/buried, and lack of eating, as we've been told juveniles should be fed daily. My daughter's starting to get really worried, and I've tried explaining that cold-blooded animals metabolise way slower than warm-blooded, so it's not like he's starving or anything. At least, I don't think he is.

Should we be concerned at all? At which point should I start to seek professional assistance?

Just looking for some reassurance that anything we're doing/not doing isn't causing any problems. Thanks.

A terrestrial juvenile of Lissotriton vulgaris found under a log in the Netherlands.

Hello. Sorry if this isn't the right sublemmy to ask about this, lemmy is still kinda small. But, my pet cornsnake has her mouth open like in the picture, normally it's closed. I did notice some coconut fiber substrate stuck in her mouth when I fed her 5 days ago. (Also she also ate the mouse butt-first, so maybe the mouse's tail got lodged or something?)

Anyway, should this be something to be worried about? Should I just wait a couple days to see if it will fix itself? What do you guys think it is

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