mklovebus
New member
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2007
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- Location
- New Hampshire
- Country
- United States
I found this little guy in a culvert (there were dozens!) in Massachusetts the first week of July.
I'm pretty sure of his species because of when and where I found him, however the gold on his eye kind of throws me off. None of the pictures or specimens I have seen have any gold whatsoever in the eyeball. Also, I'm not sure when the yellow spots appear, right now he seems to be sprinkled in gold dust, which is pretty but not helpful (or is it?). I've been around spotteds all my life but have never seen morphs until this year.
He ate frozen brine shrimp and little bits of softened Repto-min until morphing about two weeks ago, when he stopped eating. I tried everything and today he finally devoured a tiny cricket!
One strange thing happened. About ten days after taking him home, when he was still larval, his toes seemed to atrophy or something- he was suddenly walking around on little stumpy legs, his toes were still there but they were sort of flaccid. I guessed it had something to do with calcium or vitamin D. (Until this point I had kept him away from the window because it was already really hot in our apartment and I didnt want to boil him alive.) I considered how the pool I found him in was in full sun a lot of the day, and thought I'd put him where he could get some natural light. After a few days, his toes were almost back to normal, and by the time he morphed they seemed fully functional. So what do you think? D deficiency? Or weird coincidence?
One more picture, this is my little buddy's temporary home.
The substrate is that coconut stuff that comes in a brick, it has been kept very damp. I was afraid of mold but none so far, except on the little piece of worm that I missed when removing the refused food from last week. Don't worry, I've cleaned it out now. There's a nice flat rock from the yard, a stupid pillar from an old fishtank (well cleaned), and a little water dish made from the bottom of a plastic water bottle with a rock in it for easy escape from the water. You can see on the bottom right that the remaining crickets are probably too big, but when the pet store guy gave me the tiniest one he had, those guys came along. What are people's experiences with crickets biting their herps? I've heard of it but never seen it happen. I'll probably take them out tonight just to be safe.
Well, thanks for looking! If anyone wants to dispute my species ID or offer suggestions, feel free. I'm just glad he's eating!
I'm pretty sure of his species because of when and where I found him, however the gold on his eye kind of throws me off. None of the pictures or specimens I have seen have any gold whatsoever in the eyeball. Also, I'm not sure when the yellow spots appear, right now he seems to be sprinkled in gold dust, which is pretty but not helpful (or is it?). I've been around spotteds all my life but have never seen morphs until this year.
He ate frozen brine shrimp and little bits of softened Repto-min until morphing about two weeks ago, when he stopped eating. I tried everything and today he finally devoured a tiny cricket!
One strange thing happened. About ten days after taking him home, when he was still larval, his toes seemed to atrophy or something- he was suddenly walking around on little stumpy legs, his toes were still there but they were sort of flaccid. I guessed it had something to do with calcium or vitamin D. (Until this point I had kept him away from the window because it was already really hot in our apartment and I didnt want to boil him alive.) I considered how the pool I found him in was in full sun a lot of the day, and thought I'd put him where he could get some natural light. After a few days, his toes were almost back to normal, and by the time he morphed they seemed fully functional. So what do you think? D deficiency? Or weird coincidence?
One more picture, this is my little buddy's temporary home.
The substrate is that coconut stuff that comes in a brick, it has been kept very damp. I was afraid of mold but none so far, except on the little piece of worm that I missed when removing the refused food from last week. Don't worry, I've cleaned it out now. There's a nice flat rock from the yard, a stupid pillar from an old fishtank (well cleaned), and a little water dish made from the bottom of a plastic water bottle with a rock in it for easy escape from the water. You can see on the bottom right that the remaining crickets are probably too big, but when the pet store guy gave me the tiniest one he had, those guys came along. What are people's experiences with crickets biting their herps? I've heard of it but never seen it happen. I'll probably take them out tonight just to be safe.
Well, thanks for looking! If anyone wants to dispute my species ID or offer suggestions, feel free. I'm just glad he's eating!