Horned Frogs E-Book

Philippe de Vosjoli

• Herausgeber: CompanionHouse Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 60

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Horned Frogs is one reptile care book from the highly acclaimed Advanced Vivarium Systems series. The AVS series, founded and guided by herpetocultural pioneer Philippe de Vosjoli, is the #1 series on reptile care. From choosing a pet to selecting a veterinarian to feeding, housing, breeding, and more, these books deliver the most helpful and up-to-date information available on popular reptiles and amphibians kept as pets.

Leseprobe

Karla Austin, Business Operations Manager

Nick Clemente, Special Consultant

Kendra Strey, Project Editor

Jill Dupont, Production

Honey Winters, Designer

Cover and book design concept by Michael Vincent Capozzi

Indexed by Melody Englund

Cover photo by Bill Love (front), and Philippe de Vosjoli (back).

The additional photographs in this book are by Philippe de Vosjoli, pp. 5–10, 12–14, 16, 18–25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 34–36, 38–41, 44, 47, 49, 51; Paul Freed, p. 43; Bill Love, p. 50.

Copyright © 1990, 2006 by Advanced Vivarium Systems™

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Advanced Vivarium Systems™, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

LCCN: 96-183295

ISBN: 1-882770-88-9

eISBN: 9-781620080-41-2

An Imprint of I-5 Press™

A Division of I-5 Publishing, LLC™

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Irvine, CA 92618

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Printed and bound in Singapore

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CONTENTS

Introduction

1: General Information

2: Selection and Quarantine

3: Chacoan Horned Frogs

4: Notes on Other Horned Frogs

5: Budgett’s Frogs

6: Diseases and Disorders

Conclusion

Resources

About the Author

INTRODUCTION

Probably the most important event in the history of frog breeding for the pet trade was the discovery (c. 1980) that the extraordinary-looking South American creatures known as ornate horned frogs could be successfully bred using a pituitary stimulating hormone. This discovery made a once considered rare and expensive frog standard fare in the pet trade for about a decade. Unfortunately, for reasons not determined, multigeneration breeding (a continued line of breeding) started declining in the early ’ 90s as a consequence of increasing failures in egg or tadpole viability. With the exception of small numbers of imported species, horned frogs would have disappeared from the trade if it hadn’t been for the importation, successful breeding, and establishment of the Chacoan horned frog. Like ornate horned frogs, Chacoan horned frogs respond well to hormone injections; and unlike ornates, Chacoans have consistently produced large numbers of vigorous froglets over many generations.

Today, Chacoan horned frogs have all the qualities one could expect from a pet frog. They are docile and easy to handle, they have simple housing and maintenance requirements, and their color and structure make horned frogs a uniquely beautiful life-form. Additionally, they are among the greatest gluttonous gulpers of the world; watching them eat is quite interesting. They eat pretty much anything that moves and that can fit in their mouths, sometimes catching prey larger than they can swallow. They are also notorious cannibals—one of their favorite foods is other frogs. This gluttony has led to their being given the common trade name Pac-Man frogs, based on the famous video game character of the same name that eats its way around the screen.

My colleague Robert Mailloux and I were fortunate enough to play a significant role in the history of horned frog herpetoculture, being the first to breed and establish Chacoan horned frogs and to produce various horned frog hybrids, including the popular and very beautiful ‘Fantasy’ horned frogs. This led to the writing of the original booklet on horned frog care in 1990 to address the needs of these terrestrial frogs. Since that time, new products and discoveries have led to alternate approaches to the herpetoculture of these species. This new book presents the most updated information and care guidelines on horned frogs and, new for this edition, Budgett’s frogs, a related species that has become available with some regularity.

Horned frogs are medium to large terrestrial frogs that will often go after prey larger than their mouths can hold, which can make for interesting feeding sessions.

The Myth of the Dreaded Escuerzo

In South America, horned frogs are known as escuerzos. As time progresses, old wives’ tales and superstitions about escuerzos are disappearing from the culture, but there was a time only a few decades ago when escuerzos elicited such fabricated stories because of their propensity to bite and hold on. Among the best known myths is that escuerzos would latch on like pit bulls to people, to the lips of drinking horses, or to the mouths of grazing cattle and never let go. Only by cutting off the affected part, such as a finger, could one be freed from the tenacious and presumably poisonous grip. At one time, custom-made boots of thick leather were sold as protection to those entering escuerzo-infested lands. Some of the sorcery commonly associated with toads has also been applied to escuerzos, such as using these frogs to cast evil spells on other people. A common way to cast a spell was to place the photo of the intended victim in an escuerzo’s mouth and sew it shut. This would direct the escuerzo’s evil at the victim.

CHAPTER 1

GENERAL INFORMATION

Horned frogs are South American species of the genus Ceratophrys, members of the subfamily Ceratophryinae, a subgroup of the large and varied New World family Leptodactylidae. Some herpetologists have argued that horned frogs should be placed in their own family, but this has not been generally accepted.

Horned frogs are medium to large, terrestrial, burrowing species. Species from arid areas—such as the popular Chacoan and ornate horned frogs—burrow deep into soil during the dry season and form an epithelial cocoon (formed by surface shed skin layers) to reduce water loss during dormancy. They have adapted to feed on other vertebrates—primarily frogs. They have strong jaws and odontoid processes (bony, toothlike projections) at the tip of the lower jaw to help them puncture the skins of other frogs and toads that inflate as a defense mechanism. They are also among the few frogs that bite as a defensive behavior. As many frog owners have learned, a bite by a large horned frog draws blood. Like adults, horned frog tadpoles are carnivorous and have evolved specialized beaklike mouth structures to effectively puncture the skin of other tadpoles.

Ornate horned frogs rank among the most beautiful of the larger frog species. Unfortunately, they are only sporadically offered in the pet trade because of problems in multigeneration breeding.

Horned frogs are among the few frog species that will bite when threatened. Their large, toothlike projections at the tip of the lower jaw can draw blood.

The name horned frog was coined because these species have more or less developed fleshy, hornlike projections above each eye. Presumably, the “horns” serve to protect the eyes and to encourage their sinking in as a frog burrows backward in soil or leaf litter. The most developed “horns” are found in the Amazonian horned frog and in the giant Brazilian horned frog, which is the largest of the group, reaching 9 inches (22.5 centimeters). Currently, eight species of horned frogs are recognized:

• Giant Brazilian horned frog Ceratophrys aurita

• Colombian horned frog C. calcarata

• Amazonian horned frog C. cornuta

• Chacoan horned frog C. cranwelli

• Joazeiro horned frog C. joazeirensis

• Ornate horned frog C. ornata

• Stolzmann’s horned frog C. stolzmanni