December Size Graphs

( click on graph to enlarge for actual sizes )

( click on graph to enlarge for actual sizes )

 

November Food Chart

December Growth Chart

December Update

Only one word can be used to describe the month of November. HECTIC!!! Take this update for instance. We are just now getting around to having all calculations, graphs and pics done and we had to MAKE the time for it!! All data was collected at the usual time, it just took us a little longer to produce the fancy graphs and what not. This past month, life has kind of got in the way of our little Pyxie Project. For starters, I (Jeff) rotated to 2nd shift at the beginning of the month (I work a different shift EVERY month). This basically meant that anything that needed to get done on a daily basis HAD to get done before I went in to work at 1:30 pm. That said, every morning started at 6:30 am. November 1st also saw my return to the gym since injuring my shoulder back in July. So, my typical morning went a little something like this.

6:30-6:45 am: Wake, Floss, Brush & Rinse

6:45-7:45 am: First phase of animal care (remove poo, empty water dish’s, mist enclosures, clean glass & feed) to our 30+ Horned Frogs, Panther Chameleon, Sulcatta Tortoise, Red Tail Boa & Darts.

7:45-8:45 am: Breakfast & Gym

8:45-11:45 am: Pyxie Project

11:45-12:15 pm: Lunch

12:15-1:15 pm: Shave, Shower & Dress

1:15-1:30 pm: Check Email & Out the Door

Through all of this you might be asking yourself, “Where is Ella?” Well, the answer to that is simple. Working. We are pleased to announce that in late October, Ella was offered a supervisor position for a major restoration company near our home town. This is a great opportunity for her and for our future, but with us both being on two separate shifts this past month, it pretty much temporarily removed her from the project. As she assumes this highly stressful position, it is unknown exactly how much free time she is going to have to assist me with the project from here on out. So, this past month I had to do all the work by myself (with the exception of the data calculation and graph production). This month (now that I am back on 1st), hopefully we can resume some normalcy and the project will flow much smoother with us both pitching in and helping out. Given the time constraints each morning, I was not able to isolate each individual Pyxie in the feeding bin and offer dubia. They were offered gut loaded crickets, free roaming inside their enclosures. As a result of this, we experienced a decline in growth as opposed to the previous months where each Pyxie’s diet consisted primarily of dubia and their growth was much more explosive. This months data reflects our theory and once again confirms just how beneficial dubia roaches are as feeders. We did however begin supplementing rodents on Thanksgiving Day. We wanted their first rodent feeding to be frozen/thawed “fuzzy’s” as this was a nice size for both groups.  We found a good feeding response from the majority of Group J as well as several from Group E despite the fact that they are (16) days younger and a little bit smaller. We offered the mice with feeding tongs, inside their enclosure as this is where they seemed more comfortable. This past month, the majority of Group J have started to bulk up and take on an almost all green coloration throughout their bodies. We also began the removal of the dividers inside the 10 gal. enclosures and began housing each frog from Group J, in it’s new, permanant 10 gal aquarium with a larger water bowl. This past month saw Group E’s P1 grow the most with a 13/16″ increase (SVL) and Group J’s P26 with a 9/16″ increase. In closing, we have also been pouring countless hours into another project that we will hopefully be announcing within the next couple of months. We are extremely excited about it and all the possibilities that it presents not only for us but for the rest of the fat frog community!!!

 

This came before turkey at our house on Thanksgiving. Yum.....

More then a mouthful.

They were offered the fuzzy's before the water was changed so pay no attention to that. It gets changed daily

P1's growth from last month to this month.

P26's growth from last month to this month.

November Size Graphs

( click on graph to enlarge for actual sizes )

( click on graph to enlarge for actual sizes )

October Food Chart

November Growth Chart

Sex(ing) Update

As mentioned in the November update, we found a couple flaws in our sexing predictions from the end of last month. All (3) mistakes came from Group E which is 16 days younger then Group J. 90% isn’t too bad for some amateurs though (HaHa). We are still putting it out there that some of our predictions could be wrong but based on what we are seeing with Group J, we feel pretty confident in our predictions. Below, you will find comparison shots from last month and this month for each specimen that was inaccurately sexed.

 

P3 October (top) and November (bottom).

P9 October (top) and November (bottom).

P12 October (top) and November (bottom).

November Update

Well, another month has come and gone and here we are already in November!!! Over the past month, we have watched as both groups of Pyxies have started to mature and take on some of their adult characteristics. All specimens now exhibit the ridges that run throughout their body as well as some of the males are starting to orange around the armpit area. We also discovered a few errors that were made when we sexed both groups at the end of last month. We knew going in to it that our theory was succeptible to errors, especially considering Group J is 16 days older then Group E. It appears that a couple of the specimens from Group E that were labeled females, started to take on more of a male look throughout this past month. We aren’t complaining though. This study is about the males anyways, so the more the merrier!! This month, we also weathered our first major loss with the untimely death of P17. When this study began, P17 was our largest frog. He was surpassed shortly thereafter by P19, however leading up to his death, he was making a run to reclaim the title. He was an even  4″ when he passed a couple of weeks ago and had already grown 1 1/2″ in just 20 days. He was really taking on that menacing Pyxie look and was my (Jeff’s) favorite frog in the study. I also would like to take this time to clarify something that has came up a couple of different times since P17′s death. The sole purpose of this study is to see that if, by offering up a varied and nutritious diet, we can produce the monster Pyxies that you so often hear about being collected in the wild. We know that this is going to take a certain amount of time regardless of our efforts. We are not so dense as to think that we can produce a full grown Pyxie in just 4 months!!! That is not our intent nor our goal. We are trying to establish a foundation early on that will hopefully aid in the prolonged growth throughout the first year and a half of the male Pyxies life. Now that that is cleared up, let’s move on to this months numbers. Using the information that we gathered last month in regards to dubia intake and explosive growth, we wanted to try and force more dubia on each specimen while isolated in the feeding bin. To do this, we removed the crickets from the bin. Crickets were still offered to them on a daily basis, however this was done so inside their enclosures. We also increased the size of the crickets to adults (large). Inside the feeding bin, they were offered dubia and worms. We found that this didn’t work as well as we had hoped possibly for a couple of reasons. The first theory would be that the larger crickets were keeping them full longer thus not having as large of an appetite when placed inside the bin. The other possibility is that the ones that don’t favor dubia, STILL don’t favor dubia, even if it is the only thing that is offered to them. It wasn’t just the dubia though. They also seemed to shun the worms this go around as well. This was more then likely because the worms smaller size made it hard for the Pyxies to pick them up with their tongues. For any of you that have been following the blog, you will know that prior to us beginning this project, we started 2 worm farms (Red Wiggler & African Nightcrawler). We had planned to feed the Wigglers first as their smaller size was better suited for the Pyxies as babies and the nightcrawlers for when the Pyxies had some size on them. Well, due to the nightcrawlers refusal to stay inside their enclosure, we were forced to just go ahead and feed them out immediately to the babies in 1″ segments or risk losing the entire farm to escapees. We finished these off within the first month and a half and have since been offering the Red Wigglers. This ended up going completely ass backwards for us but we did the best that we could with the situation. Since their popularity seems to be fading, the Wigglers will no longer be offered as a food item in this study. As far as individual Pyxie growth, P19 still leads the pack, tacking on another inch in length and packing on an additional 82 grams in weight. As many of you pointed out last month, P4 from Group E, although younger, is defenitely one to watch out for in the months to come. He looks to be the P19 of Group E. Another breakout from Group E is P15, whom up until this month, was the smallest Pyxie in the study. His appetite has picked up over the last month and his growth is a direct result of that.

 

P4 size comparison from the beginning of September, October and November.

 

P15 size comparison from the beginning of September, October and November.

 

RIP P17

Today friends, Pyxie Project suffered a severe blow to our study. We lost one of our largest specimens, P17. There were no signs of illness or any indications that something was wrong with him. Yesterday, Day 1 of the feeding cycle, he had fed a little light for his standards, only consuming 6 dubia from the feeding bin. Overnight, he consumed the 8 large crickets that were left in his enclosure and today, he shunned food altogether while in the feeding bin. This was a bit  strange however we have found that their appetites tend to fall off in the feeding bin after Day 1. He was placed back in his enclosure and a couple of hours later we found him on his back with his stomach protruding out of his mouth. We also noticed some of his stomach contents scattered throughout the enclosure as if he had regurgitated it prior to passing. This is a huge blow to us. Losing any frog is bad but this one shakes our world. We set out to do this project to see if in fact we could influence Pyxie growth by offering up a varied and nutritious diet. We wanted to grow our Pyxies as large as possible. He and P19 were the frontrunners for being just absolute freaks. At the time of his death, he was already an astonishing 4″. He had already grown 1 1/2″ since the end of September!!! The photo below doesn’t show it, as it was taken almost a month ago, but P17 had really developed into a menacing looking example. His swagger and overall badass look set him apart from P19 whom is equally as big, only he looks like a big softy. This is really frustrating for us and we can’t wrap our heads around why this freak thing had to happen to one of  our prime specimens. The enclosure has been cleaned and will now be replaced with a new specimen starting tomorrow. RIP P17. You had so much potential….

 

A photo of P17 taken on October 1st. He had already grown 1 1/2" since this pic was taken.