Frog Friday!

This aerial shot shows all of the frogs out to play.  You'll notice that we've added a fifth. Horst is an European Fire-Bellied Toad (the others are Asian Fire-Bellied Toads).  Horst appears to be integrating into the commune nicely.  In the upper right corner, you can see the flowers of the Bulbophyllum flavescens, which made an appearance during the last Frog Friday.  It has fewer than ten flowers, but it's still pretty exciting.  I'm having a hard time adjusting my camera settings so I can focus on the flowers.  Until I figure it out, you can take a look at this photo from Orchidspecies.com for a closeup.  My Bulbophyllum flavescens gives me hope that the other miniatures are doing okay and -- like the fresh presence of Horst -- it's another fun and exotic element of the vivarium. 

Frog Friday!

In the photo on the left, Ted sits next to a Bulbophyllum flavescens. It’s a good spot because some of the crickets escape into the bark and moss during the morning feeding, and Ted definitely has the patience to wait until they emerge. We distinguish him from Bob because he has two green dots on his back that echo Elliot Gould’s hairy back (as seen in the film Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice). The Bulbophyllum flavescens is a miniature orchid found in the Philippines, Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, and the Cats and Catts vivarium. I purchased it from the good people at Clackamas Orchids. 

The photo on the right shows Ted sitting on the Pluerothallis, staring at the Bulbophyllum.  Maybe he's looking at the spike poke out underneath the left-most leaf of the Bulbophyllum? I was a little worried that Ted was going to crush these small plants during an afternoon cricket hunt but, as of this writing, he's left the spike alone, it's extended a couple of centimeters, and I think its tiny flowers are about to open.  Stay tuned . . .