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Northeast Bugs & Beasts

@ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social

18 followers 52 following 160 posts

Amphibian & Invertebrate breeder. Northeast Bugs & Beasts strives to provide, engaging, informational content. We also do Jewelry & Printmaking on the side. https://www.instagram.com/northeast_bugs_and_beasts/

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Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · Jul 12

Northeast Bugs & Beasts is proud to have experience working with a wide variety of animals and in creating unique crafts.

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Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 14h

#oliverthetoad enjoying the crisp fall leaves.

#amphibiansofinstagram #frogs #amphibians #toad #africangreentoad #greentoad #bufotesboulengeri

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 1d

#vivarium #bioactive #bioactivevivarium #enclosure #enclosuredesign #terrarium #snail #glasssnail #snails #petsnails

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 1d

Over a year since introducing the Glass Snails:
- no significant damage to plants (only dead, dying, or very thin-leaved plants are eaten)
- snails play role in clean up crew. Arrive at carcasses of uneaten crickets and help break them down
- Numbers have grown, but remain stable

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 1d

This made them an ideal candidate for an admittedly risky experiment. I put a few of them in my Leaf Frog's enclosure while the ecosystem was still being established. What I have learned since proves what I long suspected; there are vivarium-suitable snails out there!

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 1d

A small, omnivorous snail native to Europe, but also found throughout much of the United States. I've often encountered this species under rocks, logs, deep in leaf litter. They rarely show themselves in the open, and they are described as preying upon smaller invertebrates (primarily other snails).

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 1d

Gastropods are an incredibly diverse group with over 80,000 species. Surely, there has to be a snail out there that would coexist well in a bioactive ecosystem.

Enter the Dark-bodied glass snail (Oxychilus draparnaudi).

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 1d

Snails are reviled in the vivarium hobby, and not without reason. Most snails are primarily herbivorous and multiply swiftly. Devastating a vivarium's flora without (or at times in spite of) swift intervention. This perception has always bothered me.

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 1d

I think its a similar story. I remember being able to see them in pet stores when I was very young, then them completely vanishing a while. Then people (seemingly) have finally gotten the hang of captive breeding AGMs so they're starting to show up again, albeit more expensive then they used to be.

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 2d

The most common captive form of Solomon Island Leaf Frog is polymorphic. Which is to say that they come in a variety of colors. All but 1 of my leaf frogs are yellow. Yet in spite of this my frogs express other colors from time to time. Such as Slick here displaying a few green dots.

#frogs

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Reposted by Northeast Bugs & Beasts

Nocxia 🦀 @nocxia.bsky.social · Aug 29

Gaze upon my perfect toads and despair! (Skitters, Bean, and Fufu) #herps #toads #frogs

A little brown toad sits politely on a moss clump.

A large brown toad glares at the camera from within a green dish

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Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 3d

Yep, there were a few tables solely comprised of those. But not as many as I assumed there would be, though.

What there was a surprising amount of?

Several tables had leachianus geckos, and several also had giant african millipedes.

Had a great time with it!

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Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 3d

#amphibiansofinstagram #leaffrog #solomonislandleaffrog #frogs #amphibians #froggy #didyouknow #frogfacts #amphibians #dimorphism #biology #comic #webcomic #infographic #info

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 3d

Is it to camouflage the eggs in case they are dug up? Does the soil coating help keep moisture in? Bacteria and fungi out? Whatever it may be, mother leaf frogs surely have a reason to do this.

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 3d

For a period of an hour or so, she gently pushed soil into the eggs with her hands. Kneading it in like a baker would with dough. When it was done, she buried them as expected. I stood corrected, and now wonder what purpose this serves in nature.

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 3d

One night, I was keeping an eye on Tubba, my female leaf frog, after she'd mated with one of the males. She was standing atop her eggs, and I expected her to simply bury them. What I saw instead surprised me.

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 3d

Today we have a #whatacreature comic!

Whenever I've unearthed a clutch of Leaf Frog eggs, they would be coated in soil and brown in hue. Over time repeated misting would wash this coating away and reveal transparent shell and embryo within. I always assumed the eggs were sticky and soil stuck.

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Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 6d

Porcellio scaber - 'Skewbald Tri' morph

characterized by a blend of Piebald and Calico genes. All individuals display the white piebald striping, but only females display calico patterning.

#invertebrates #invertebrate #insecthobby #isopod #isopods #crustacean #woodlouse #sowbug #isopodhobby

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 7d

For how long I've been in the exotic pet hobby. In hindsight its kind of strange that I've never been to a Reptile Expo...

But its never too late to correct that! Tomorrow Northeast Bugs & Beasts will be stopping by the New Jersey Reptile Show. As guests, not vendors.

#reptileexpo #expo

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 8d

Watch out! He's lookin' at you!

#chameleongecko #chameleongeckos #gecko #geckosofig #petgecko #newcaledoniangecko #petphotography #petphotograph #eurydactylodes #eurydactylodesgecko #eurydactylodesoccidentalis #eyes #animaleye #animaleyes

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 9d

A new addition to my Solomon Island Leaf Frog group! This as-yet-unnamed handsome little man will be quarantined for a month, and then paired with Tubba. I'm eager to see what results a brown x yellow mix produce!

#froggy #vivarium #frogs #leaffrog #solomonislandleaffrog #frogbreeding #breeder

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 10d

#amphibiansofinstagram #frogs #amphibians #toad #commontoad #didyouknow #frogfact #frogfacts #toadfact #study #science #paper #Neuroethology

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 10d

To put it simply: a hungry toad will look for things that look and move like worms.

Source: Image Processing in the Visual System of the Common Toad - Behavior, Brain Function, Artificial Neuronal Net" (IWF No. C 1805) by Prof. Dr. Jörg-Peter Ewert (University of Kassel, Germany)

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 10d

Believe it or not, there is an answer! Toads recognize long objects moving lengthwise as prey. In a study conducted on Toad Neuroethology. It was found that a common toad would strike a strip of paper moving along a track, but would ignore the same strip of paper if it were oriented vertically.

Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 10d

Today we have a #whatacreature comic!

A turn to notice the prey item, a few careful steps to close the distance, a closer stare, and then...
ZIP! Out comes the tongue, and down goes the bug.
Ever wondered what was going through that toads head?

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Northeast Bugs & Beasts @ne-bugs-and-beasts.bsky.social · 11d

I hear that purple x anything else mixes tend to produce beetles that look purple.
But I know this isn't always the case- I have two purple/green mix females that express mostly as green.

That being said. I wonder what will come of this pairing?

#rainbowstagbeetle #beetle #stagbeetle #insects