I have a pet frog

[Stormy]

The biology department uses this species in experiments, and having raised a few dozen tadpoles to adolescence, one of my friends (as a student in the lab) was offering them to people she knew. It's more of a froglet than a frog at the moment, but it'll get bigger eventually. It's a <i>Xenopus laevis</i>, or African Clawed frog, and depending on its gender will either get about as big as my foot (at its fattest, which I'll proudly prevent, if its female), or about the size of my fist if its male (I have girl hands and feet, so smaller than yours unless you'r Liss). I named it, as currently gender indiscernable, Heqet--after an Egyptian goddess of fertility with a frog's head on a human body. The name is appropriate as culturally, frogs have had a long standing association with fertility in a number of societies, and because the <i>Xenopus laevis</i> is often used in experiments concerning pregnancy. I thought of naming it Gamete (gender neutral) and Darwin, but finally settled on Heqet. It's a really cute animal, though I know once it gets bigger it'll get kind of (really) ugly. Nevertheless, I'm really excited to finally have a pet at school. The way my room is set up, I have a roommate, but we're adjoined in two rooms by a closed door in the mornings, and now I have something live to wake up to. It's cute swimming has helped me wake up the first time my alarm's gone off the past few days I've had it. The frog's currently swimming up to the surface to take breaths and pretend to sleep, floating with its snout sticking out of the water, before it starts to sink again, and has to paddle up to a renewed stable position. In just a moment, I'm going to try and feed it the rest of what I didn't give it earlier.

It looks like this now:
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m158/vervetIV/Heqet001.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m158/vervetIV/Heqet002.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m158/vervetIV/Heqet003.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

And will eventually look like this (female, female, female, male):

[raublekick]

cute! my grandparents had some frogs living in their koi pond that are about that same size. hopefully they will be back when it warms up.

say, these tests that the biology department does... they aren't in any relation to asexual reproduction like the kind that allowed the dinosaurs to reproduce, are they?

[testtubebaby]

http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/thumb/f/f8/Hopkin-large.jpg/465px-Hopkin-large.jpg

[Liss]

Aww, I love pets. I miss pets. I like its name. It's cute. I like that it has a nice big open home. You make a good frog mommy.

[squirrels2nuts]

xenopussy

[squirrels2nuts]

ive read tons of studies using these kinda eggs, including one on THC and glycine receptors, but ive never looks up a picture of the lil guys. aw.

[Plain Old Jane]

i have a fish, him name is constantine the suicidal fish. hes a gold fish with BIG PUFFY fluid filled cheeks that are an evolutionary blunder that makes him very easy to kill.

[Optimus Funk]

Stormy, I love your new pet frog but and I need to quote you on this "as currently gender indiscernable" Why did you name him after Heqet? She is such a feminie goddess is isn't even funny!, The egyptian's didnt have rabbits as the sorce of humor in reproduction, so they used/had the frogs! That is why they modeled the goddess of fertility after it! That is all I have to say about that, call him/she/it "Neu" so it can truely be Neutral, I know it is too late now but come on, you have pre-dispositioned this frog to its reproductive path, atleast in yout mind and in name atleast.

[Stormy]

I only named it out of formalities. If it turns out to be male, Heqet is still a fitting name, as both females and males are fertile.

Nevertheless, as with most of my pets, I end up calling it various pet names: Mr. Frog, froggy, legs, froggy frog frog, "hey little swimmer want some food?" et cetera.

[raublekick]

How about Pat?

[Optimus Funk]

I will go on record to say Neu was a dumb name on my behalf, but I also think the frog might develope multiple personality syndrome, I mean calling it different names all the time might cause it to act differently from when you call it one of your other various names. You might breed a CRAZY frog! Also I love Heqet! We all want a progressive video journal!