New Digs for Gilly; A new family member

We have expanded our family...but not in the human way. Gilly has a new life partner, if you will, with whom he can share his hopes, his dreams, and his chopped-up raw chicken liver.

If you very intrigued by now, as I'm sure you are, please keep reading.

This Grow-a-Frog company is pure genius, with a touch of evil as well. Back in October, we thought, "Oh, how cute. A tadpole that grows into a frog in its tiny tank. What a low-maintenance, easy pet for Gabe." Soon, as Gilly's tail disappeared and he began turning into a frog, I was faced with tough issues: the "double tube town tank" versus the single model; the use of bottled spring water versus tap water purified with the special company-backed crystals; sending our frog to state school versus private school, and so on. I finally decided on the "single tube town tank", and the company offered one free additional frog. Of course, I accepted without hesitation. I arranged for delivery to be either on Monday or Tuesday. On Monday, no frog. Due to Veteran's Day, the mail didn't run on Tuesday either. On Wednesday, the mailman, who I swear has a grudge against frog owners, attempted a delivery but since I was at work, returned the package to the post office. We were a bit concerned about the new frog who had been hanging out in the box for a few days now without food or at least some "magic powder" to take the edge off (see previous post).

In the meantime, Gilly was not supposed to eat the tadpole food. The Grow-a-Frog people told me that he could only eat tiny pieces of raw chicken liver until his frog food came. For THREE DAYS, I had to chop microscopic pieces off a chicken liver to feed this thing. I know people actually eat this, but I don't know how. I had never seen one before, but it's a unique combo: looks and feels like red, slimy Jello, but smells like chicken. YUCK!!

Luckily, we were able to pick up the food, the new tank, and the new frog first thing this morning. The frog looked a bit flustered, as we all would be having been trapped in a tiny baggie for three or four days without food, but he seems to be okay.

So now we have a Gilly AND a Billy. Gabe chose the name after briefly considering Jilly and Dilly. Oddly enough, Billy suits him. Unlike Gilly, he's completely transparent, which is a little unsettling when he eats his food because you can see it sitting there. Also, they still have to be in separate compartments, because Billy is a lot bigger than Gilly and the Grow-a-Frog people warned about the possibility that he might go all "Donner Party" on him. We couldn't quite commit to getting a white frog yet, but Billy is still quite a looker. And he was free.