A Treefrog

Yesterday, I fulfilled my promise of Banana's birthday present--a new pet. Her first ideas were kittens and puppies. Those wouldn't do right now--a kitten because I'm not a cat person, and a puppy because I can't handle adding another mouth and set of vet bills to the mix. Failing that, she settled for a turtle. Then she changed her mind. She wanted a frog. Call it the Hopper Effect. Since frogs seem fairly low maintenance, I was okay with the idea.

The salesperson at PetSmart (the gender-neutral reference is essential, because I'm honestly not sure what this person's story was) gave me the rundown on what we would need to take care of a treefrog:

• 10 gal. aquarium $10


• screen $10


• clip-on light and bulb $10


• sediment for the bottom $10


• hiding place--in the case of a treefrog this also meant a climbing tree $15


• watering dish--opted to solve this with a waterfall $42


• crickets $2


• treefrog $18

This made for a rather pricey birthday present, but I'd made the promise. And the thing actually seemed kind of cool.

We are one day in now, and the frog still seems cool. It is named Leapy. Leapy has a voracious appetite for crickets. Leapy also needs a damper base than she (we know the gender) has. These facts mean that we will make another trip to PetSmart tomorrow for more crickets and a mister to dampen the aquarium.

Banana is overjoyed. Pictures will be forthcoming.