Tamre Worrel, Fort Dodge, IA, November 27, 2005
Just wanted to let you know that the red-tail is doing great. He made it to Fort Dodge just fine so I didn’t have to make Bruce eat him. ;0) He’s in the 150 gal. tank that is in the garage and plans are in the works for a pond to be built  for him. His name is now Felix (the cat...black and white...) I know, we need a life.
We brought the tub and air pump back today (Sunday) thank you for the loan. Bruce wanted me to send you some pictures of Felix in his new home.

 
A:  Glad to know he made the trip okay.  We don’t get too many red-tail catfishes that size.  LA

LA 
Unlike fish, water dogs have external gills.

Alyx Chase, Canada, November 29, 2005
I am interested in getting a water dog, and I was just wanting to ask you some questions about them, since on the internet it is hard to find information. I don’t know a lot about water dogs and if you would recommend some sites that are helpful in describing in detail what you need and have to do for a water dog.
1.) What type of tank should you have for a water dog?
2.) Also do like a full tank of water or just part with some land for them to hang out on.
3.) Could you have other little fish with water dogs such a neon tetras.
4.) Do they need a pump like normal fish?
Thank you for you help.

A1:  Any kind of tank will work.
A2:  Water dogs are 100% aquatic -- just like tadpoles.
A3:  Water dogs will eat every little fish you put with them.
A4:  Aeration and filtration help all aquatic creatures.
Water dogs turn into tiger salamanders, like tadpoles turn into frogs.  As for which web site offers the best info, I have to agree with what I read in the Aqualand web site.  LA

Moses Anaya, Irvine, CA, November 30, 2005
I have had a spiny soft-shell turtle for about 5 months now. I purchased him when he was ½ the size of the palm of my hand. He is growing and is now near the size of my palm. The reason why I’m e-mailing you is to find out if you can help with my situation, I have provided a 10 gallon tank for him with UV light fixtures and for protein I give him Dr. Turtle carbon rock and in powder form too. The problem is that his shell towards the back has flipped up, and in all pictures and research I have done on him, none have it this way so I’m concerned about him. I’ve gone to libraries and I have not found any information on this, only on hard shell turtle cases (if any). He is very active and this has no effect on his swimming or activities. But I’m worried that it will affect him in the future.  I want to correct this before any health problems develop due to this. Hope to hear from you soon.

A:  I'm assuming you mean a soft-shell turtle like this.  If he's doubled in size, you must be doing something right.  However, check your light bulbs.  All of those screw-in neodynium bulbs say full spectrum, but they are not.  They provide UVA but no UVB.  Outside of that, I have no other comments.  Search for a turtle chat room.  I think chat rooms are mostly dorky, but occasionally they have helpful answers.  LA

Sherri Rew, November 30, 2005
We have a White's dumpy frog (it was sold as a Blue Asian Gliding Tree frog but there are no webbed toes, so I think it’s a Dumpy).  We’re having problems keeping other frogs alive with it.  We got another dumpy frog to go with it but it died after a few months, and we’ve also had regular tree frogs that died.  Can you tell me what kind of habitat we need and what I need to do?
We currently have 10 gallon tank, with dirt and moss and a devil's ivy plant on one side, and the other side has fish tank gravel with a bowl of water.  We keep heat lamps on day/night, so the coldest at night is about 68, and daytime is upper 70s.  We probably need warmer lamps.  We feed them live crickets.  But why is just one frog living while the others die? Thank you!

A:  Usually when you mix dumpy frogs with other frogs, the dumpys eat the other frogs.  Some frogs give off toxins.  As far as I know, dumpys do not.  I do not know if the blue Asian frog does or not.  However, your dumpy could be intimidating and/or out-eating your other frogs.