Surinamese pipa. Who is Pipa Suriname

Surinamese pipa - toad, which can be found in the waters of the Amazon River basin in South America. This species belongs to the pipidae family, a class of amphibians. The unique one is capable of bearing offspring right on her back for almost three months.

Description and structural features of the Surinamese pipa

Distinctive feature An amphibian is the structure of its body. If you look at photo of Suriname pipa, you might think that the frog accidentally fell under the skating rink. The thin, flattened body looks more like an outdated tree leaf than a living inhabitant warm waters tropical river.

The head is triangular in shape, and is also flattened, like the body. Tiny eyes, devoid of eyelids, are located at the top of the muzzle. It is noteworthy that Pipa frogs tongue and teeth missing. Instead, at the corners of the mouth the toad has skin flaps similar to tentacles.

The front legs end in four long toes without claws and without membranes, as is the case in ordinary frogs. But the hind limbs are equipped with powerful skin folds between the toes. This allows the unusual animal to feel confident underwater.

Having poor eyesight Sensitive fingers help peepa navigate underwater

The body of an average individual does not exceed 12 cm, but there are also giants whose length can reach 20 cm. The skin of the Surinamese pipa is rough, wrinkled, sometimes with black spots on the back.

The color is not distinguished by bright colors, it is usually gray-brown skin with a lighter belly, often with a longitudinal dark stripe that goes to the throat and encircles the neck. In addition to its very poor external appearance, pipa is “rewarded” by nature with a strong odor reminiscent of hydrogen sulfide.

Lifestyle and nutrition of the Surinamese pipa

Surinamese pipa lives in warm, muddy bodies of water, without strong currents. The American pipa is also found in the vicinity of people - in the irrigation canals of plantations. The favorite muddy bottom serves as a feeding ground for the toad.

With its long fingers, the frog loosens the viscous soil, dragging food into its mouth. She is helped in this by special skin growths on her front legs in the form of stars, which is why pipa is often called “star-fingered”.

Surinamese pipa feeding organic residues that are dug up in the ground. These can be pieces of fish, worms and other insects rich in protein.

Despite the fact that the frog has quite developed characteristic features land animals (rough skin and strong lungs), pipas practically do not appear on the surface.

Exceptions include periods of heavy rain in areas of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and other areas of South America. Then the flat toads clumsily crawl out of the water and set off on a journey hundreds of meters from home, basking in warm, dirty tropical puddles.

Thanks to mother skin, all pipa's offspring always survive

Reproduction and lifespan

The onset of seasonal rains signals the onset of the breeding season. Surinamese pipas are of different sexes, although it is quite difficult to distinguish males from females externally. The male begins the courtship dance with a “song”.

By making a metallic clicking sound, the gentleman lets the female know that he is ready to mate. Approaching the chosen one, the female begins to throw unfertilized eggs directly into the water. The male immediately releases sperm, giving rise to a new life.

After that expectant mother sinks to the bottom and catches the eggs ready for development directly on its back. The male plays an important role in this action, evenly distributing the eggs over the female’s back.

With its abdomen and hind legs, it presses each egg into the skin, forming something like a cell. After a few hours, the frog's entire back becomes like a honeycomb. Having finished his work, the careless father leaves the female along with the future offspring. This is where his role as head of the family ends.

In the photo, pipa eggs are attached to her back.

For the next 80 days, the pipa will hatch eggs on its back, resembling a kind of mobile kindergarten. For one litter Suriname toad produces up to 100 small frogs. All offspring located on the back expectant mother, weighs about 385 grams. Agree, this is not an easy burden for such a frail amphibian.

When each egg has settled in its place, its outer part is covered with a durable membrane that performs a protective function. The cell depth reaches 2 mm.

While in the mother's body, the embryos receive from her body everything necessary for development nutrients. The partitions of the “honeycomb” are abundantly supplied with blood vessels that deliver nutrition and oxygen.

After 11-12 weeks of maternal care, young peeps break through the film of their personal cell and break out into a huge water world. They are quite independent in order to lead a lifestyle as close as possible to the lifestyle of an adult.

Young peeps leave their cells

Although babies are born fully formed from the mother’s body, this phenomenon is not considered a “live birth” in its true meaning. The eggs develop in the same way as in other representatives of amphibians, unique distinction is only a place for the development of a new generation.

Freed from the young frogs, back of a Surinamese pipa requires updating. To do this, the toad rubs its skin against stones and algae, thereby discarding the worn-out “baby spot.”

Until the next rainy season, the peep frog can live happily. Young animals will be capable of independent reproduction only after reaching 6 years of age.

The back of a pipa after the birth of baby toads

Breeding Surinamese pipa at home

Neither appearance nor pungent smell stops exotic lovers from breeding this amazing animal at home. Watching the process of gestation of larvae and the birth of little frogs is fascinating not only for children, but also for adults.

In order for the pipa to feel comfortable, you need a large aquarium. One frog requires at least 100 liters of water. If you plan to purchase two or three individuals, add the same amount to each.

The water must be well aerated, so take care in advance of a similar system for saturating the aquarium with oxygen. Temperature conditions must be carefully monitored. The mark should not be higher than 28 C and lower than 24 C.

Fine gravel and sand are usually poured onto the bottom. Artificial or live algae will help the Suriname toad feel at home. Pipas are not picky when it comes to food. Dry food for amphibians, as well as larvae, are suitable for them. earthworms and small pieces of live fish.

Bowing to the surprisingly strong maternal instinct for amphibians, children's writer (and part-time biologist) Boris Zakhoder dedicated one of his poems to the Surinamese pipa. So a distant and little-known frog became famous not only in the South, but also in Russia.

Pipa Surinamese is a frog that lives in South America and leads mainly night look life. It can be found in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Suriname, Brazil or Colombia. The frog spends most of its life in bodies of water, only occasionally appearing on land during heavy rains, then it moves very clumsily through the flooded tropical forest. It is noteworthy that even during severe drought, it does not leave the water, preferring to wait out the heat in small and almost dry puddles.

Despite the fact that this amphibian has rough, keratinized skin and well-developed lungs - signs of a terrestrial form of existence, it does not like land. This frog prefers natural reservoirs with a muddy bottom and Pipa Suriname is most often found in ponds and rivers with slow flow related to the Amazon basin. Sometimes it can be seen in the irrigation ditches of plantations.

Appearance

Many people do not like and are even afraid of ordinary frogs. But the Surinamese pipa has a special appearance. Those who like to make jokes might say that this frog looks like it was hit by a roller skating rink. She is actually very puny. Gray or brown, almost flat body with a triangular head, fixed eyes and a pair of tentacles at the mouth. The abdomen is light, sometimes with a black stripe or several white spots. An adult frog can reach 20 cm in length.

The front legs are almost without membranes with long fingers, at the tips of which very sensitive star-shaped appendages can be seen. Because of them, the frog is called the star-fingered frog. Another interesting anatomical feature of this animal is the absence of a tongue and teeth. Pipa Suriname usually looks for food at the bottom, moving through the mud with its front paws. Its hind legs are long and strong, their toes are connected by membranes, which allows the frog to move perfectly in the water. It should be noted that in addition to such an ugly appearance, pipa has a sharp, very unpleasant smell, resembling sulfur. Nevertheless, many amphibian lovers prefer to keep this exotic animal in an aquarium at home. What caused this desire?

Pairing

Pipa Surinamese is a wonderful mother, and watching her carry her babies is very interesting. Mating occurs only during the rainy season. It all starts with a mating dance. The male makes a metallic clicking sound when calling for a female. Soon she begins to throw eggs, and the male fertilizes them and presses them with his chest and hind legs to the female’s back, painstakingly distributing the eggs among the cells. It is there that little peeps will live and develop for two and a half months.

The cells themselves are deep - about 1.5 cm, and the size of the eggs is up to 7 mm. The partitions in the cells contain a huge number of blood vessels. The protruding part of each egg is covered with a dense stratum corneum. Mating can last a day, then the male considers his mission completed and leaves. Tadpoles will remain in this state for 11-12 weeks. kindergarten", where everything is provided - protection, power and ideal temperature conditions.

Reproduction

The Suriname pipa, whose spawning is much different from other frogs, can lay more than 100 eggs and then carry them all for about 85 days. The total egg-laying weight is approximately 385 grams.

For a frog this is quite a big indicator. At the end of the period, fully formed young peeps leave their cells. The frog removes the remaining skin. To do this, she rubs her back against plants or stones. Soon after shedding, new skin appears.

Home content

To start this miracle of nature at home, you need to carefully prepare. This frog requires an aquarium with a volume of at least 100 liters, but it is better to buy one with a capacity of 200-300 liters. Next step- filter selection. The water in the aquarium should be warm (about 26 degrees) and well aerated.

You can add fine gravel to the bottom, and decorate the aquarium itself with live or artificial algae. Feeding the Surinamese pipa is easy. Bloodworms and small fish are perfect for this purpose. Fans who want to breed such unusual animals should know that puberty in these frogs it occurs at the age of 6 years.

Conclusion

Once upon a time, having seen for the first time how the Surinamese pipa takes extraordinary care of its offspring, Zakhoder Boris wrote beautiful poem, dedicated to her maternal feelings. This is how this frog became famous.

Many people admire the maternal instincts of a cat or dog, but nature has not only endowed them with excellent parenting qualities. And even if the male Surinamese pipa does not take care of his offspring, like the leaf-climbing frog, for example, the female copes well alone, providing her babies with everything they need.

In the end, I would like to note that no matter what mother looks like - beautiful or ugly, for her children she still remains the most wonderful and beloved.

Surinamese pipa is very unusual frog, which can mainly be found in South America in the waters of the Amazon River. The Surinamese pipa belongs to the class of amphibians, and the family - pipidae. This unique toad, perhaps throughout three months bear your offspring on your own back.

Features and description of the Surinamese pipa

The first difference from other amphibians is its physique. The first time you saw such a frog, you might think that it had been run over by a roller skating rink several times. Her body is very thin and flattened, it is very similar to a large, old leaf of some kind of tree, and even assume that it is a resident of a tropical river with warm water, very difficult.

The head of the Suriname toad is triangular in shape and is as flattened as the entire body of the frog. Eyes located on top of the muzzle, they do not have eyelids and are very small. It is worth noting that these frogs do not have teeth or tongue. Instead, the toad has flaps of skin that are found at the corners of its mouth that look much like tentacles.

The amphibian's front paws are unwebbed and end in long toes that do not have claws, this is another difference from other frogs. And on the hind limbs there are folds of skin, they are very powerful and are located between the toes. These folds allow the frog to feel confident underwater.

The body of a not very large frog does not exceed twelve centimeters, but there are giant individuals, their length can reach twenty centimeters. The skin of this unusual animal is very rough and wrinkled, sometimes you can see black spots on the back.

The color of the Surinamese pipa is not bright; they generally have gray-brown skin and a light belly; there may also be a dark stripe that goes up to the throat and covers the toad’s neck, forming a border on it. In addition, the already not very attractive animal has a strong odor that resembles the smell of hydrogen sulfide.

Frog lifestyle and nutrition

The habitat halo of this frog is bodies of water with warm and muddy water, which do not have a strong current. IN she is also found near people, near plantations in irrigation canals. She really likes the muddy bottom, which is the pipa's feeding environment.

With her long fingers, which are on her front paws, she loosens the soil and looks for food, then drags it into her mouth. Helpers in this are growths on the legs, which are very similar to stars, which is why the frog is called “star-fingered”.

The Suriname frog feeds on organic remains that are buried in the ground at the bottom of the reservoir. These could be:

• pieces of fish;
• worms;
• insects rich in protein.

Pipa frogs almost never appear on the surface, although they have all the signs of a terrestrial animal:

1. very rough skin;
2. strong lungs.

The exception is those periods when in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and other cities of South America there are heavy rains. When it happens Suriname toads appear on the shore and migrate hundreds of kilometers to find warm and dirty puddles near tropical forests, there they bask and bask in the sun.

Lifespan and reproduction

The breeding season for Suriname frogs begins when the rainy season arrives. These toads are of different sexes, although distinguishing where the female is and where the male is is not an easy task. To win a female, the male must begin a mating dance, followed by a song.

In order for the female to understand that the male is ready to mate, he begins to make a high-pitched clicking sound. Female, after choosing a male, approaches him and throws unfertilized eggs into the water, and the male instantly begins to release sperm on them to give life to future offspring.

After some time, the female goes down to the bottom to catch the eggs that the male has fertilized; she catches them on her back. And at this time the male must evenly distribute the eggs over the back of the future mother.

He makes small cells on the female’s back, pressing each egg into it separately, and he helps himself with his hind legs and belly. After several hours of such work, the frog's back can be confused with honeycombs. After the work has been done, the male leaves his future children and the female and never appears in their lives again.

The Surinamese pipa will bear its offspring for approximately eighty days. In one litter, a frog can produce about a hundred frogs, which are born at the same time. Luggage that located on the back of the female has a weight of about 385 grams, for a pipa, it is not at all easy. After all the eggs are in place, they are covered with a protective membrane; it is very strong and protects future offspring. The depth of the cells in which the caviar is located reaches two millimeters.

Being in the mother's body, embryos take from her body all the nutrients that are necessary for their development. The partitions that separate them from each other have many blood vessels, through which the embryos receive oxygen and nutrition.

After twelve weeks, the young frogs break through the protective film of their house and swim away into an unknown aquatic world. From birth they are very independent and can lead a normal life alone, without the help of an adult.

This appearance of new small individuals is not considered a viviparity, although the frogs emerge from the female’s body. Egg development process, exactly like other amphibians, the only difference is the place where they develop.

When a new generation is born, the back of the Suriname frog needs immediate renewal. To do this Pipa rubs her back about various algae and stones and this allows her to get rid of the place where the embryos developed.

Until the next mating season, the frog can enjoy life and have nothing to worry about. Young frogs They will be able to reproduce on their own when they are six years old.

Surinamese pipa at home

People who are interested in exotic animals breed these wonderful frogs at home, and their not very attractive appearance and the smell of hydrogen sulfide do not frighten them at all. It is very interesting to watch how the female carries the larvae and how they are then born.

If you decide to keep a pipa at home, then you will need a large aquarium. If you have one frog, he will must accommodate no less than one hundred liters of water, and if two or three, then spread out so that each individual receives the same amount, that is, for three frogs an aquarium with three hundred liters of water is needed.

The water must be well saturated with oxygen, so you need to think about this in advance. It is also necessary to carefully monitor temperature conditions. The temperature should not exceed twenty-eight degrees and be less than twenty-four.

You need to pour sand and fine gravel onto the bottom of the aquarium. And it should also contain various live algae, this will help Suriname frog feel comfortable. They need to be fed a variety of amphibian foods, and they will also not refuse earthworms, larvae and small pieces of live fish.

What kind of living creatures can you find in wildlife. Each has its own difference, a special uniqueness. It would seem common toads what might be unusual about them. It's worth getting to know them better.

Description and structural features of the Surinamese pipa

Peeps Surinamese This toads, belonging to the amphibian tailless family Pipidae. South America, Brazil, Peru, Suriname - these are all countries, places habitat Surinamese pips.

She settles in lakes and rivers. It can also be found on farm plantations in irrigation canals. And nothing in this life can force frogs to get out of the water.

Even during periods of great drought, somewhere she will find a dirty, small, silted puddle and will wait in it until the onset of more favorable conditions for her life.

And with the onset of the rainy seasons, she begins a new life full of travel. From puddle to puddle, from pond to pond, she will wander, following the flow of streams. And so the toad traveler will freely swim around the entire perimeter surrounding it up and down.

But, despite her unearthly love for water, she can lead a terrestrial lifestyle with absolutely no harm to her health. The frog's lungs are well developed, and it also has fairly rough skin, which allows it to be freely even in the sun.

Look at photo of Surinamese pipa, the frog itself is obviously an incredible animal. From a distance it can be confused with some kind of leaf or piece of paper.

It is like a fifteen-centimeter flat quadrangle, which at one end ends in triangles with an acute angle. It turns out that he acute angle is the head of the frog itself, imperceptibly emerging from the body.

The amphibian's eyes are located far from each other, on two sides of the head and look upward. This animal does not have a tongue, and scraps of skin resembling tentacles hang near the corners of its mouth.

The animal's front paws are not at all similar to the paws of its relatives; there are no membranes between its four toes, with the help of which frogs swim. With its forelimbs, it obtains food by raking up kilograms of silt, which is why it has long, strong phalanges.

On the very edges of the fingers, small star-shaped processes grew in the form of warts. Therefore, many people know them as star-fingered Surinamese peeps .

Hind limbs larger size than the front ones, there are membranes between the toes. With their help, the pipa swims well, especially during its travels.

The color of the frog is, frankly, a camouflage color, matching the tone of the dirt in which it is poking around, either dark gray or dirty brown. Its abdomen is slightly lighter, and some have a dark stripe along its entire length.

But what distinguishes the Surinamese pipa from all other frogs is its hypermaternity. The whole point is that Surinamese pipa bears her children on her own back. There on its back, by nature, there are special depressions of a size suitable for the development of tadpoles.

This frog has one drawback, its terrible-smelling body "scent". Perhaps nature came to her aid here too; firstly, more than one predator who wanted to eat pipu could not stand such a smell.

Secondly, with its smell the amphibian notifies of its presence, since due to its appearance it is not too noticeable. And hiding in a drought, in a small dirty puddle, you can easily crush it, simply without seeing it, but because of the stench, it is impossible not to smell it.

Lifestyle and nutrition of the Surinamese pipa

Living its entire life in the water among algae, mud and rotten driftwood, the pipa leads a fishy lifestyle and feels comfortable. Her eyelids, palate and tongue are completely atrophied.

However, accidentally getting out, the Surinamese pipa turns into a sloth. She clumsily, slowly tries to crawl somewhere, and having reached the nearest swamp, she does not leave it until it is completely dry.

If a frog crawls to the river, then it chooses those places where there is no current. Feeds Surinamese pipa mainly in the dark. They look for their food at the bottom of the reservoir in which they settled.

With their long, four-legged forelimbs, pipas loosen the mud that gets in their way, and with the help of star-shaped wart-shaped processes they look for food. Everything that comes up is mostly small fish, worms, and bloodworms, the Suriname frog drags it into its mouth.

Reproduction and lifespan

Surinamese pips, ready for reproduction when her body grows to the size of a matchbox, that is, five centimeters. Pipa toads reach this size in the sixth year of their life. Pipa boys are a little more different from their girls dark color, and smaller in size.

Before mating begins, like a gallant gentleman, the male serenades his chosen one, clicking and whistling. If the lady is not in the mood for a meeting, the gentleman will not insist. Well, if the female is ready, she freezes for a moment and begins to have a slight tremor. For a male, this behavior is a guide to action.

Their mating dances begin, or rather, everything that happens, lasting for 24 hours, is very similar to dances. The female begins to lay eggs, the male, using all his dexterity and dexterity, catches them and carefully places them in each “mini house” located on the back of the expectant mother.

The female can lay from sixty to one hundred and sixty eggs. But she doesn’t do it right away. Gradually, the frog lays ten sticky eggs, the male deftly places them on the female’s back, pressing his belly against her.

The man immediately fertilizes the eggs, and, using his hind paws, compactly inserts each one into its own house, presses his tummy against the back of the female, as if pressing them. Then after a ten minute rest the process is repeated.

Some eggs may fall out of the father's paws and stick to the vegetation, but they will no longer give new life. When the female finishes spawning, the male secretes a special mucus to seal each house until the offspring emerge. Afterwards, hungry and tired, he leaves his partner forever, and his mission is over. The female also swims away in search of food.

After a couple of hours, out of nowhere from under the “houses” for the tadpoles, a certain liquid mass appears from the very bottom, which rises upward, attaching to itself all the debris that was on the toad’s back.

Also, with the help of this mass, eggs are culled; those that are small and without embryos are also removed. Afterwards, the pipa rubs its back against some surface to clean off all the dirt.

For the next eighty days, the expectant mother will faithfully carry the eggs on herself. When the tadpoles are fully formed and ready to live independently, the top of each egg swells and a small hole forms in it.

At first it serves for breathing of the unborn baby. Then, through it, the tadpoles get out. Some walk with their tails first, some with their heads.

From the side, looking at the frog, you can see that its back is dotted with the heads and tails of babies. The tadpoles very quickly leave their temporary home and the stronger ones instantly rush to the surface of the water to breathe in the air.

The weaker ones, having fallen to the bottom several times, still reach their goal in the next attempt to swim out. Then all of them, gathered in one group, head towards a new life that has not yet been explored for them. Now they have to independently escape from enemies, look for food for themselves, burying themselves in the muddy bottom of the reservoir.

At the seventh week of their life, the tadpoles are ready for transformation and begin to turn into a frog. They grow three to four centimeters, first the hind legs form, then the front ones, and soon the tail disappears.

Well, the accomplished mother, having wiped herself thoroughly on the stones and shed her old skin, is ready again for love adventures in a new image. Surinamese peeps live in a favorable environment for up to fifteen years.

Breeding Surinamese pipa at home

For lovers of exotic things and those who want to keep such a toad, you need to know that it needs space. Therefore, the aquarium should be at least one hundred liters. If you place your unusual pet in a three hundred liter house, the toad will only be happy.

Under no circumstances should you add aquarium frogs to frogs; the predator pipa will definitely eat them. The upper surface of the aquarium is covered with a mesh or a lid with holes, otherwise the peeps, suddenly getting bored at night, can get out of it and die.

The water temperature should be room temperature, twenty to twenty-five degrees. You can take well-settled tap water. Also, it should not be salty and well saturated with oxygen. You can cover the bottom of the aquarium with beautiful gravel, put all kinds of vegetation there for beauty, but the frog still won’t eat it.

Well, you need to feed it with large bloodworms, fry, earthworms, daphnia, and hamarus. You can give small pieces raw meat. Pipa is a very voracious amphibian; she will eat as much as is offered to her.

Therefore, to avoid obesity, control the amount of food. If obesity begins in at a young age, the frog's vertebrae become deformed and an ugly hump grows on its back.

It is important to know that Surinamese pipas are shy; under no circumstances should you knock on the glass of the aquarium with anything. In fright, she will rush around and may break violently against its walls.

On earth there are often creatures with whom nature, it would seem, played a cruel joke. Their appearance is often impressive, but more often it causes unpleasant associations and misunderstandings. One such unusual species is the pipa frog, also called the Suriname frog. At first glance, the Surinamese pipa resembles a lizard that has been caught under a steamroller.

The frog has a large, flat body, smoothly turning into a triangular head, four limbs: front, relatively short, with thin fingers, rear, much thicker with swimming membranes. The toes on the pipa's forelimbs are equipped with growths in the form of stars, for which it is sometimes called the star-fingered toad. The hind limbs are not very different from those of ordinary toads and are used for movement in water. There is a set of tentacles in the jaw area, but no tongue. The appearance can be assessed in the photo.

Toads can reach up to 20 centimeters in length, but more often it does not exceed 12 centimeters.

Habitat

Suriname frogs live in the rivers of the Amazon, as well as distributed in the following countries:

• South America;
• Peru;
• Brazil;
• Bolivia.

Pipa spends its entire life in water. Usually these frogs live in small bodies of water and do not leave them throughout their lives. There are seven species of Suriname toads. Travelers report that the pipa leads a quiet, clumsy lifestyle. It crawls languidly along the bottom of forest swamps. Also, some individuals of this species live in irrigation canals and plantations.

Nutrition, behavior

Pipa feeds on what it can find at the bottom. Using its forelimbs, the frog loosens the bottom and tries to catch nutrient particles. The main species is the Suriname toad, which is active at night and does not leave the water area.

Despite special love to the water space, frogs of this species have pulmonary and cutaneous respiration, characteristic of terrestrial species.

Males in mating season They make interesting sounds, clicks with a metallic sound.

Reproduction

The Surinamese pipa impresses not only with its specific appearance, but also by a special process of reproduction. Newborn representatives of this species, being mature young frogs, emerge into the world directly from the mother’s back.

Once Surinamese pipas reach sexual maturity (about 6 years), a rather fascinating process begins. It all starts with the male trying to “mount” the female in order to fertilize. If the female is ready, she the body becomes numb, the frogs begin their mating dance. This process begins at night and lasts until the morning, when the female pipa lays a certain number of eggs. Afterwards, the female dives to the bottom, trying to catch them. The male helps the female collect the eggs and “glues” them into her back. Females of this species of toad have special cells on their backs where future offspring are placed.

After the future peeps are sorted into cells, the female Suriname toad begins to get rid of the “excess”. On the back, in the birth compartments gray liquid appears, absorbing fertilized pipa eggs, separating them from debris and unfertilized eggs. This process ends with the molting of the frog.

The eggs develop in the same way as other frogs, only in a very specific place. Little peeps get their nutrition from the mother's body. After a while, young Suriman frogs open the veil that hides them from the outside world and leave the back of mother pipa.

Toads usually mature within two weeks. A couple of days before “leaving the nest,” the capsule in which the pipa tadpole exists increases in size and cracks. Young peeps make a forced march to the surface of the reservoir to breathe. Some frogs succeed in this only on the third or fourth try.

At first, tadpoles feed on bacteria and ciliates. Having reached a length of 34-40 millimeters, the tadpoles begin to grow limbs and lose their tail; during this period they live off the protein accumulated in the body and nothing else. As soon as the tail disappears, a full-fledged mouth is formed, the frog begins to eat live food and breathe with the help of its lungs.

Surinamese pipa as a pet

If desired, these unusual creatures can be kept at home like pet(not everyone likes dogs and cats). It is important to provide them with suitable conditions. First of all you need a large and deep aquarium(more than a hundred or two liters). Pipa is nocturnal, so it is worth providing for her (them) maximum quantity small “shelters” and general dim lighting.

Frogs feed on all sorts of small things, you can use:

• Bloodworm;
• Earthworms;
• Water fleas;
• Even small fish.

The feeding process takes on average ten minutes. As soon as she's had her fill, any waste must be removed so that the new resident of the aquarium does not pick up any infection.

For decorating an aquarium with Surinamese pipa You can use artificial and real plants inside; there are no restrictions in this regard. The bottom may be strewn with gravel, although the toad will not care at all.