Farewell Dropsy.

While the move went really well, I do have to report one causality. Dropsy 2 did not survive. He lived two years with me and I feel guilty over his passing. It could have been avoided, but I was careless.

If you remember, I once had four frogs, but somehow they all died on me. Dropsy had a close encounter with death when I was transferring him to the tank to the fish bowl, but I managed to save him before Weasley got to him.

This time he wasn’t so lucky. I had put Dropsy in his fish bowl and he made it over to the new place just fine. I needed to hide him someplace where Weasley couldn’t get to him, and I chose the shelving unit in the living room. I did notice that Weasley could open the door with his paw, but didn’t think to move Dropsy to another cabinet.

My cousin and I were upstairs in my bedroom unpacking, when I heard the cabinet door open. I yelled at Weasley to get out of there and headed downstairs to check on the boys. When I opened the cabinet, Weasley was in there, but Dropsy was not in his bowl. Oh SHIT.

At first I thought Weasley had eaten him, but knew that he couldn’t have swallowed him whole, and since there were no random body parts around, I knew Dropsy had to be around the place somewhere. So my cousin and I started to look under all the boxes and trash bags. My cousin found him under a trash bag and surprisingly he was still alive.

She put him back in the fish bowl and I prepared the tank for him to go back into. He seemed to be fine, maybe a little scared, but he was swimming around in the bowl. I moved him into the half bath and shut the door so Weasley would leave him alone.

The next morning when I went to check in on him, he was stiff and swollen and laying at the bottom of the bowl not moving. Poor Dropsy did not survive. I’m not sure what did him in. Maybe he was out of water too long and his system couldn’t handle it or maybe Weasley injured him and he was bleeding internally.

I’m still not sure how he even got out of the bowl. I believe Weasley was swatting in the water, and Dropsy was jumping to get away from him, and Weasley used his paw to lift him out of the water.

Poor Dropsy. He didn’t even get to enjoy his new home. He was such a trooper too and survived all the other frogs that died around him. I’ll miss the poor guy and feel very responsible for his death.

Rest in peace Dropsy. You were swell.

That was a Close One!

Disaster almost struck. I almost killed Dropsy, my frog. Yesterday, I finally cleaned his tank. It was gross. There was algae growing everywhere and I could no longer see inside the tank through the algae. I knew I was being a bad mommy and didn't want him to perish like his fallen brothers. Its just so time consuming to clean that damn tank.

I followed the normal procedure of transfering Dropsy to the small fish bowl that I have. I then proceed to put him in the cabinets because if I leave him out, Weasley will try to kill him. So la dee da, I clean the tank and refill it with water. Now, you cannot put the frog back into the tank or it will go into shock from all the sedatives and chlorine in the water. I usually let it sit for 24 hours with the filter running.

I decide to put Dropsy back into his tank tonight and call Weasley over to watch cause I know he'll enjoy it. I've learned that whenever I'm dealing with Dropsy to always wear gloves. Good thing, I followed the rules tonight.

I use the net and scoop Dropsy into it. I put my gloved hand over the net so that Dropsy can't jump out. Weasley is right next to me, all excited and interested in what I'm doing. But he doesn't realize that Dropsy is in the net. So I nudge Weasley to look at the net. All the while, little Dropsy is squirming around. During the nudging of The Wese, I must've moved my hand that was covering the top of the net, cause out hops Dropsy. SHIT!!!!!

I know that Dropsy's fate is much worse if I don't grab Weasley. Weasley makes a bee-line for the frog, and luckily I grab him before he pounces. In a panic, I try and throw Weasley into the hall closet while Dropsy is hopping towards the front door. I'm hoping that he can't fit under the door or he's a goner. I'm frantically trying to close the closet door, but I have way too many freaking shoes and the door keeps jamming on them. I give up that route, grab Weasley and lock him in my bedroom.

I run back to find poor Dropsy sitting in the corner right in front of the door. He needs to get back into the water soon or he'll skin will dry out and he'll die. I approach him cautiously because I do not want him to slip under the door and into the main hallway of my building. I try using the net to scoop him, but the net won't open up all the way. He begins to hop, and I try and grab him with my gloved hand while at the same time trying not to squeeze too hard or I'll crush him. Thankfully I get him back into the net and into the tank. Poor thing was probably freaking out.

Thank God, nothing bad happened. I would've felt so guilty if Dropsy had die. Lesson learned: no more having Weasley around when I put Dropsy back in his tank.