It's night time, and in the twilight Jabba the Hutt, quietly wriggles and shuts his eyes
tightly.
Jabba is our pacman frog, his species in particular known as a Surinam horned frog.
He's actually undergoing a pretty interesting change tonight, that happens to him every
few weeks.
In the privacy of his mossy bed, Jabba continues to blink, and open his mouth.
And you're about to find out what he's doing now.
See, there!
At the corner of his mouth, see that dark slimy thing?
And slowly the dark slime slips completely into his mouth and out of sight.
What you saw there was Jabba's old skin.
Our pacman frog, like all frogs was undergoing a routine shed, something all frogs do, and
it just so happens Jabba's species eats his old skin.
Wouldn't want to waste nutrients now would you?
By morning Jabba's glorious colours are the best they've ever been!
His skin is always the nicest after a molt.
Now if you're new to the channel, I know you may be thinking, but wait AntsCanada.
Isn't this an ant channel?
Why frogs?
Yes, first off, warm welcome to you newcomers to the channel, where we often feature more
than just ants, but other animals too, because ants happen to have close relationships with
a tonne of other creatures in nature, frogs being one of them.
Now you may be surprised just how awesome frog skin actually is, and in this mid-week
video, I wanted to do a deep dive on the wonders of frog skin, and show you why I feel frog
skin is some of the coolest skin in the animal kingdom, and why frog skin is actually important
for us humans!
So the first thing you might wanna know about frog skin, which may surprise you, is that
all frogs have poison glands in their skin, particularly at the head and back.
Jabba here, as well as many other frogs have only mild toxins... thankfully, not that I
hold him much anyway.
It just causes a fowl taste if an animal were to try to eat it.
But some frogs have poisons that can harm humans!
Case in point: Poison dart frogs!
They frogs get their lethal skin toxins from eating toxic ants and termites from the habitats
they're from.
Yet another way in which ants and frogs are connected!
Another cool thing about frog skin is that they can breath through it!
They can absorb oxygen through their skin, as well as water!
Many frogs don't even have to drink water with their mouths.
They just absorb water into their bodies by soaking in it.
Jabba here always loves huddling in his moist bed of moss, and keeps nice and hydrated at
all times.
But the magic of frog skin lies in the awesome slime that covers Jabba's whole body.
It helps keep his skin permeable to water, oxygen, and nutrients.
It also keeps water from evaporating out of his body, and from completely drying up.
The slime is also a great barrier against bacteria and fungus!
Now let's talk colours!
Jabba's colouration is just gorgeous, wouldn't you say?!
His patterns of greens, browns, and yellows allow him to camouflage in moss and leaf litter
in which he hides most of the time.
If frogs aren't brightly coloured like dart frogs warning predators that they're toxic,
they're more cryptic in colouration, allowing them to camouflage in their preferred habitats.
Now, Jabba the Hutt here is a pretty incredible pet frog, and he's really starting to win
my heart!
He chirps every day, especially when he hears my voice or hears me watching youtube.
Frogs like Jabba here are important to us humans, because frogs are often the indicator
of a healthy or unhealthy environment.
They're like the canary in a coal mine!
If a place gets too polluted with harmful agents and chemicals, frogs will be among
the first creatures to disappear, because their skin is so absorbent!
If you find an area that has a lot of frogs, Note bene: frogs that are not mutated that
is, then you know that there's a good chance that area's ecosystem is healthy and clean!
If you would like to see more about Jabba here you must watch our video when we first
introduced him to the channel and built this mossy paradise for him complete with a living
wall and drip system.
He's such a cute little guy and a cool hands-off pet to live with!
I also have left a hidden video for you here if you'd like to see him eating his pellets
and a baby mouse!
He sure loves his food so go check him pigging out!
Thanks, guys for watching!
And we'll see you for our next video this Saturday so be sure to subscribe to the channel
for more cool ant and nature discovery!
It's frog love forever!
Hope you can subscribe to the channel as we upload a new video every Wednesday and Saturday
at 8AM EST.
Please remember to like, comment, share, and subscribe if you enjoyed this video to help
us keep making more.
It's ant love forever!