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Lizards
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Salmonella
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Uromastyx maliensis
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Misc Lizards
Misc Lizards 2
Misc Lizards 3
Misc Lizards 4
Misc Lizards 5
Misc Lizards 6
Misc Lizards 7
Misc Lizards 8
Misc Lizards 9


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Kids at Pet Expo 5
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Wax Worms
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Miscellaneous
Bob's Acclimation

How to Start
How to Add New Fish
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Which Fish Get Along?
10 Questions to Ask
What is Ich?
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Pet World Visit
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Hygrophila
Lace
Java Lance Fern
Java Moss
Moss Balls
Onion
Vermiculite
Watersprite

LA
Who would not love a face with a grin like this?  Crickets, that's who.

LA
Same mudskipper waving at us after we spiffed up his environment.

Origin.  Not to be confused with the American mudslingers, the African mudskippers obviously come from Africa, Dr. Watson -- or more specifically the mangrove swamps that fringe much of tropical Africa.  This means they need warm temperatures and salt in their water.  One look at that face and you know they’re related to the gobies.

LA
Same mudskipper before we "rescued" him.

Size.  African mudskippers grow to about six inches.  We got this guy a year ago and assumed he was an Indian mudskipper because of his diminutive size.  He has an entire 10-gallon tank to himself but doesn’t effectively show his color or finnage.  So we tried a different habitat.

LA
No habitat here.  Kinda cute but he gets better.  You can't see his fins yet.

LA
Different little mudskipper.

LA
More pix of the same guy.  Sixth day out of the bag.  Fairly tame little dude.

Good Eater.  The guy five pix up came running (yes, mudskippers run) any time we approached his cage with a cricket.  He’d grab it and run back to his corner to enjoy his meal in leisure.  He’d also run over and instantly grab a small goldfish, which he’d kill but not eat.  No one could really see him unless we pointed him out.  So we changed his environment.  When we put a blob of live blackworms on his log, he grabs a mouthful and gets them all  over his face.  He sticks his head in the water to rinse off the excess worms.

LA
First we put him in a newly cleaned tank of the same size.  Better looking already.

More of a Lifeguard.  Mudskippers act like they don’t want to get in the water.  They often bounce out of the water when you put them in it.  And they can jump very well.

LA
If you chase mudskippers around a bit, they start displaying their fins.

Good Finnage.  When out of the water, their fins clamp down and become nearly invisible, unless they challenge another mudskipper.  When you force them into the water, mudskippers start looking much better.  Be careful handling these guys.  They’re as slippery as an African clawed frog.  After pestering them like this, add a squirt of NovAqua to replace their slime layer.

LA
Much more like it.  Adult Mudskippers look good.

Water.  Add plenty of salt to his water.  You can keep other brackish water fishes in the reservoir below.  Gobies come to mind.  Ropefish, archers, glassfish, and mollies also come to mind.  For other brackish water fish suggestions go to Brackish Water.

LA
He now looks so good he deserves a close up.

LA
His new set up allows him to easily enter and exit the water.

LA
And since he's at eyeball level, he's now more visible.

LA
From the top his new home looks very resortish.

LA
Another African mudskipper species -- probably a male.

LA
Hard to see in a "natural" setting.

LA
Say goodnight, froggy.

Last Word, sort of.  Mudskippers aren’t for everyone.  You notice that right away when you read their price tag.  But if you got the dime and you got the time, mudskippers and other brackish water fishes present a special challenge.

Epilog/Addendum.  So, what happens when you mix these guys?  In short:  Territorial imperatives.  The first guy owns everything (and eats everything).  The new guy gets the leftovers -- if any.

LA
The new mudskipper.  Very similar.  Slightly smaller.

Meeting/Confrontation.  At first the current resident ignores the new guy.  And he ignores him most of the time -- except when the new guy grabs a cricket.

LA
New mudskipper chomping on a cricket.  Somewhat blurry due to wet glass

LA
Current mudskipper spots new guy and moves onto new guy's piece of wood.

LA
Current guy in full display rushes new guy.  New guy hides under filter.  Nice finnage.

LA
Later, the current guy finishes off a goldfish.

LA
Here he tried some HBH Frog Bites.  He ate about half the pile we gave him.

Some Other Foods.  Now that this guy is tame, he eats most food items we give him.  His favorites:  Crickets and any kind of worms, live or frozen.  He eats goldfish hand fed to him but seems unable to catch them underwater.  He eats re-constituted krill sometimes.  We plan to try him on some HBH Betta Bites later.  

LA
Two new slightly beat up mudskippers (see dorsal fin) defending their territories.

LA
Littler mudskipper eating a worm.  Larger guy watching.

LA
Both mudskippers afraid of crickets at first.  Neither afraid of camera, hands, or lid lifting.

LA
Bigger mudskipper starts his career with serious scrapes on side.

LA
Bites or scrapes on little mudskipper also.

LA
Bigger mudskipper did not make it, so this gives us a chance to check out his tiny teeth.

LA
Our new little mudskipper survived the ordeal.

LA
Checking out a pile of California live blackworms.

LA
Our new mudskipper likes worms.  He ate the whole pile.  These guys blink their eyes.

Laster Word.  Mudskippers aren’t for everyone.  You notice that right away when you read their price tag.  But if you got the dime and you got the time, mudskippers and other brackish water fishes present a special challenge.  Or did I already say that?

Indian Mudskippers.  Looking very similar, but weighing in at only 1.5 inches, we find the Indian mudskipper.  These little rascals cost only a fraction of the Africans but stay much smaller.  They also argue very little with each other.

LA
An African mudskipper atop the Tetra sponge filter.

LA
Here's a Vietnamese mudskipper living in luxury.

Lastest Word.  We prefer the African Mudskippers.  LA

LA
Our newest African mudskipper came in looking very rough and quite stressed.

LA
Two days later looking better but unfortunately dead.

Most Lastest Word.  We still like African mudskippers.

LA
3-inch Vietnamese mudskipper at lunch.

LA
Ditto.

LA
4-inch Nigerian mudskiper.

LA
The rest of him -- lots of wounds brcause they fight with each other.

LA

LA

© 2003, © 2004, © 2005, © 2007, © 2009, © 2013  LA Productions

Jaguar Spawning II
Jewel Fish
Keo's Flowerhorns
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Oscar Spawn
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Red Bay Snook Spawn
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Severums III
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Texas Cichlid
Texas Spawning
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Misc Cichlids I
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Misc Cichlids V
Misc Cichlids VI
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Misc Cichlids VIII
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Livebearer  
Guppies
Half-Beak
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Moons/Platys
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Minnows/Tetra 
Barbs
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Gold Oriental II 
Gold. Spawn
Kloubec Koi Farm
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Koi III
Oranda Spawn
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Oddballs  
Af. Butterfly
Af. Lungfish
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American Eel
Archer Fish
Arowana
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Borneo Suckers
Brackish I
Brackish II
Brackish III
Brackish IV
Brackish V
Michael Troung's Pix
Butterfly/Wasp
Chameleon Fish
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Chin Alg Eater
Crazy Fish
Crocodile Fish
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Dojo
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Exodon paradoxus
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Glassfish
Goby Bumble
Goby Butterfly
Goby Dragon
Goby Misc.
Half-Beak
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Knife Clown
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Loach Botias
Loach Clown
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Loach Weather

Longear Sunfish
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Stonefish
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Wrest Half-Beak
Misc Mini-Fishes
Misc Odd
Misc Odd II
Misc Odd III
Misc Odd  IV

Misc Odd V
Misc Odd VI

Sharks  
Bala
Black
Bull
Chinese Hi-Fin Banded
Iridescent
Red-Tail
Siam Algae Eater

Pond Info 
Blank Park Zoo
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Cattails
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Dr. Ervanian's Garden
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Pond Plants III
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