My non-snake family :)

[Steve'sMom]

Thought I'd share my other addiction with all of you....Frogs! At one time I had about 60 adults and lord knows how many babies. Right now, since I've moved into a knew house and had less time, I only have about 20. Here's some of my favorites...

Here is Tiki, a female dendrobates tinctorius, Cobalt morph. She was one of my first. She's getting old now, this is a pic of her at her best.

This is Ty (thought she was a boy for a while) another cobalt...and my most photogenic girl. She's in the living room because she's always out showing off....

Next is Marty, a female dendrobates tinctorius, powder blue morph. She and her boyfriend are the first eggs I ever hatched out on my own....

Here is Marty's boyfriend, Pokey, but this is the day he lost his tail and became a frog

This is Jay, a male Dendrobates Azureus.....

Next we have Orion, a male Dendrobates Tinctorius, inferalanis morph. He and his mate came from wild-caught parents.

This is one of Orion and his mate's babies....he is albino, or something like that (amel. maybe? LOL). I and a couple other people who bought frogs from this wild-caught line, started getting one or two of these in each clutch of eggs. Unfortunately, so far, they don't live too long. This one lived to adulthood, though, then died. I later found out it's tankmate was sick. So who knows, maybe he could have lived? Lots of people on the dart frog boards don't appreciate this guy much....we like to keep the localities bloodlines pure and "new" man-made morphs are looked down upon.....and I agree, considering so much of their habitat is in severe danger...But it's not like I'm giving it a name and selling it for thousands of dollars. It's just a neat thing that popped up.

Last is a Dendrobates Luecomelas....no name...there's 6 of them and they don't look much different, so I didn't name them

Hope you enjoy!

 

[Steve'sMom]

What the heck, here's the rest of my family....

Here's Riley, SUPER spoiled puppy....he's going to be 3 years old Dec. 18th :cheers:

And *que music* All hail the self-proclaimed Queen of Dragons.....Sydney! :bowdown:

Little miss Priss must have everything her way or she will turn up her nose at you! She has a 4'x3'x3' custom build enclosure which she thinks is not big enough and she will only eat her favorite fresh veggies, raspberries, and you better have some crickets!

 

[rockmonky]

That all blue one is kick Ass!!
I always wanted a red eyed tree frog, but now I NEED one of those!
TIM

 

[diamondlil]

Thanks for sharing :cheers:

 

[jenkva]

I love the colours of your frogs, specially the "pink/albino" one.

Was wondering though, what is the life expectancy of these frogs?

 

[Steve'sMom]

I love the colours of your frogs, specially the "pink/albino" one.

Was wondering though, what is the life expectancy of these frogs?

I think most people are going with 10 years or so. I've heard less, I've heard more....depends on the quality of care and if (with females anyway) they are laying eggs often. I had my first frog just pass away recently, she was 7....but she was also stunted (most likely my fault b/c I was stupid when I got her LOL). My next oldest is about 6 and she's still going. Not everything is really known about them, especially their life in the wild. No one's really sure how long they live in the wild, probably less, as with most animals because they are spoiled with us.

 

[Nanci]

They are so photogenic! They just don't look real. Very pretty!

Nanci

 

[ratsncorns]

Wow, what a beautiful bunch you have there! And you can see the attitude in your dragons picture, haha!

 

[Hypancistrus]

Full viv shots?

Can you post some full-viv shots of the housing you use for the dart frogs? I really like frogs- I think they are cute and funny, and dart frogs have always interested me. 'Course, tell that to the S.O. SHE thinks they are ugly!! Some people have no appreciation for the finer things in life.

 

[Steve'sMom]

They are so photogenic! They just don't look real. Very pretty!

Nanci

I've actually had people not believe they were real when they saw them in person LOL :eek1: Some of them are pretty active, but it's in short spirts...they move, then sit still, then move again. I suppose it's a defense mechanism to sit still and not be seen, like any other frog. So when new people are gathered around waiting for one to move, they sit perfectly still and look like they're not alive.

They are fun to watch though. They do have personalities, just like the snakes. They can learn things (like figuring out where the flies are usually dropped and sitting there at feeding time), they beg for food, they check out new things you put in their viv, and they get mad when you re-arrange without their permission Certain ones can even throw a hissy-fit if something isn't to their liking....My 6 luecomelas (the yellow and black ones) were in a 10 gal. tank as babies. When they got old enough that they should have been breeding, I put them in a 20. For over a year, no calling, no laying eggs, nothing. They were well past the age they should have been doing these things. I tried splitting them up, adding more hides, more plants, misting more....they were not impressed! Finally, I broke down and got them a 50 gal. breeder tank! The next day the males were calling, everyone was out exploring, and the egg-laying soon followed! Another case of who-owns-who? :shrugs:

 

[Steve'sMom]

Can you post some full-viv shots of the housing you use for the dart frogs? I really like frogs- I think they are cute and funny, and dart frogs have always interested me. 'Course, tell that to the S.O. SHE thinks they are ugly!! Some people have no appreciation for the finer things in life.

I know, I don't understand people who think darts are ugly! I can KIND OF understand other frogs, but come on, that's like saying a diamond looks like just another old rock. My really nice bigger vivs are at my mom's place still because I haven't figured out how to heat my basement well enough to have room for them, so I don't have pics right now, but go to www.dendroboard.com, it is a forum like this one, and if you go to the "Members Frogs and Vivariums" page, lots of people post pics of frogs and tanks. Or just browse through the gallery (although you might have to join to do that, not sure). Some vivs are just spectacular....waterfalls, foggers, exotic plants and other decor. That's actually half the fun of having them

 

[jazzgeek]

GORGEOUS dart frogs, Becky! My "Local Reptile Shop", Captive Bred Specialties in Waukesha, more or less specializes in dart frogs; I'm continually amazed by their beauty.

Which leads to my question.....from where do you source your food supply for these gems up dere in da "Twin Cities" of 'Sconsin? Do you grow your own fruit flies? Do you ever use pinhead crix?

Enquiring minds want to know.

regards,
jazz

 

[MegF.]

They are all beautiful! How can something that was produced from two normal animals not be pure but manmade? The first amelanistic corn ever found was collected from the wild. You said you had several that came out of the pairings. I don't call that man made, I call that a natural abberation. Two recessive genes coming together to produce the albinos. In the wild they would most likely die out as they are picked off by predators and don't frogs use color more to attract mates as well as calling?

 

[Mrs InsaneOne]

Spectacular, I love the dart frogs and if we lived in our own (real) house I'd probably have a tank or two set up for some. The little ones I've seen for sale at the reptile shows are SO tiny, but the colors are bold and brilliant.

The albino one is neat too, and I agree completely with what Meg said, it doesn't sound as if you were mixing and matching to get him as a result, he just popped up with a few others. So it sounds natural enough. Maybe if someone caught a wild one first they'd be more acceptable *shrugs*

Thanks for sharing though, loved the pics!

Jenn

 

[Steve'sMom]

.....from where do you source your food supply for these gems up dere in da "Twin Cities" of 'Sconsin? Do you grow your own fruit flies? Do you ever use pinhead crix?

regards,
jazz

I grow my own. It would cost too much to have to order the number of fly cultures I need every month, and it is very easy to grow them. They do also eat pinhead crickets, and other small bugs, but those are just when I happen to have them, fruit flies are their main source of food. They do have to be dusted with Rep-cal and Herptivite every day though, because ff's are not the best source of vitamins.

They are all beautiful! How can something that was produced from two normal animals not be pure but manmade? The first amelanistic corn ever found was collected from the wild. You said you had several that came out of the pairings. I don't call that man made, I call that a natural abberation. Two recessive genes coming together to produce the albinos. In the wild they would most likely die out as they are picked off by predators and don't frogs use color more to attract mates as well as calling?

I think it's considered man-made because of the fact it probably wouldn't happen in the wild. Also, we don't want to change them into something else just to please ourselves...many people in the dart frog hobby are very much dedicated to the conservation of their habitat and saving the wild inhabitants also. Some morphs we have in the hobby may already be extinct in the wild....in fact I think there are some localities which don't exist anymore. For example, Azureus only live in one little valley. If this valley is destroyed, no more blue dart frogs. Due to the spectacular frogs that live there, this valley is protected, but most darts are not that lucky.

Actually the colors are a warning to predators....aposematic coloration I believe it's called. Any animal that has tried to eat a dart frog will remember not to do it again next time they see that color pattern. Darts have many different types of poison secreted from their skin, most just taste bad or cause pain, itching, rashes, etc. A few are deadly, but strangely, that's not what they use it for. Phyllobates terribilis (of which I have two) are the most poisonous living thing on the planet, but unless it gets inthe bloodstream, you don't necessarily die from touching one. They are also not poisonous in captivity, they need to eat certain insects to produce their poison, which we don't provide in captivity.

 

[Beothon Lover]

very cute and pretty frogs!

 

[CaptainJack]

Wow. Those frogs are beautiful. They all look so amazing. I want to say though that you have a wonderful looking GSD. When I was small we had a shepherd. He died of cancer when I was about eight. Well, my parents had to have him put to sleep. I still get teared up sometimes thinking about how much I miss that dog. It's kind of silly, but he was my best friend when I was too young to go to school. We lived way out in the country and besides family there weren't too many other kids around. Your dog really reminds me of him. Thanks for sharing.

 

[MegF.]

Actually, those would occur in the wild. They may not survive, but obviously they occur spontaneously. I'm assuming you didn't get a frog het for albinism just to get those?

 

[Steve'sMom]

Actually, those would occur in the wild. They may not survive, but obviously they occur spontaneously. I'm assuming you didn't get a frog het for albinism just to get those?

Well, they are brother and sister...but no, I didn't know they were het. until they bred. And there's much less of a chance of having siblings get back together in the wild and mate. I agree they can happen in the wild, but I guess the point is to not take these and start the hobby going the way corn snakes did. Not that it's bad, we did do the same thing with dogs, it's just a different point of view. The dart hobbyists are more geared towards keeping them looking like they do in the wild, because some day the only place we may be able to see them is in captivity. I think it's really interesting being part of both worlds....a dart frog that's been mixed with another morph or hybridized with another species of dart may look awsome (although some are just more dull), but to true hobbyists, it's worthless...in fact hybridizing usually ruins a sellers reputation, as they can't be trusted to keep their other frogs pure. Here, normal corns are very cheap, and mixed morphs are much more expensive. Personally, I don't disagree with either side. I keep my frogs pure, since they're naturally gorgeous anyway, and I get the goofing around with different genes out of my system with corns

 

[Steve'sMom]

Wow. Those frogs are beautiful. They all look so amazing. I want to say though that you have a wonderful looking GSD. When I was small we had a shepherd. He died of cancer when I was about eight. Well, my parents had to have him put to sleep. I still get teared up sometimes thinking about how much I miss that dog. It's kind of silly, but he was my best friend when I was too young to go to school. We lived way out in the country and besides family there weren't too many other kids around. Your dog really reminds me of him. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, he is my kid Really, he is so spoiled, he thinks he's a person. I've always wanted a GSD, and he's pretty much my ideal one...i love the sable coloring, and the fact that he's bigger and stockier than a lot of American-breed GSD's. (his parents are imported from Germany) Only thing is, they're supposed to be smart, and he tends to act like a complete moron...but actually I think he's smart in acting dumb, to get away with stuff LOL He can be quite crafty in trying to cover up being naughty.