# Wired.com frog article....



## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Enjoy...

Frogs Are Really Cool. Too Bad Humans Are Killing Them All | WIRED


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

Okay...its still a learning curve....I have a guess what this morph is, can you tell us and a lot of us will thank you.....


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

Judy S said:


> Okay...its still a learning curve....I have a guess what this morph is, can you tell us and a lot of us will thank you.....


The frog pictured above is R. reticulata.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

for whatever reason...missed this one...a beautiful frog...might have to find a spare tank for some....

are they always so beautifully marked???


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

Judy S said:


> for whatever reason...missed this one...a beautiful frog...might have to find a spare tank for some....
> 
> are they always so beautifully marked???


I'd consider that to be a typical 'old line' specimen, or a non-spotted UE frog.

This female was part of a group I had a while back:









They can be a little sensitive while getting acclimated, and they need a lot of available microfauna to thrive. Males can get REALLY aggressive.


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## Ichthyology (Jul 18, 2010)

Retics are my favorite frogs...hence my avatar. I took the photo near my research station in Iquitos. Peru. Great looking frog.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

So Dane....if one were looking for that specific line with those markings...what line would one be looking for? Love it....


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

Judy S said:


> So Dane....if one were looking for that specific line with those markings...what line would one be looking for? Love it....


I could be mistaken, but it appears that the retic in the photo is perched on a Ficus pumila leaf, which would suggest that it is in a captive setting. I am only aware of two 'lines' of Ranitomeya reticulata (formerly Dendrobates reticulatus) available in the US; the Understory Enterprises locale(s), and the older line frogs, which come up for sale from time to time. Homepage - Understory Enterprises is most likely to have the species available regularly, but I would suspect that the animal in question is of the old lineage.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Dane said:


> I could be mistaken, but it appears that the retic in the photo is perched on a Ficus pumila leaf, which would suggest that it is in a captive setting. I am only aware of two 'lines' of Ranitomeya reticulata (formerly Dendrobates reticulatus) available in the US; the Understory Enterprises locale(s), and the older line frogs, which come up for sale from time to time. Homepage - Understory Enterprises is most likely to have the species available regularly, but I would suspect that the animal in question is of the old lineage.



Even most of the "old line" frogs are from understory originally aren't they??? ...The only other line I can remember is the "fish bag" line that came from some frogs being shipped in with fish as like bonus or something, but my understanding was there are few of those still around, with most retics tracing back to UE.

Or did we get some european imports in way back in the day with a fair number coming from those? or did they (if they ever came from EU) die out mostly???

While the fish bags are/should be kept separate: as far as looks go there seems to be only the striped and non striped varieties in the hobby at least. If there are some that look different then what we have in the hobby or I missed them somewhere I'd love to see pics  

Here is a striped UE, that is actually more red in real life, but the female companion was in real life about the color this male in pic shows up on my monitor as (orange/reddish orange), while the male in the pic is more of a true red to my eyes in real life (redundant much? much redundant?) ...










I liked mine so much I have a group of standards coming too, and I'll probably add to my striped pair a frog or 2. Frankly from what the seller said and I've seen the female seems to be really finicky and only into springtails and maybe mites... There should be plenty in that tank with leaf litter, wood, and a deep substrate layer but last time I saw her she was lookin thin, and I haven't seen her in awhile, so that's not good  But the male is a fat ass at the moment, and I'm dead set on keeping striped retics from now on so I'll probably add or start a new group ASAP even after my normal retics arrive. (They will *NOT *be mixed with the striped ones of course)


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## cam1941 (Jan 16, 2014)

This is really interesting, why is it necessary to keep these separate? Aren't they the exact same frog? Is this out of an abundance of caution in case they are 2 different morphs technically?

Sorry for all the questions just found this interesting... My first thought was that if they are the same exact frog wouldn't this be a good opportunity to grow the gene pool?




Dendro Dave said:


> While the fish bags are/should be kept separate: as far as looks go there seems to be only the striped and non striped varieties in the hobby at least.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

cam1941 said:


> This is really interesting, why is it necessary to keep these separate? Aren't they the exact same frog? Is this out of an abundance of caution in case they are 2 different morphs technically?
> 
> Sorry for all the questions just found this interesting... My first thought was that if they are the same exact frog wouldn't this be a good opportunity to grow the gene pool?


The fish bag are probably the same frogs as the other standards in the hobby but with "fishy" origins where we don't have reliable info on the exact locale the hobby tends to error on the side of caution and keep em separated.

My understanding is the striped are a different locale from even the other understory enterprises frogs, and thus are bing or at least should be kept separate.

But it is also my understanding that many if not most baby retics morph with spots or stripes that tend to fade with age, and the striped for whatever reasons are a locale that the spots/stripes do not usually fade like in other retics.


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## cam1941 (Jan 16, 2014)

Interesting, that makes sense... Thanks for the answer, I've seen this come up before and never heard the reasoning.




Dendro Dave said:


> The fish bag are probably the same frogs as the other standards in the hobby but with "fishy" origins where we don't have reliable info on the exact locale the hobby tends to error on the side of caution and keep em separated.
> 
> My understanding is the striped are a different locale from even the other understory enterprises frogs, and thus are bing or at least should be kept separate.
> 
> But it is also my understanding that many if not most baby retics morph with spots or stripes that tend to fade with age, and the striped for whatever reasons are a locale that the spots/stripes do not usually fade like in other retics.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

cam1941 said:


> Interesting, that makes sense... Thanks for the answer, I've seen this come up before and never heard the reasoning.


Thanks, maybe some others will chime in with more or better info, but in the mean time here is a thread from Spaff where he talks about the fish bag line retics a few posts down (good thread, either way)...

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/96021-tiger-darts-frog-thread-4.html


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

DD--have to 'fess up...I ordered two of the "old line" from UE as well...what a beautiful frog...June shipment...may get one more--What size tank do you have the striped ones in...how many?


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## cam1941 (Jan 16, 2014)

Thanks I'll check it out... That may be where I heard this originally. 

Great thread regardless, love that Hyalinobatrachium valerioi set up.





Dendro Dave said:


> Thanks, maybe some others will chime in with more or better info, but in the mean time here is a thread from Spaff where he talks about the fish bag line retics a few posts down (good thread, either way)...
> 
> http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/96021-tiger-darts-frog-thread-4.html


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Judy S said:


> DD--have to 'fess up...I ordered two of the "old line" from UE as well...what a beautiful frog...June shipment...may get one more--What size tank do you have the striped ones in...how many?


Cool, I think you'll like them. Just try to make sure there is lot's of microfauna like springtails in the tank.

I have my 2 in a 20High petco $ a gallon tank. I still need to make a drop in background for the tank, but if I had that in there I think I'd be comfortable with 3-4 frogs, but I think some people have had problems with retics groups while others say it is fine.

I did my substrate layer pretty thick since I've heard these guys like to forage on the ground more then climb like other thumbnails, so I figured I could get away with less height and the extra thick substrate layer would allow the tank to support more microfauna.

I used coco chunks and cyprus mulch along with some ABG mix, and I think some planted tank substrate in the hopes that my mix would be airy enough and not compact to much so the microfauna would do better. There is also cork and drift wood pieces which tend to attract springtails along with leaf litter jammed in between the plant.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

DD---did you find the other post directed toward you???


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Judy S said:


> DD---did you find the other post directed toward you???


Umm I'm not sure... I'm guessing I didn't Can you point me to it???


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