# What got you into Poison Dart Frogs?



## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

I know many of you have been into this hobby a long time but I'm just getting into it. Anyone want to share how they started into all of this?

I'll start. I saw PDFs at a local reptile expo ... and I was instantly into it!


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Been into herps and inverts my whole life. Saw the pics of rich fryes standard lamasi on the wab one day, and had to have them. Also, I love orchids, and was already setting up naturalistic orchidariums, so frogs were a natural addition.


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## AlexRible (Oct 16, 2007)

Good idea for a thread!

I went to the national aquarium in baltimore when I was a little kid and I have wanted them ever since.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Seeing darts at a Hamburg show and finding out not only were they easy to keep, but that culturing FF was easy as well.

and that meant NO MORE CRIX 

and then the geckos got traded for frogs......for now.


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## Lilypad87 (Feb 21, 2007)

ive kept reptiles and amphibians since i was a kid, then i got into saltwater tanks; somewhere along the line i looked at a fellow reefers page and saw his leucs and got hooked immediately


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## bobberly1 (Jul 16, 2008)

I was reading Tropical Fish Hobbyist because I was obsessed with fish (and I still am) and I saw a Black Jungle ad. I was very interested, but couldn't buy any animals because I was leaving for an extended vacation and needed to downsize what I already had. As I studied more I became more interested in caudates and reptiles, but soon went back to my roots and got dart frogs.


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## afterdark (Jan 16, 2007)

It was two years ago and I was unemployed and miserable. My girlfriend, who was pretty much at the end of her rope said "For the love of God - get a hobby!" So I sat down and started thinking about it and happened to find some pics of the terrariums my parents kept when I was a kid. I always loved the thought of mini-ecosystems in my living space, so I started working on a tank.

Searching for help with construction, I found this forum and the rest is history. Now when the wife complains and flies or cultures or etc, I just say "Hey - it was your idea for me to get a hobby!"

Great thread!


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## Toby_H (Apr 6, 2009)

I've kept "exotic" pets my whole life... in the last 5~7 years have fallen off the deep end with fish keeping...

My girlfriend has some weird obsession with frogs in general... so because I thought it would make her smile huge smiles I suggested we get Poison Dart Frogs...

We are still at the planning/building stages and I've already racked up several dozen big cheesey smiles over it. I think it's going to be well worth the investment


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## moothefrog (May 16, 2008)

I was searching on google and came across a dart frog and I decided I had to have one.


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## kamazza (Sep 2, 2008)

Went to the Ripley's Aquarium in Tennesse in summer of 2007, saw the frogs and fell in love. Had some by September 2007 Tampa Reptile show.


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## edwing206 (Apr 9, 2008)

Someone gave my brother some leopard geckos and I signed up on a gecko forum, while I was looking for info I came across the frog section, I saw some pictures and fell in love. lol


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## verbal (Sep 8, 2004)

We'd been to NAIB many times, but then we saw Black Jungles tables in White Plains and began to construct vivs. Frogs came about six months later, after a lot of reading and research.

Ryan


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## ravengritz (Mar 2, 2009)

I was missing my cuban tree frog (died about 5 years before) and checking out frogs at a local exotic animal expo. I got to talking with a couple of dart breeders about what I was looking for as well as husbandry (they were very careful to make sure I had everything in place and could devote the time and energy needed) and it seemed to both of us that a pair of lamasi would be a good fit. I'm a bit of an orchid nut and was able to fill out a tank I had with my current plants in a matter of hours. The next year I added a pair of vents to my collection and now I'm looking into a third set-up (maybe auratus).


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## bruce (Feb 23, 2007)

I was fortunate to run into some of the original importers of dart frogs twenty some years ago over seas that got me hooked on using their tree fern panels, that with moisture became instant jungles with mosses and ferns, frogs were soon to follow.

This with a potential downsizing and subsequent move from a house with a greenhouse to a smaller greenhouse lacking house and not wanting to give up ferns, orchids and bromeliads further sparked a vivarium interest.


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## laylow (Apr 6, 2009)

I've always been interested since elementry; reading books and magazines about frogs and snakes. I raised snakes until my fiance said them or me. Well we went last summer to Chicago to the Shedd aquarium and spent an hour laughing and watching "the cute little froggies." So the summer until now has been spent reading, studing and locating breeders close to where I live. Now i pick up my cobalt tincs and viv monday!!


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## Dragonfly (Dec 5, 2007)

Once I found out that they were able to be kept in captivity, I dreamed and dreamed of having at least one. I think that was about 4.5 years ago. I kept looking at them on the internet and reading what I could about them. Oct 07, my sweetheart told me that we were going to the Exotic animal show on Sunday - I was working on Saturday and would get me some dart frogs. I was so excited and came home with 2 amazing tincs and now have 2 amazing azuerus and someday, please the gods a real frog room. I am hoping to have some more tincs this year and keep watching my pair as they are now working on breeding. And maybe a few others next month, but that depends on too many factors ( of the economic variety). I will not have more frogs that I can care for properly, I will not have more frogs than I can care for properly


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

WELL SAID DRAGONFLY
I almost forgot... when I volunteered at the woodland park zoo, I used to care for their darts in the tropical rainforest hous, that was a big inspiration too


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## GBIII (Mar 20, 2008)

I was into reef aquariums quite heavily but was tiring of the daily grind of maintaining 5 seperate reef tanks. I also work in that part of the pet industry which made it worse.

A quick family trip the National Aquarium in Baltimore (looks like NAIB is responsible for a few converts) and a comment from my wife about how "cute" the frogs were got the ball rolling. I finally found a hobby that my wife has interest in......

After a month of reading every thread on this site and building a viv, the cobalts arrived....now a year later the ball is going 100mph and out of control. Seven types of darts in house with an eighth on the way... The basement is being converted as I type. I've never been one for moderation...lol

George


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## adnama36 (Mar 8, 2007)

A few years back, I was keeping Red Eye Tree Frogs, and I went online one day searching for supplies for them. I came across Black Jungle's website sort of by accident, and had this epiphany...."Oh my God, people keep PDFs!!" I had no idea that people were keeping them as pets. I instantly wanted some, so I started hunting the web for more info, which led me to DB. While doing research here, I came across one of Oz's posts, and realized that he lives in the same town as I do! A couple of months later, I was picking up my first azureus froglets from him...and the rest is history!


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## salix (Mar 28, 2008)

I had always thought pdf's were gorgeous, but couldn't imagine keeping a poisonous pet in my home. One day I had decided I wanted to add a new pet to my household and started doing some research on the two things I knew I had an interest. First I read about sugar gliders and decided against them. The big problems, a LOT of work, a HUGE investment in time for bonding, nocturnal and the extra problem with being illegal in CA. The second pet was chameleons, I also decided they were more work than I had realized.

But then I was following the natural progession with surfing from one link to the next on the internet. I then read (I forget the website) that pdf's are NOT poisonous in captivity. A couple of months later I had six juvenile azureus.

The rest (and many vivs later) is history! 

Deb


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## jpstod (Sep 8, 2005)

The love of animals

I was raised around animals and have visited zoos as a kid and still do as an adult. 

I am working on starting a Zoological Society here in Wichita Falls so that disadvantaged children can visit a local place and see the animals. We have a local Nature Center but they only want to do Native Species, so unless someone can travel 150+ miles they will never see some of the Frogs and Geckos we can keep now. The School is reluctant to have a field trip to a Personal Home and the school won't have a field trip that far away. I am working with a local school to make a display for their school.


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## Jerseyzuks (Dec 6, 2008)

I am dating a girl who has a 10 year old son. 

When we first started dating, I suggested that the 3 of us go to the aquarium (one of my favorite day trips). 

She immediately shot down that idea, and went on to explain that her son is DEATHLY afraid of poison dart frogs, and he refused to go to the aquarium with his school because he was afraid that one would get out and kill him.

Well, I sat down and had a discussion with her son about the difference between "poisonous" and "venomous", told him that the frogs lose their toxicity in captivity, and found a few articles online for him to read.

Slowly, his fear gave way to curiousity, and curiousity became an obsession. When he was completely over his fear we purchased set up 2 vivariums and purchased 4 frogs.


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## frogmasterbonk (Mar 5, 2009)

I love animals since I was a little boy
I am really into snakes and lizards so one day I saw a friend of mines at our reptile show buying some frogs. I was like "Dude why are you buying frogs?" He said because they are cool and they can breed just about every week. I was all ready thinking about getting into something new. So I ended up talking to the frog breeder at our reptile show about the frogs. I was shock about how easy they can be to take care of and you can culture the flies. Then he told me how much cheaper it is to get into this hobby compare to ball pythons. So then I told him I will try this hobby out and I got my first frogs the Man Creeks  and every thing needed to keep them happy. So every since then I been hook and having fun taking care of them. 

Now I got the frog bug I can't stop buying frogs


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## macspoison (Oct 19, 2008)

I had been keeping tree frogs and going to the monthly swap in central Ohio to trade and buy, for around 2 years. I ran into a guy from Chicago, Bryant Capyz (sp?!) that I traded around 40 indo white froglets from my first batch for 20 wc leuco's. I was a goofball but addicted. That was 1991 I believe. I started doing the shows and that was that..
Mac


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## divingne1 (Mar 21, 2008)

I have been into frogs of any kind for as long as I can remember. I have always thought they were cute little animals. I saw my first DPF's in real life at a local fish store and commented on how awesome they were and how cool it would be to have some of my own. I began researching them and their requirements and thought it sounded easier than the fish I have so I began my first viv.


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

not to suck up but...Dendroboard. Spent a few months watching a pair of mantellas at a local Petco (everytime I came in for cat and fish food) and finally the manager just gave me the setup and frogs for a nominal price since they couldn't move them. Ended up spending the whole weekend immersing myself in viv construction, feeders, genus/species caresheets, etc...and the rest, they say, is history..


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## ESweet (Apr 13, 2009)

I was born with an interest in amphibians/reptiles - my parents encouraged me and would let me keep all the cool animals I caught, from frogs and salamanders to snakes and crayfish. When I was twelve, my best friend bought me a White's tree frog and my dad bought me another one a few months later. A few years down the road, they had both died and I 'grew up' [yeah right] and the childhood ideas of keeping cool animals faded.

Then I got married and spent a month hiking Costa Rica for my honeymoon - My childhood dreams were fulfilled as I saw, chased after and 'caught' beautiful frogs like the Auratus, Pumilio, vittatus, lugubris and Granuliferus. When I got back to the states I realized that people actually kept these amazing creatures. Thousands of dollars and no regrets later, here I am.
[ sorry for the novel =P ]


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## AFHokie03 (Mar 9, 2007)

You might say I'm not officially into the hobby yet since I don't own frogs but I first joined dendroboard 2 years ago when I was going to start. This happened, then that happened and my half built 10gal viv went into the crawl space. After deciding to take down my reef tank I thought a PDF viv would be a perfect replacement with much less maintenance and headaches. I can't remember what exactly caused me to look into PDFs in the first place but I can say for sure that in the serious hobby sense Dendroboard gave me all the impetus to actaully pursue keeping them.


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## RecycledAgain (Oct 26, 2008)

I would have to say I got into PDF because of my son (7 at the time) and a fisher price bug habitat. The number of bugs, anoles and tree frogs that spent time in that thing ...lol

I not sure exactly when I was convinced that for good or bad my son was serious that the two little green tree frogs were to be actual pets. He proudly showed the frogs in the bug habitat, hand fulls of grass ripped out of the yard, with two little gray /brown frogs in this silly plastic encloser.

We did the obvious and looked up what they eat , where they live, and how to take care of them. The first time I saw a real Vivarium with darts ..I did what any dad would do... We started building...My wife never saw it coming..

Dan


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## jelly_shrimp (Apr 17, 2009)

My storys' pretty simple actually, I saw a HUGE exo-terra tank at Pet-Smart when we went to get some replacement bulbs for my fish-tank and I remembered how fun it was to take care of my "would-be brother's" leopard geckos and boas, and I thought wow! that's really cheap! I did some research, and was baffeled by the extravagent colorations of PFDs and from there on out I have been determined to go tooth-and-nail to get them...unfortunately I was quickly pinned between paint and a corner when I relized I only get $40 a month (still better than trying to get $4000+ for a saltwater tank) so now it's meerly a waiting game...*sigh*


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## D's Darts (Apr 8, 2009)

I saw some pdf's at a pet shop that i always go to and started to do some research on them. My fiance and I were both curious about raising and breeding frogs so we did our research, got a tank set up, then went to a reptile show and found our first frogs, two d. auratus' (one green one blue). From there we continued our research and found more breeds that we liked and wanted to add to our collection. Next thing we knew, we had 3 tanks, 7 frogs, and we are still wanting more!

0.0.3 d. auratus
0.0.2 tinctorius
0.0.2 bird dropping tree frog (my fiance's choice)
**working on getting 2 azureus**


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## DCreptiles (Jan 26, 2009)

well i been into reptiles about 10 yrs befor posion dart frogs caught my eye. i think it was a combination of seeing them all the time and then seeing the beautiful pre made set ups and then finding out that everything in the vivs were real, i was very attracted to the color and activity of the frogs also. then moving from a large house to a smaller apartment to be on my own my space became limited and that was it PDF's it was lol. i know you guys use large tanks for these vivs but honestly even 55 gal tanks are small when dealing with large monitor lizards, once buying my first frogs and building the set up i knew i wasnt gonna be as upset as i thought about not being able to keep large animals for a while..


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

I've kept some sort of reptile or amphibian since I was 5 or 6 years old. We moved to Kansas when I was 6 and when I saw my first Horned Lizard and Collard Lizard I was hooked. Dart frogs came soon after I saw the May 1995 issue of National Geographic that had the article about Dart Frogs. It had a large tank that a guy had in the Netherlands. I had a tank made soon after 18" deep x 48" wide by 36" high and have kept frogs ever since.


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## Estrato (Jan 6, 2009)

I had always loved darts, I even had a plastic azeurus on my dresser for years, but had no idea people were keeping them as pets. One day I was on a tarantula forum (I have three dwarfs) and saw a thread about using sphagnum as a substrate. Somebody in the thread mentioned he used sphagnum in his dart frog tanks and provided a link to black jungle. I went there, saw that it was actually an affordable hobby, came to dendroboard, and after few months and a ton of reading I got my imitators. A month and a half after that I got my pumilios, and I know theres only more to come...


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## Fishman (Jan 16, 2007)

I got these little plastic tinc PDF's in my stocking one year as a kid. I remember thinking they must be fake, how can a frog look that cool. Then I grew up and went to college in a little town called Chico in CA. I was crazy into fish (still am) and found this local fish store "Reef Conections". The owner (Pugman? on DB) had one of the biggest and coolest vivs I had ever seen (build journal on here somwhere, 440 gallon build maybe?) with some tincs and a couple of retics in it. I fell in love and started building... You know how it goes after that, to many tanks taking up to much space, and looking for more!


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## Geckoguy (Dec 10, 2008)

Always loved reptiles and amphibians and have cared for many different species including alot of fish too. When I started working for the NPS we had a native species pauldrarium set up in our one visitor center. I started helping out geting plants and ficro fauna for it and that really sparked my interest in creating living environments. I got my leo. because I have always loved geckos but I wanted something tropical so I could hasve a bunch of cool plants. One day I was just like humm I wonder if I can get my hands on a PDF; googled it and found my way here... you know what happens from there!


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## M_Rybecky (Mar 16, 2009)

When i was like 8 or 9 my friends would breed them along with bearded dragons and i always used to sit infront of the tank and watched them.
10 years later I met this guy who owned an exotic pet store. Soon after he told me he was closing the store so I took a look around. There were 2 little tanks in the corner, one with 2 blue frogs and the other 2 orange and black frogs. I bought the blue ones (Azureus), I named them Hip and Hop. He gave me a FF cluture and supplments and when the little penny sized frogs grew and got to big for their tank i built a bigger one and i when to my friends house to ask her dad for advice and he gave me 2 more Azureus and 3 leucs. Built my first tank over a year ago... and i just keep ordering plants!


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## frogmanroth (May 23, 2006)

I saw the same nat geo as TDK, and in 2005 i went to NAIB and saw them there bought books off amazon and found dendroboard in 06, rest is history!


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## Elf_Ascetic (Jan 31, 2009)

Well, in short: I've always been an animalperson (now finishing my biology study (animal ecology)), and have kept a tropical aquarium and phasmids when I was young. My parents did have/still have turtles. In a zoo in Sweden (I believe it was 1/3 Technical Park, 1/3 Aquarium, 1/3 Tropical Bush) I saw some mating PDF's sitting in the rock wall, next to the path in the bush.  A dozen years later, I found myself with a girlfriend (biologist also) planning to move in together, and thus having room for some kind of animals. Because we thought that PDF were too difficult to start with, we looked into Chameleons. We've always kept dreaming about a sight like this. By searching marktplaats.nl (a dutch ebaylike, free "fleemarket" site) for some stuff, we found someone who offered a viv with 3 Hyloxalus Azureiventris frogs included. We coudn't resist the temptation of the little frogs, and there we were, owning PDF's.

We found an accidently red Ventrimaculatus (single male) in the tank also, who we've gotten him a girlfriend or two. Today, we have one thriving viv. We have almost 20 Ventritadpoles swimming in cups, now.  Our second viv is in the testing/growing period, and will be occupied by a couple Azureus and some Vanzolinii's (on of the many benefits living in the Netherlands.... ).


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## Marinarawr (Jan 14, 2009)

I see a lot of people mentioning not only fish-keeping but Black Jungle.... it seems that there's a trend! 

I too was a fish-keeper and I got out of it after a move. I then started keeping Rhacodactylus geckos until I went to college and had to sell of my collection (looking back I should have never started in the first place knowing I'd be off to school in a couple of years.... oh well). After I returned home, moved a couple of times, lost the job I'd been dedicating most of my time to, and had spent a few years without pets, I was going bonkers trying to keep myself entertained. I thought of how much I'd loved my aquariums and decided to make a beautiful blackwater biotope tank (with the roots and plants tangled in the tannin-stained water.... I still love those ). As I researched I came across such beautiful paludariums that I decided I needed one of those. More time was spent daydreaming about my future planted, blackwater paludarium. One day I was putting together a list of plants to add to my paludarium when I came across Black Jungle's website. I read the "Top 20 Reasons Why Dart Frogs Make the Perfect Pet for the Vivarium" page and thought that it sounded too good to be true! Then I looked at the mind-blowing vivariums on the page and started web searching for every piece of vivarium info I could find. I'd always loved plants but I had limited success with keeping potted houseplants thriving... Everything in the vivariums I saw was so lush, green, and stunning, and dart frogs were the perfect little jewels to compliment such a gorgeous planted display..... I was sold .


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## alluringeli (Apr 20, 2009)

My first animal was a gold fish lol. Then a bird that lived a long life. I just got into reptiles a few yrs back. I have a turtle his names jaws then this past yr i got a leopard gecko (halo) then came (angle) then (amber) (fox) and (star). lol. I got into frogs cause i found them to be cute and I love the colors. I love to watch them and hear them. I like all the set ups especially love being able to add my plants. they are just amazing. I love these little guys wish i had a larger area for them. I need a house l0l....


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

Found a tank of CB D.Imis in a local exotic pet store, and I kept coming back to look at them. Finally, I succumbed to their allure and bought three juvis, then sold them and got a different bloodline, and now they're happy and breeding in their penthouse tank.


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## lamaster (Mar 22, 2008)

I was trying to buy fish on a website and eventually bought some leucs instead on the same website.


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## taggdog (Nov 27, 2008)

I had kept a lot of exotic animals as a kid and wanted to get back into keeping them again. So about two years ago I started looking online for something to keep. I came across an article bashing people who keep exotic animals and one of the things they were most disgusted was that people even keep poison dart frogs. I was instantly intrigued and started researching them. About six months later I got some Leucs and have been addicted ever since. 
I actually sent an e-mail to lady who wrote that article and thanked her for getting me into pdf's. Her reply was less than friendly to say the least.


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## frogger44 (Jun 8, 2005)

Well growing up I was involved in 4H for a number of years. We always had rabbits, hamsters, hedgehogs, doormice, rats & mice. I remember being at a horse and pet expo in PA and there was a vendor selling mantellas. I ended up buying 3 of them that day, an orange, a painted and green one. I had them for a year or so and for my 15th birthday begged my mom for a blue poison dart frog. I sent up a 20 gallon long tank and a few weeks after my birthday I got him. I did a bunch of research and learned as much as I could about them on the internet. I then found out there was going to be a herpetology show in PA so I decided to go and see if I could find more of them. I went with my dad and ended up coming back with 2 more azureus. That was back in 2000, 9 years ago and I've still got them, along with 6 additional frogs.


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## 64physhy (Jul 2, 2009)

When I was a kid, I would catch frogs and lizards and keep them for a few days before releasing them. In about 1991, I got my first snake, a Burmese Python. Kept several large Pyhons for about 8 years, then started getting into Mantellas and PDF's. I really enjoy PDF's and the Vivaria they are kept in. Far more aesthetically pleasing than a huge cage with indoor/outdoor carpeting or newspaper on the bottom.


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## t-o-l-o (Oct 21, 2008)

I bought a venus fly trap one day. I knew it needed high humidy so my dad bought me a 5 gallon tank. The fly trap seemed pretty lonely in the tank, and I wanted some other carnivorous terrarium plants. I stumbled upon the Black Jungle site and saw the amazing poison dart frogs! 

Needless to say, I was hooked, I couple of weeks later I had a 20 gallon tank with lots of plants and two tincs! But no room for the original fly trap that started it all....


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

t-o-l-o said:


> I bought a venus fly trap one day. I knew it needed high humidy so my dad bought me a 5 gallon tank. The fly trap seemed pretty lonely in the tank, and I wanted some other carnivorous terrarium plants. I stumbled upon the Black Jungle site and saw the amazing poison dart frogs!
> 
> Needless to say, I was hooked, I couple of weeks later I had a 20 gallon tank with lots of plants and two tincs! But no room for the original fly trap that started it all....



LoL, that's a cool story.


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## d.crockett (May 27, 2009)

My very first pets were a pair of box turtles my father had a long haul trucker friend of his pick up in Mississippi. After that I have had some form of reptile for the last 20 years. Dart frogs came along about 5 years ago when I got married and I needed something “pretty” so my wife would let me keep it in our tiny apartment. My idea of “pretty” was my group of Viper Boas, her idea was the total opposite. Anyhow one thing led to another and who knew darts were so addictive?


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## rollei (Jun 4, 2009)

I was running on a trail one day, and I came across a puddle with tons of tadpoles in them. I raised the tads into frogs and IDed them as Pacific Tree Frogs. They're gray and brown and well the colors are boring. As I was searching around the internet for info on frogs, I came upon various websites that had dart frogs on them. I knew these guys would be totally awesome, and although I don't have any yet, I'm going to pick some up this week.


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