# Poison dart frog owner behaviors



## Guest (Aug 29, 2004)

I'd like to know what dictates feeding and misting regimens among dart frog owners. How often does the dart keeper interact with his frogs if at all? Is social concerns given priority or are there some who go against the grain so to speak. Where does the dart keeper draw the line as regards time spent meditating and searching for clues and answers to the jewels he has been entrusted? If you can give me a glimpse into your world I would most appreciate it!


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## Guest (Aug 30, 2004)

I ussually mist once or twice daily. and feed once a day. I try o put enogh to where the darts will have to look for there food.


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## rompida (Mar 15, 2004)

There is no line in the sand for some of us....

I can spend hours feeding, watching, and misting the frogs. Do I give social concerns priority over my frogs? - hell no. Sometimes I appear to be aloof to relatives because during their visists I am prone to slipping away for a few minutes to check on the frogs. I have my first child due in 2 months, and worry that I won't be able to spend as much time in the frog room. But hey, this practice has given me alot of insights and benefits. 
But, to jump on the soapbox for a sec, I think more beginning hobbyists need to spend more time just enjoying the frogs they have rather than trying to get the latest fad, whether it be eggfeeders or whatever. I witness a good deal of butt-kissing in this hobby in the hopes that the person will hook you up with "X" frog. When often, the person wanting the frog just isn't ready for it. These people need to just explore the frogs they have. I wonder how many of you have watched the toe tapping with fascination and guessed as to its cause or purpose? Ever been present to watch an entire courtship ending with egglaying, and been in front of the tank to see it all? Ever watch an auratus or tinc pick up tads and deposit them in a water area? Many of our CB frogs will do this, we just don't give them the chance to act out these behaviors. Your missing out....


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## Guest (Aug 31, 2004)

Fascinating! I love the response, do you feel the hobby has accelerated your ability to grasp and learn more? I believe that the more a person immerses him or herself into a peticular field of interest it has a trickle down effect into other aspects of life. How has the highly challenging field of dart frog husbandry affected your life in its many diverse settings? I cant wait to hear more!


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## andersonii85 (Feb 8, 2004)

jabba said:


> Fascinating! I love the response, do you feel the hobby has accelerated your ability to grasp and learn more? I believe that the more a person immerses him or herself into a peticular field of interest it has a trickle down effect into other aspects of life. How has the highly challenging field of dart frog husbandry affected your life in its many diverse settings? I cant wait to hear more!



I tend to look at potato flakes differently, disinfect everything with bleach solutions, and care less if there are flies in my food...lol.

Justin


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

rompida said:


> But, to jump on the soapbox for a sec, I think more beginning hobbyists need to spend more time just enjoying the frogs they have rather than trying to get the latest fad, whether it be eggfeeders or whatever. I witness a good deal of butt-kissing in this hobby in the hopes that the person will hook you up with "X" frog. When often, the person wanting the frog just isn't ready for it. These people need to just explore the frogs they have.


I highly agree, i stick with the frogs i have, and enjoy them, it seems people get there thumbs the first 3 months after having their tincs. Its strange, people act like they are baseball cards rather then animals. I love watching my frogs, could spend all day doing it, just great to watch. kinda spoils the hobby how people act sometimes.


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## Guest (Sep 1, 2004)

I came into the herp hobby kind of late, First was fascinated by snakes, colubrids mostly and soon acquired just too many to properly care for. The problem with snakes are they don't do much of anything. I gave away a lot of my snakes and traded some for some red-eyed tree frogs. Now I could build a natural vivarium and the tenant wouldn't trash it in 5 minutes like the snakes would. My first darts were 2 G&B Auratus I purchased at a show. Kept them in a 55 gal well planted terrarium with pretty good success for a while, then they found an escape route, and, of course were only found after it was too late. I took a break from darts for a while. Now that I have settled down in a new location I have started dart frogs again. I still have the first red eye, a rosy boa, and my dart frogs. My G/F has her leopard geckos and has recently gotten into crested geckos. I just have to remember to keep myself in check and not get more frogs than I can care for. snakes=boring / dart frogs=fascinating. :lol:


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## Guest (Sep 1, 2004)

I have had dartfrogs since June 2002 and got Costa Ricans then and in October that same year got imitators.Yeah, it was quite a leap for a newbie but thank God it worked out and I was raisng tads from both species that winter.My collection has basically grown by trading.So far by trading I have added bicolors, vittatus, brown and white auratus,vents(as tads that are just starting to morph) and some intermedias (soon).I did buy some castaneoticus and some green pums this year and am going to concentrate getting them paired up and breeding before I go further in the hobby.I really like the idea of learning as you proceed so past experiances can help new problems down the road.
Mark W.


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## JWerner (Feb 17, 2004)

Owner habits...haha I run a reverse light cycle with the lights coming on around 6:30 pm. I'm in the frogroom at 8:30 watering and feeding, tads etc. 'til around 10:00. some times it's later, other night I'll get out a little earlier. I, like other, will randomly go in to the frog room at all odd hours of the night - listening for calls and watching behaviors that I might not have previously noticed. After time, this will add up and you will gain much understanding. There is also a certain 'peacefulness' about it that is theraputic...


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## Kase (Feb 15, 2004)

*Rompida*

In reply to Rompida's post, I would like to share something that I witnessed about a month ago with my male Hawaiian Auratus. My pair had laid a small clutch on a bromeliad leaf, and both them and myself needed a little break, so I decided to leave them in there. Well, hatching time came rolling around and my male had the tad on his back. I placed a small ziploc cup in the cage with a shallow layer of water, and sat back and watched. The male climbed in, sat in the water, and then went prone, emersing his whole body underwater. His hind leg then reared back and started nudging the tadpole until it eventually let go. He checked his back with his leg a couple more times, and hopped on out. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.


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## rompida (Mar 15, 2004)

[/quote] I highly agree, i stick with the frogs i have, and enjoy them, it seems people get there thumbs the first 3 months after having their tincs. Its strange, people act like they are baseball cards rather then animals. I love watching my frogs, could spend all day doing it, just great to watch. kinda spoils the hobby how people act sometimes.[/quote]


Some people do treat it like baseball cards. In fact, if I wanted to p.o. a few people, I might mention my thoughts on listing your collection and/or pictures at the end of each message. Is that really necessary? Who are you trying to impress? I refuse to participate in that materialism, you might as well list what type of car you have too. Sorry if I stepped on toes, but that's been on my mind for awhile now. I think people should just enjoy their frogs, and enjoy talking about them.

As for your thoughts, Jabba...
I'm not sure if my other hobbies and interests are better because of dart frogs, or if I gravitated towards dart frogs because I enjoy that zen like practice of doing things with all one's intent. I've always been interested in frogs though. Did my 5th grade Science fair project on frogs and won. And now, 20-something years later I still am fascinated by them. I do put my all into my other hobbies as well. I think that my hobbies lead me towards absorbing whatever related information I come across. I'm a life-long learner. 

- rompida

1.1 humans
0.1 canines
1.1 parrots
and a whole lot of frogs I won't list. :wink:


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## steelcube (Mar 17, 2004)

Hmm, in response to your reply.. I am going to start listing my frog collection at the end of my msgs.... 

:lol: just kidding...

People like to brag about things they have that other might not have. Its natural... it's pretty much everywhere... I don't do that with frogs at least but I won't blame others who participate.

About the butt kissing thing... reminds me of a thread on frognet... someone said that people should buy rare frogs from experienced breeders only, get to know them etc etc.. One views it as simply making friends with people who have more experience... 



SB_

edited for grammar... maybe need more..._


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## Guest (Sep 3, 2004)

I list my frog collection b/c it gets me lots of sex, duh.
lol, um we are talking about frogs.... here right? are we supposed to be impressed with the size of someone's collection? Is this part of the mate selection process?


> Who are you trying to impress?


Who's trying to be impressed? 
Honestly I always figured the listing of what you had, has more to do with sharing, and so that you don't have constantly ask eachother "Oh so what frogs do you have? oh really... thats nice" I mean anyone with an "impressive" collection doesn't list it (it'd make their posts look silly). 

/feeling the need to argue everything with election season coming on

be impressed with my collection....


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

I like when people list their collection, i can see if they have a frog that i need help with. IE when i first got my mantella, this way i could see who all had experience with them.


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## Bry (Feb 18, 2004)

Ryan said:


> I like when people list their collection, i can see if they have a frog that i need help with. IE when i first got my mantella, this way i could see who all had experience with them.


Yeah, just be cautious though. Just because someone has had experience with any given species doesn't mean they actually know what they are doing with them. Make sense?

Bry


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Yes, but i'd rather take tips from someone who is keeping them then someone who isnt. Or maybe just wanted to know their behavior or how outgoing they are.


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## rompida (Mar 15, 2004)

Just because someone doesn't have a particular species of frog, like mantellas, doesn't mean they don't know a great deal about them. I haven't kept mantellas in 8 years, but I know plenty about them. Also, one of the most knowledgeable people I know of on mantellas doesn't keep them these days either. He just does darts now. 

Besides, I see people on this list that are in quite a rush to add their latest frog purchase to their email signature. Its a status symbol.


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## rmelancon (Apr 5, 2004)

I've been keeping dart frogs for quite some time now and when your collection gets large enough it starts affecting your decisions in life. For example, I moved from Louisiana to North Carolina in 2000 and made several big "life" decisions based on the fact that I have a large collection of frogs to deal with. Had I not had the frogs I would have first moved into an apartment so that I could get an idea of areas/neighborhoods where I would want to live, get a feel for traffic, etc. before buying a house. Thinking of the well being of the collection made me immediately buy a house. Whenever I have to travel be it for business or pleasure, the first thing I have to think about is how am I going to prepare the collection for my absence. In the last 10+ years I have never been away from home for more than 5 consecutive days. That is largely due to the frogs. My frogs are now more than just a hobby, they have become a responsibility that will forever affect the decisions in life that I make.

On listing animals in your signature: I think we all want to brag a little bit about our accomplishments with dart frogs. There is a part of everyone that wants to "show off" and have the frog(s) that no one else has. I am certainly a little guilty of this, just look at my avatar. (by the way, that frog is no longer in my collection) As with most things its all about balance. I think it's ok to brag a little bit because it can give you motivation to continue to excel. It can keep the hobby fresh and keep it interesting. You can take it too far though, and I think some people like simply having the longest list with the "rarest" frogs. If I listed all the frogs in my collection (and the same holds true for a lot of people I know on this list) it would just be silly. I think a lot of people get too many frogs too quickly and it can spoil the hobby for you pretty quickly. I have seen this happen first hand several times. In the worst case someone whose name I won't mention, got probably 100+ frogs in his first year of keeping darts. He became so overwhelmed that he simply let his collection go. And when I say he let it go, just imagine a dried up tank with 8 histrionicus mummies. Hope to never see that again.


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## Guest (Sep 6, 2004)

Very good reply Robb. I have talked to several people that have been in this hobby for a long time and have heard the same thing about people "burning out" on the hobby. Very sad thing indeed, especially with them just letting their frogs die and not trying to find good homes for them.
Mark


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## Guest (Sep 6, 2004)

WOW, absolutely fascinating. Does each one view the possibility of darts at entry level as a prestige or as an oppurtunity? What has affected ones decision initially? It is essiential to the group as a whole to give considerations to the very beginning we each had. What was YOUR motivation and why do you so answer, please respond. THANK YOU!


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