# For those of you with LARGE Collections



## spydrmn12285 (Oct 24, 2006)

Hey all,

This is directed toward those with very large (+20 tanks) collections. I was wondering, with all the mouths to feed, maintenance, breeding, and being on DB :lol: , how do you find time to sit bank and just enjoy your animals do their thing. I understand those that may do this full time may have the time to just watch their frogs in their vivs, but I only have five frogs, and that keeps me more than occupied. I spend a couple hours each day looking into the vivs in addition to feedings, I just do see how someone with +100 frogs can devote much time to simply enjoying their animals rather than spending time doing maintenance and collection building.

Your thoughts?


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

I get time while taking breaks to watch them interact. I try to walk around every day and check everyone over w/ my first cup of coffee. They`re all usually out waiting for me to feed. mints and orange terribilis climbing up the sides to greet me. At nite I walk around w/ a flashlight checking all the brom leaves for froglets popping out. Then after feeding rounds I walk around again and see how everyone is behaving during meals. :lol: 
The time sitting and watching just turns into time walking around and watching. :lol:


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## SMenigoz (Feb 17, 2004)

I'd like to think that any time spent in my frog room is enjoyable. I work a full-time job and enjoy activities other than my collection. I like to go down first thing in the morning as the frogs are waking up; many are calling. I find the morning a good time to pull slugs still out on the front glass :wink: After work I spend a few hours doing tank maintenance, ff production and tadpole care... I view every tank I own (60) at this time. Weekends (when not out fishing) are no different; just more time for maintenance and care.
In seven years, I've yet to find these "chores" unpleasant... the number of tanks someone owns really isn't the issue. I think we've seen those entering our hobby who go "hog wild" purchasing frogs, tanks and materials, only to burn out and dump their collections. Practice restraint... do it for YOUR enjoyment instead of thinking of them as income generators.
Just my thoughts, and not directed at anyone,
Scott


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## rozdaboff (Feb 27, 2005)

It is sometimes tough - especially with a demanding schedule. I have a desk and office chair in my frog room where I can do some work on my laptop while listening to the frogs.

I have a schedule similar to what Kyle posted the other day - where I feed every other day. On the days in between - I like to just glance in each tank. I am most likely going to flip over to a reverse cycle to permit more time to watch the frogs - but currently - looking at the tanks after lights out is a great way to look for eggs, and especially Pum froglets.

Someday things will get less hectic :roll:


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## UmbraSprite (Mar 2, 2007)

Guess as far as addictions go...this beats the booger sugar!

:lol:


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## Nuggular (Apr 8, 2005)

It really doesnt effect to much of my time at all. I have about 25 tanks. I feed froglets and juvie frogs everyday, the adults get fed every other day. As well as the geckos, treefrogs and newts. So on frog feeding days, 15 min and I'm done feeding. On the big feeding days were everything eats, it takes me 30 min to feed. I look at my tanks whenever I feel like it. I have halted my buying of new frogs and animals now due to the fact that anymore and it will get a bit overwelming. Right now though, it's perfectly managable.


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## rmelancon (Apr 5, 2004)

Like sex, watching your frogs hop around for 30 minutes at a time is great at first but gets old after many years. After 15 years or so looking at the same frogs/woman, you go in, do your job, check things over and get out.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

rmelancon said:


> Like sex, watching your frogs hop around for 30 minutes at a time is great at first but gets old after many years. After 15 years or so looking at the same frogs/woman, you go in, do your job, check things over and get out.


You better hope your wife doesn't read this forum


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## EricM (Feb 15, 2004)

*buttloads of frogs*

I have days like Rob is alluding to, but those are fairly rare; most of the time I am under some time restraints to do what I need to do and get on with other obligations, like working to pay the bills.

I almost got out of frogs temporarily due to financial reasons, my fiancee was going to school full time for her RN and the greenbacks were very tight. I happened to meet another frogger (Jon Garrett) who was local and we became friends and now do the frogs together. This makes it 100% easier and there are now two differant avenues of observation, so it's proven to be advantageous when we visit the frogs at differant times and take note of behavior and activity.

We keep over a hundred tanks, feed 3 times a week, and water 2-3 times depending on needs and or time. Plus tadpole maintenence. There is always something to do and at times it can be overwhelming, but that mainly comes down to not having the time to do everything I'd like. 

An arduous day frogging is better than a good day at work, it's always calming to go hang out with the frogs and watch what's going on. I still hand mist just to "get into" each tank, which usually leads to finding more spiders, more importantly to view the frogs and notice if the water bowls are low, lids not on quite right, some frog is doing poorly, etc.

I"ve kept frogs since the 80s and until I can't physically take care of them I'll have frogs, and since Jon is younger than me I can go over to his place when I'm old and decrepid, fart on his couch and enjoy frogs there.

If frogging brings you joy it will never end.


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## bruce (Feb 23, 2007)

*Many tanks.............*

Having had animals all my life I found one CAN devote time for enjoyment outside of the daily "chores" by following some rules. Same size tanks and ready access to them helps.

I have rows of 15 gallon verts, 20 gallon longs and ten gallons and 2.5's in units, all open the same way and are setup pretty much the same. You would be surprised at how easy it is to standardize ones care of tanks when they are all set up similiar.

Currently about 100 tanks takes about one hour to feed and the rest of time to enjoy. All have drains too. Misting I do by hand now as I use this time to observe rhe frogs as they all seem to come out after a good spray. The only thing that will be changed is all the pumillo tanks will be on a misting system in the future.
Good luck
B.


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## rmelancon (Apr 5, 2004)

Lest anyone think I was serious, I was kidding on both fronts. I still enjoy watching the frogs, though I had more time with a smaller collection.


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## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

:wink: Robb's wife must have seen the post :wink: 

S


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## Tim (Apr 22, 2007)

I think Shawns right :lol:


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## *GREASER* (Apr 11, 2004)

sports_doc said:


> :wink: Robb's wife must have seen the post :wink:
> 
> S




Ha my girlfriend reads the forums now that im on now and every so often I get an earful from her.


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## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

*GREASER* said:


> Ha my girlfriend reads the forums now that im on now and every so often I get an earful from her.


Which one [GF] Greg? :wink: 

[hopefully she doesnt read that] :shock: 



So I guess the thread has faded.....but I will say I have 45+ vivs or so and I enjoy then a lot. I try and keep them clean and tidy, and spend at least an hour [usually 2] each weekday and a few more on WE's in the frog room. 

Truthfully I dont have as much time to 'watch' them now, that I have to feed, clean, make FF cx's, pull tads, ect ect on so many tanks...but I find some time to watch the favorites at least. Misting is a time for me to check them all out with the doors open.

Somedays it really is get in , get out...but I catch up the next day.

Go with "Keep what you like" and it doesnt matter if your collection outgrows what 'normal' people think is crazy...

I know a big time frogger who downsized just so that he could appreciate what he has more...that works as well.

Best,

S


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## rmelancon (Apr 5, 2004)

sports_doc said:


> :wink: Robb's wife must have seen the post :wink:
> 
> S


Nah, I just worry that people sometimes don't get "dry" humor so I figured I'd make sure.

I've been trying to downsize for years but it always seems to go back up.


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

I`m moving toward a sizable but maintainable collection. Frogs like pumilio, thumbs and phyllos are much less maintainance. Phyllos eat large food that you can buy weekly and their offspring are off ff`s in the first 2 weeks and thumbs and pumilio will care for their own tads and don`t eat very much. tincs, auratus and galacts,etc. are much harder to maintain and breed. large #`s of offspring that take small food and lots of it. tad changes and feedings from a few pair which eat fish food can get overwhelming quick. Small frogs in large tanks w/ sufficient microfauna almost produce frogs w/out any work, feeding 1-2x a week and just pulling out juvis for sale.
I`m going to keep a couple pair of large frogs. Regina since they`ve proven to be a bit difficult to breed, red galacts the same, azureus of course, leucs, possibly a pair of auratus, maybe some brazilian tincs. 
The ease of maintainance of pumilio and phyllos afford me a small collection of big frogs.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

I've definately learned something with my growing collection and research on food... I originally started to rebuild my collection with animals I truely have loved from day one... the tricolor/anthonyi, and fellow epipedobates. I got into allobates because they had similar food preferences as the epis. And then I got some bicolor (not totally on purpose) and realized that they acted as an intermediate garbage disposal between my TFs (only leucophyllata at the time) and my epi/allos. My dendrobates were always oddballs that I had issues feeding. So, oddly enough, my collection partially developed around the foods I culture.

Basically - before you get a huge collection covering a wide variety of species... you might want to think about foods. I still culture FFs, but they are becoming the minority as I explore other options such as houseflies, roaches, and various beetles. Not typical _Dendrobates_ fair for sure, but I keep FFs around for the babies and the truncatus and such


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

I help those with large collections by visiting them and enjoying their frogs for them  .


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