# Cost of pairs VS froglets...



## TyGuy (Jul 23, 2012)

Can someone explain why I can buy 6 froglets for $120, but only 2 frogs (1 pair) for nothing less than $200? Before i'm nailed to the wall over asking this question with people thinking i'm just wanting to breed for money - i'm going to clarify the fact that I am NEW to the hobby and just interested in gaining a greater understanding of how and why things work out the way they do. Thanks!


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## JJuchems (Feb 16, 2004)

TyGuy said:


> Can someone explain why I can buy 6 froglets for $120, but only 2 frogs (1 pair) for nothing less than $200? Before i'm nailed to the wall over asking this question with people thinking i'm just wanting to breed for money - i'm going to clarify the fact that I am NEW to the hobby and just interested in gaining a greater understanding of how and why things work out the way they do. Thanks!


You are paying for someones work to feed and raise to sexable age. Froglet prices vary by who you are buying from (hobbyist vs breeder), morph, species, ect. You are giving an extreme instance but you should expect twice the market price for a sexable animal.


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

Jason is right. By buying breeding pairs you are leaving all the time consuming work to someone else and that comes with a cost. Keep in mind that by buying 6 froglets and raising them up there is a chance you may end up with two pairs.


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## thedude (Nov 28, 2007)

That and now you have a 100% chance of having frogs with the ability to breed. Much lower with unknowns obviously.


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

well... there are a couple ways to look at it.

First, if you want to have a breeding pair... in order to obtain a male and female of each sex you need to purchase multiple unsexed frogs to make sure that you get the right ratio. This table from herpetologic.net shows the chances of getting a pair from unsexed juveniles. 









Many frogs we keep are best kept in pairs. If you just want to keep a pair that will be guaranteed to breed for you, you have to pay a premium. So for example... while it would be neat to keep a group of 5 tincs... I personally would not want to risk female vs female aggression and would rather have just a male and female. Some people would just rather pay the premium and not have to deal with extra unwanted adults 

Also, most frogs have to be nearly 1 year old to be of breeding age. The additional time it takes to raise those frogs at least 6 months longer can play a huge factor in the price. Think about all the extra cultures, misting, etc that will have to go into keeping those frogs healthy until they get to breeding age.


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## TxFrogWrangler (Jun 14, 2012)

Frogs lay eggs and froglets ....well, used to be those eggs weeks ago....sorry, couldn't explain better than guys above


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## IEatBugs (May 15, 2012)

Everyone is spot on, also keep in mind that proven breeders will fetch a higher price as well.


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## BlueRidge (Jun 12, 2010)

Supply and demand? Froglets are cheap and will take you a while to grow them out, then sex them and get them breeding.


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## Dizzle21 (Aug 11, 2009)

Some people have more money than patience?
But honestly i like buying sexed pairs because it safes me the hassle of ending up with odds and ends.

Not trying to be rude, but alot of your posts and threads make it seem like you are trying to figure out the cheapest way to mass produce frogs. I would suggest gaining some experience in the hobby before taking on such a big embarkment.

_Dillon


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

I prefer to buy multiple froglets and care for them until they reach breeding age. That way I know what they were fed and what supplements were used and how often. That and froglets are cute as hell!


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## gardennub (Dec 10, 2011)

> I prefer to buy multiple froglets and care for them until they reach breeding age. That way I know what they were fed and what supplements were used and how often. That and froglets are cute as hell!


This is especially fun with frogs you can keep in groups even when they are past the froglet stage


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## TyGuy (Jul 23, 2012)

Dizzle21 said:


> Some people have more money than patience?
> But honestly i like buying sexed pairs because it safes me the hassle of ending up with odds and ends.
> 
> Not trying to be rude, but alot of your posts and threads make it seem like you are trying to figure out the cheapest way to mass produce frogs. I would suggest gaining some experience in the hobby before taking on such a big embarkment.
> ...


While i'd love to agree with you, you don't know me so the judging can stop here. If I was trying to "mass produce" frogs then I would have more than 4 terrariums set up and i'd have purchased adult frogs - BUT what I have are ALL froglets (2 of each species) which should tell people i'm CLEARLY not in it for breeding if i'm not even buying the "recommended" number of froglets to guarantee a pair. Just saying....


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## TyGuy (Jul 23, 2012)

Dizzle21 said:


> Some people have more money than patience?
> But honestly i like buying sexed pairs because it safes me the hassle of ending up with odds and ends.
> 
> Not trying to be rude, but alot of your posts and threads make it seem like you are trying to figure out the cheapest way to mass produce frogs. I would suggest gaining some experience in the hobby before taking on such a big embarkment.
> ...


Not to be rude to you either - but just because i'm new on this forum does not mean that I have no clue of how to care for my frogs, nor does it mean i'm "inexperienced" because i've chosen for years not to indulge myself in the hobby. I appreciate your unnecessary concern however...


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## mydumname (Dec 24, 2004)

Dizzle21 said:


> Some people have more money than patience?
> But honestly i like buying sexed pairs because it safes me the hassle of ending up with odds and ends.
> 
> Not trying to be rude, but alot of your posts and threads make it seem like you are trying to figure out the cheapest way to mass produce frogs. I would suggest gaining some experience in the hobby before taking on such a big embarkment.
> ...


Are these types of responses necessary? Pretty sure he already had to jump through hoops on this forum before.


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## frog dude (Nov 11, 2011)

TyGuy said:


> While i'd love to agree with you, you don't know me so the judging can stop here. If I was trying to "mass produce" frogs then I would have more than 4 terrariums set up and i'd have purchased adult frogs - BUT what I have are ALL froglets (2 of each species) which should tell people i'm CLEARLY not in it for breeding if i'm not even buying the "recommended" number of froglets to guarantee a pair. Just saying....





TyGuy said:


> Not to be rude to you either - but just because i'm new on this forum does not mean that I have no clue of how to care for my frogs, nor does it mean i'm "inexperienced" because i've chosen for years not to indulge myself in the hobby. I appreciate your unnecessary concern however...





mydumname said:


> Are these types of responses necessary? Pretty sure he already had to jump through hoops on this forum before.



I'm sure I'm speaking for Dillon when I say this. He was not trying to be rude or start a forum fight or anything like that. He was simply giving advice. Of course, I agree that the advice could have been given in a more friendly matter. But, he was just giving advice.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

TyGuy said:


> Can someone explain why I can buy 6 froglets for $120, but only 2 frogs (1 pair) for nothing less than $200? Before i'm nailed to the wall over asking this question with people thinking i'm just wanting to breed for money - i'm going to clarify the fact that I am NEW to the hobby and just interested in gaining a greater understanding of how and why things work out the way they do. Thanks!


 
JaredJ has it correct, there are a lot of people that want adults since that enables them to start breeding and working with tadpoles more quickly. This means that there is a greater demand for frogs that are large enough to be sexed than there are for groups of froglets. 
People often forget that, there is perception of increased status in having frogs that are producing tadpoles or froglets. 

Some comments

Ed


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## mydumname (Dec 24, 2004)

frog dude said:


> I'm sure I'm speaking for Dillon when I say this. He was not trying to be rude or start a forum fight or anything like that. He was simply giving advice. Of course, I agree that the advice could have been given in a more friendly matter. But, he was just giving advice.


Advice along with accusations and a notion that he read all of this guys posts while if he did, I would imagine he would not have said what he said. 

See...

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/beginner-discussion/85655-wc-imports.html

So if his posts were read such as this one, would that comment have been made? So now you see my perspective. No need to further hijack, there are plenty of posts out there already regarding comments made to push people away from the forum and hobby.


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

Ed said:


> People often forget that, there is perception of increased status in having frogs that are producing tadpoles or froglets.


Really? It's cool to have some tads swimming circles in a cup...


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## Dizzle21 (Aug 11, 2009)

I read most the thread, (except the 10 pages with Brian)
My post could have been written differently, I've been a little sour lately.

In another thread Ty posted some pics of these massive filtrated-rack systems that he wanted to build for tads. Then talking about WC imports, and then talking about getting pairs with this thread, with already the anticipation of getting flamed for it.
On the reefing forums there have been people that show up out of no where try to make cheap frag systems. Then acquire large colonies of coral and chop then into tiny unhealthy frags.
So when someone pops out of nowhere on here talking about imports and tad systems, it causes a little suspicion. 

I have no accusations towards you Ty. I'm just showing my perspective, I agree my first comment was unnecessary, and the Hijacking ends now. Back on topic

_Dillon


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

frogfreak said:


> Really? It's cool to have some tads swimming circles in a cup...


As long as you don't drop the cup, spill the cup, or accidently drink the cup (no I haven't done that one..)... 


Ed


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## TyGuy (Jul 23, 2012)

I appreciate it, Dillon. I post things like that because I want to be prepared - I want to have nice stuff set up and ready. I do it to gather ideas of things that work, don't work, or whatever. I don't mean to cause suspicion here - I just have a boat load of questions about certain things that I seek answers from here with - again, I just want to make sure when I get into something, I do it for what is best for the animals all the way around.


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

Back to the original question. I think it is the same for almost any animal. Breeding size, sexed snakes are far more expensive than juveniles. A breeding pair of clownfish is at least 10 times more expensive than a couple juveniles. A calf (like for a 4H project) is around $200-$500, but a proven bull might be a couple hundred thousand. I know a show dog that went for $25,000 recently when a puppy of that breed goes for $1500 - $2000.
It is all about taking the risk and spending the time. If you don't want to then you have to pay the price of someone else doing it for you.


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## Frog Tropics (Jul 18, 2012)

G'morn,

The way most of our proven pairs are priced (exceptions being certain species that are unusully difficult) a proven pair is roughly equivalent in price to the purchase of three to four froglets. The rationale is that the buyer would need to purchase at least three to four froglets in order to have a reasonable chance of ending up with a pair if they were going that route, especially in species with skewed sex ratios. That, and from a breeding perspective, it takes a significant increased amount of time and effort to select out a proven or sexed pair. Tincs, for example, get scrappy around 6 months--long before they can be reliably sexed--and need to be maintained either in very spacious tanks or very few to a tank. Once sexed, only two can typically reside in a tank prior to sale. Long story short, it takes a lot of time, effort and space to develop an inventory of sexed pairs. It's just not fair to expect the price to be that of a froglet or subadult. That's our reasoning, anyway!


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