# Dart frog exhibit at the National Aquirium Baltimore



## bellerophon (Sep 18, 2006)

Highly recommend to anyone in the area, if not to see the frogs but just to enjoy thier beutiful vivs. Few things I noticed though, maybe someone could help answer them.

1. They seemed to have no problems mixing species in the same vivs. thoughts?(see photos)
2. didn't see a single fruit fly, but I did notice areas on the moss that had suppliment dust and some sort of blue sand looking stuff mixed in. whats that?
3. The glass was SPOTLESS! (not really a question, just an observation)


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

ya cool stuff...


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## Jeff R (Jul 1, 2005)

When your that cool you do what you want!


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## xfrogx (Jul 5, 2006)

Pretty sweet, there probably still froglets, so mixing them isnt that big of a deal.


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## Josh_Leisenring (Jun 19, 2005)

To the best of my knowledge, any eggs that are produced inside the displays are not actually used, although I'm sure some must slip past the keepers and develop on ther own inside them. All of the actually breeder frogs are kept behind the scenes, and they have a lot more back there than ever goes on display. Of course, I'm not the authority on how the Aquarium operates. I'm pretty sure Corey worked there once upon a time. Maybe she can confirm/deney this?
But, yeah, they definitely do some amazing things over there. If anyone gets a chance to check out their stuf, it's definitely worth a look. Sucks that Friday after Five is up to 8 bucks now, though 

- Josh


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## dustin_grey (Mar 8, 2006)

Yes, the zoo near my house (Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo), has azureus mixed with tincs, and its been that way for years. Theres even a snake in there with them (?). Not quite sure what snake though...


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## Chondroholic (Aug 18, 2005)

All of the frogs they display there are adults. The frogs in bellerophon's pics are from their "traveling" exhibit called "Frogs! A chorus of colors." This is an exhibit of around 12-15? large vivs on "loan" from Clyde Peeling. The aquariums Hidden Life exhibits are the best imo. This exhibit has 7 vivs I believe with around 2-3 species in all but the Atelopus zetecki viv, in which the Atelopus are the only inhabitants. From what I have heard, aggression does take place in these exhibits, and when a frog starts to become skinny,etc it is immediately taken off exhibit. I will be lucky enough to be a volunteer there in a few weeks after my training, working with the frogs in the vivs as well as the ones behind the scenes!


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## JoshKaptur (Feb 17, 2004)

> Sucks that Friday after Five is up to 8 bucks now, though


Sure beats regular admission, though.


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## Josh_Leisenring (Jun 19, 2005)

True, true, but us poor college students need every buck we can save. Though I guess if you're purely interested in gawking at Dendrobatids, you could just as easily go over to any number of local froggers' basements for free admission :wink: 

- Josh


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## Rambo67 (Jun 12, 2006)

Or have an insider that can get you in free  Ive probably already said too much....


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## Josh_Leisenring (Jun 19, 2005)

Ah, yes, I've found that that works quite well also 8) 

- Josh


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## Dendrobatid (May 6, 2010)

Their behind the scenes frog room is pretty impressive.


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## Chris155hp (Mar 17, 2010)

does any one know the line of the azureus used in the exhibit. They appear to have the sky blue trait


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## Dendrobatid (May 6, 2010)

I don't really get that into "lines", but I'm pretty sure that Jack Cover was one of the first ones to collect and bring "Azureus" into the country. He used to tell a great story of a more recent trip and what he had to do to get permission from the tribal elder to collect some.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Chris155hp said:


> does any one know the line of the azureus used in the exhibit. They appear to have the sky blue trait


 
Those are the frogs that were more collected on the last collecting trip (I think about ten years ago now...(But I could be off by a few years). 

If you look at the wild caught azureus offspring from the original collection and the subsequent one, sky blue animals do occur with some regularity in the offspring. A number of the fine spot and sky blue azureus in the hobby are the result of direct line breeding for those traits until those frogs only produce the lighter colored finer spotted frogs. 

Ed


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## Dendrobatid (May 6, 2010)

Ed,
Man you do know it all! I think it was 1997, I believe the Suriname Forest Service gave him a permit to collect 20 individuals. The only problem was getting the tribe to let him collect them. I believed it required sitting around a fire with the indigenous people and bribing them with all he had! lol


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Dendrobatid said:


> Ed,
> Man you do know it all! I think it was 1997, I believe the Suriname Forest Service gave him a permit to collect 20 individuals. The only problem was getting the tribe to let him collect them. I believed it required sitting around a fire with the indigenous people and bribing them with all he had! lol


 
I was trying to place the timeline in my head...thanks for the clarification.. it all blurs a little after enough time passes.. The newer frogs were collected and a studbook was set up for them as there was concern about the viability of the original azureus population due to the small number of founders. I have met Jack Cover a couple of times but I doubt he would remember me.. I do know a number of the keepers who worked with the frogs over the years.. 
I knew about the coloration because it was a topic of conversation before..the fine spots and sky blues were line bred for that trait from the original imports by some breeders in the hobby but they do show up as part of the offspring produced by the original frogs. 

Ed


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## David Becher (Feb 10, 2010)

when i went there, and right after you see the frogs and you walk up the stairs into the rainforest type room i was just blown away haha


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