# Your "Holy Grail" species



## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

For me, as an avid fan of _Ameerega_ species, my "Holy Grail" species is _Ameerega_ _silverstonei_. My next build (possibly my last major build I've run out of space in the frog room) will be for them, assuming I can acquire a group when I'm ready (next summer/fall hopefully).

What's yours?


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## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

I'll never get them, but Oophaga Lehmanni without a doubt.


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## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

That's a tough call. I could name a couple of large Oophaga species but having never actually kept them, who knows -- beautiful as they are they may not live up to the price tag.

Watching the antics of P. terribilis, R. imitator and D. leucomelas, if I never keep another species I would still call myself happy. 

I find O. sylvatica 'Koi' very beautiful but the price tags I've heard of being paid abroad are ludicrous and at this time I'm not even sure if they're legal (let's not get into that discussion here, that's just a sidebar). O. lehmanni 'Yellow' or some version of O. histrionica are not out of the question someday, but that would be a passion project wherein I was willing to literally burn money. It's not like there are many keepers in Canada who would actually pay for those. I think in that case my best bet would be to throw the money at Wikiri or Tesoros so it would at least do some good.


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## frogosaurus (Mar 11, 2020)

I know the ethics AND legality of 'Tumucumaque' are incredibly dubious, but it's easy to see why they're coveted creatures. Agree w/ @Fahad that the histrionica (redhead in particular) are really stunning as well. Third, the atelopus species I've seen around are also just incredible.

BUT for the foreseeable future I will only have one species, and if I was going to get a second and had enough space, it would absolutely be a group of fat ass mint terribilis.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

fishingguy12345 said:


> For me, as an avid fan of _Ameerega_ species, my "Holy Grail" species is _Ameerega_ _silverstonei_. My next build (possibly my last major build I've run out of space in the frog room) will be for them, assuming I can acquire a group when I'm ready (next summer/fall hopefully).
> 
> What's yours?


Well you are in luck, as there is a good Stonei breeding in Canada.


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Philsuma said:


> Well you are in luck, as there is a good Stonei breeding in Canada.


I know 😊.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Get him before he ships them all to the states. I think he has export permits.


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Philsuma said:


> Get him before he ships them all to the states. I think he has export permits.


I'm sure he'll have more next year. I actually just met up with him on Sunday for my new trivittata .


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Oh don't count on it. My 2 groups have shut down. They are very difficult to breed and maintain.


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## Eurydactylodes (Sep 7, 2021)

I would love to keep Atelopus. That genus is incredibly fascinating, and captive breeding efforts could do real good. Maybe some day…
-Oscar


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

I can't get myself into a true "Holy Grail" mindset for anything -- seems in many cases to violate the "do or do not; there is no try" dictum. That said, I had long wanted _R. reticulata, _and a very cool guy recently hooked me up. I'm pretty well set.


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## Woodswalker (Dec 26, 2014)

I'm crafting plans for Oophaga sylvatica 'Puerto Quito' (aka 'Diablo'). I'm running out of space, so I have promised myself to only get them once I've moved into a larger home. They're my incentive for wrapping up everything on my current home and moving. I'm planning to put them in a massive tank when the time comes. Silverstonei and a few other Ameerega are on my wish list also. There are so many cool frogs, though, there's no way I'll ever own all the ones I like the most. It's actually very hard to choose.

If we're to add other herps, my other dream/goal species are Abronia graminea, Furcifer pardalis, and Phelsuma cepediana.


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## Red Beard (Nov 4, 2015)

Philsuma said:


> Oh don't count on it. My 2 groups have shut down. They are very difficult to breed and maintain.


They are very tough to breed for sure. I have two breeding pairs and a young breeding group. The older pairs very rarely breed, but the young group has just laid three clutches for me in a month. I’ve only had a handful of good eggs so far. Hopefully I’ll have enough to help out some of my Canadian friends…and maybe a few Americans too.


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## IShouldGetSomeSleep (Sep 23, 2021)

theloderma ryabovi
the most beautiful of the mossy frogs, jet black and bumpy there is no other tree frog like them im not even sure if there are any being bred in america yet but they are some people working with them in Europe.

Theloderma pictus was a close second for a while (previously Nyctixalus pictus they've gone over 11 taxonomic changes since they were described) luckily they breed readily and I was just able to get a trio of juveniles of which at least one is male and one is likely a female. Still trying to find someone with theloderma asperum for sale can you tell I really like mossyfrogs?


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## Herpin Man (Apr 11, 2018)

My “Holy Grail” species, at this point, would be native gray tree frogs, like I had when I was a kid. I miss having them. They’re certainly attainable; I find them every summer. Unfortunately, my herp room is full.
Second choice would probably be Solomon Island leaf frogs.


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## Paluscape (Jul 25, 2021)

O. Pumilio Blue jeans for me. Iconic frog, and I wanted them when I first kept darts 14 years ago!


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## Chris S (Apr 12, 2016)

R. imitator. I have a few locales that still elude me...and I may have two of the only breeding groups in Canada left of a couple locales.

After that...yeesh. I guess every other Ranitomeya... or maybe I'll try a large obligate, just to mix things up


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## Shazace (Jul 19, 2020)

Hopefully one day... Oophaga Histrionica 'Tado' or 'Fuego'


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## ParrotAlex (Aug 7, 2021)

Blue Jeans strawberry darts (oophaga, if I recall) are definitely up there, as are Phyllobates, but I think my biggest holy grail has gotta be some regular old leucs. They cover everything I want from a frog, so the fact they're one of the best beginner species is just the cherry on top.


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## ashdavisa (Oct 27, 2018)

Epipedobates tricolor Rio & Moraspungo are two that always catch my eye, but I won't keep them until I have a dedicated frog room and space for a great big, long vivarium.
Banded Imitators are another I'd love to keep some day.


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## cjwhitsett (Mar 7, 2020)

This is fun to think about. 

Among species available in the hobby it would have to be Bahia Solano histrionica. But my ultimate holy grail, assuming ethical imports ever came available, would be nominal sirensis.


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## Dr. Manhattan (Oct 28, 2016)

Beezlebufo.........jk. I don't know it's exact name but I saw a species of frog that lives way high up in the Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa. I believe it's called an Ice Frog or something like that. I'm sure it's captive requirements would be tough but I kinda like a challenge.


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## Purist (Nov 15, 2018)

I'd love to get the beautiful and devilish Minyobates steyermarki for Halloween.....or anytime. I love the look and I've heard they are interesting.


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## Purist (Nov 15, 2018)

It's also Critically Endangered hence the Holy Grail species pick.  It's just a dream.


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## Okapi (Oct 12, 2007)

I actually had my holy grail species but I had some life changes that forced me to scale down to just my leucs a while back. One day I will have Phyllobates aurotaenia 'green' again.


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## Kribensis (Jan 14, 2021)

I'd love to keep _Atelopus _eventually. There are so many amazing species, I don't have much of a preference for any specific one. I don't see that happening anytime soon, though.


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