# Hoping I'm doing alright...



## Misskiwi67 (Sep 24, 2007)

Hey all,

I'm a veterinary student and I went to a local herp show this weekend and came home with an azureus. I've wanted one for a while and know a bit about their care, so I wasn't too worried that I was doomed to failure, but then I got home and broke the aquarium that apparently should have been set up a week before purchasing the froglet.

So here is what I have. Yes, it has a lid, and so far everything "seems" to be going well. I got some small crickets, but I'm not sure if the little guy is eating them. Fruit flies and terrarium supplies for my medium exo-terra are on the way.

If there's anything critical that needs changed, please let me know!!!


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## glitch (Feb 25, 2007)

I hope there's a lid somewhere for that bowl....
and you're not keeping him outside, are you?


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## Misskiwi67 (Sep 24, 2007)

glitch said:


> I hope there's a lid somewhere for that bowl....
> and you're not keeping him outside, are you?


Yes, the bowl has a lid. I only took the bowl outside for the pictures. I find natural light makes for much better photographs. The bowl is on a narrow shelf in my office where the cats can't get access but I can still enjoy him until his terrarium is finished.


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## Elphaba (Aug 26, 2007)

The crickets, unless they are pinheads, are probably too big for him to eat -- azureus tend to prefer smaller food. If you live near a Petco, you should see if you can get him some fruit flies -- that store tends to carry them. The fruit flies will be hydei, the larger variety, but those might work better than crickets.

I'm getting some azureus today myself. That container looks fine, provided it does have a lid. 

All the best,
Ash


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## Dartluv (Dec 27, 2006)

As a temp its fine...
JUST HURRY!


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Your azureus could last in that temporary set up for some time but you will definitely need to obtain smaller food items. In addition to obtaining some flies at PetCo and/or Petsmart, try contacting the person that you bought the frog from to see if they can let you have a culture. Any breeder worth their salt isn't going to want one of their offspring to suffer.

Good luck.

Bill


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## Drew (Nov 9, 2006)

Since you are in vet school you should have no trouble tracking down some fruit flies from someones lab - a biochem prof, etc. Ask around, I'd be willing to bet that there are plenty available if you hit up the right people.


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## *slddave* (Jun 2, 2006)

how big of crickets are we talking? A good rule of thumb is if the bugs are about as big as their toepad then they'll get eaten, anything too much bigger can be a problem. Well.... maybe we'll say smaller than it's own eye.


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## *slddave* (Jun 2, 2006)

Great pattern BTW, these are beautiful animals


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## Misskiwi67 (Sep 24, 2007)

The crickets were much larger than a toe pad, more along the lines of the distance between his eyes. I went to petsmart on my way home from the show fully expecting to find fruit flies there, but they were out. Petco is a 30 mile drive, and my current schedule has me working 10-12 hours a day, so I won't be able to make it to petco anytime soon.

The breeder was catching his own fruit flies outdoors. I did set up some half-spoiled crested gecko food (a known fruit fly attractant) out on the deck to try to catch some smaller food, but then it rained about 2am and the two fruit flies that were buzzing around when I went to bed last night were long gone by morning, and there wasn't much for bugs out tonight. I'll turn my porch light on tonight and see what I can catch. Hopefully something at least!


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## *slddave* (Jun 2, 2006)

yup, even some small ants attracted to honey or fruit may do the trick until you can get some flightless flies. Someone above me mentioned fruitflies in the lab at school- i would advise following that path.


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## *slddave* (Jun 2, 2006)

how long until the flies arrive?


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

uh....you obtained a frog without knowing much about it's husbandry?............


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## Misskiwi67 (Sep 24, 2007)

ppayes said:


> uh....you obtained a frog without knowing much about it's husbandry?............


uh... yeah. 

I've been researching setting up terrariums for about a year now, I've had plans to purchase some in the next couple years, but did not plan on purchasing any at the local show. They haven't been available in my area before, and a hobbyist just happened to have 2 froglets for sale along with his salamanders. I thought it was a fine plan when I had a petsmart on the way home which normally carries fruit flies (which I've raised in the past), I had a 5 gallon aquarium at home, and I had tons of materials from setting up terrariums for my crested geckos. I thought I'd be fine. I had no idea petsmart would be out of flies AND that I'd break my aquarium... shit happens. Got any suggestions or are you only going to chastize me?


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## Misskiwi67 (Sep 24, 2007)

*slddave* said:


> how long until the flies arrive?


I don't know. I ordered them from black jungle on sunday, so hopefully tomorrow?? I ordered from flymeat this evening with express shipping as a backup... which means Thursday from them if everything goes well.


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## *slddave* (Jun 2, 2006)

ppayes said:


> uh....you obtained a frog without knowing much about it's husbandry?............


sounds like she's done her research to me, just unlucky with the tank and unprepaired with flies. It happens, the beautiful colors of these frogs does funny things to the human brain- especially the newb


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## pl259 (Feb 27, 2006)

What are the min and max temperatures in the temporary fish bowl you have the azureus in?

IMO, high temps are the number one problem for a newb and their frogs. It takes just a couple days of excessive heat to do them in.


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## Misskiwi67 (Sep 24, 2007)

I'm keeping it at room temp, because thats what the guy I bought him from told me to do. My house varies between 65 and 85 degrees, but will stay right at 70 degrees as the weather outside gets cooler. I have a large collection of crested geckos, so I'm very particular about keeping the temperatures in my house cool. I don't have any sort of heat on the bowl at the moment.

The flies arrived today, and the culture is dead. The flies are dead and the larvae aren't moving. I'm confused because my mailbox is indoors for the entire complex, so it shouldn't have gotten overheated, it wasn't even that warm outside the past couple days (mid-70's). Is there any chance the pupae are going to be ok? I don't remember which of the life stages was the most temperature resistant from my fish-raising days.

I also purchased some small phoenix worms because I didn't know how peculiar the little guys were when I made my purchases. I think they might be too big too! I hope the little guy can hold out until tomorrow when my next set of cultures should arrive... what a mess!!! I did manage to catch a couple fruit flies outside, but they're the same size as the phoenix worms, and they're both still in the cage so I know he didn't eat them.

He's just sitting on top of leaves or on top of the log most of the time. These are drier areas... Is it possible the humidity is too high in the tank?


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

> sounds like she's done her research to me,


uh huh......



> just unlucky with the tank and unprepaired with flies


Unlucky?? Unprepared with flies is like the cardinal sin of impulse frog acquisition....please be honest with yourself and admit this. Then the culture is only half of it...you have to know how they work and how to reproduce future cultures.

Ames, Iowa has a few Petcos and at least a couple specialty stores that I would think either have FF or could network you into a local and THEN theres always this site! There has got to be some local hobbiests but the search feature for members via city ect isn't the quickest interface.....but it can be done.

Finally....leave a Banana or Orange outside in the shade for a day and see if it attracts some flies. Use a small screen net like a fish or butterfly net to sweep for some "yard plankton".

Best of luck.


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## *slddave* (Jun 2, 2006)

Whatever, my first frogs were impulse buys and I paid the price by having to order pinheads for a few months until I got culturing down. Doesn't mean I neglected them it was just a bit more difficult at the start. What I meant by the homework is that she knows what needs to be done, she's just getting a bit of advice from board members.


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## Misskiwi67 (Sep 24, 2007)

ppayes said:


> you have to know how they work and how to reproduce future cultures.


I've raised fruit flies in the past, I even have fruit fly media. Its not a problem, getting the flies was the problem.




ppayes said:


> Ames, Iowa has a few Petcos and at least a couple specialty stores that I would think either have FF or could network you into a local and THEN theres always this site! There has got to be some local hobbiests but the search feature for members via city ect isn't the quickest interface.....but it can be done.


Ames does NOT have a petco, let alone a few of them. The nearest petsmart is in Ankeny, which is 20 miles away, and the nearest petco is in Des Moines, 30 miles away. I work from 7am to 6pm, and have to be back in Ames by 7:30 to complete 8pm treatments. Going to Ankeny on a random weekday is not an option. I DID stop by ankeny on my way home from purchasing the frog, fully expecting them to have some, but they did not. 



ppayes said:


> Finally....leave a Banana or Orange outside in the shade for a day and see if it attracts some flies. Use a small screen net like a fish or butterfly net to sweep for some "yard plankton".


I did that too. The one fly I caught in my house (crested gecko food attracts them) was apparently too large or too fast to be eaten. I left food outside, but its difficult to catch insects when it rains for several hours in the morning and then never reaches 70 degrees. 

Tell me again what I'm forgetting to do here? I will try the search function to find local hobbyists. I wish I had some contacts on main campus for possible fruit fly keepers, but the vet school is far removed from the rest of campus, and I wouldn't even know where to start.


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Try contacting the lab of Russell Jurenka [email protected] ( http://www.ent.iastate.edu/dept/faculty/jurenka.html) or the Department of Entymology at Iowa State.

In addition, Linda Ambrosio [email protected] also works with drosophila.

Good luck.

Bill


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## Alex007 (Apr 15, 2007)

*911*

This woman has some bad luck. I mean i would of travel ways even be late to work if i had to. Maybe she can find some ants or something small insects for now. I hope the frog makes it.


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## jmoose (Jun 21, 2006)

First of all, congrats on a beautiful Azu.
Azu are my first and still my favorite frogs. You have a good taste :wink: 

Okay let's focus on saving him/her
Pretty much FF was talked about here, but why not try spirngtails, isopods or termites.
I don't know if you have a wooded area nearby but if you do, bring a shovel and start digging several inches.
You will probably find temperate gray or white springtails running around all over the place. A baby azu will love them

You might get lucky to find some isopods, too. Iso babies are tiny enough for your azu to eat

If you can see fallen rotten trees, kick them as hard as you can to see any termite nest there. That would be a bonus (they might be a tad big for a baby Azu, though)

Good luck with your beauty !


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## Misskiwi67 (Sep 24, 2007)

*Re: 911*



Alex007 said:


> This woman has some bad luck. I mean i would of travel ways even be late to work if i had to. Maybe she can find some ants or something small insects for now. I hope the frog makes it.


If I don't show up for work, I can fail a rotation. I have 5 patients in the ICU (more bad luck, normal is 2-3) and I just plain can't be late if I'm going to take care of them and get some sleep at night. Failing a rotation usually results in being removed from veterinary school... and 4 years is a lot to waste on a frog.

The good news is he appears to be eating the phoenix worms. I thought a few were missing last night, but I wasn't sure. This morning I counted out twelve, and 6 are gone. The little guy is also looking rather chubby and his activity level has improved since yesterday. I was really starting to worry about the little guy!!!

How many phoenix worms should a half-grown azu eat???

There are also flies hatching from my ruined culture. There are quite a few pupae in there, so I should at least have a decent supply for a little while, and it doesn't take very many flies to start a new culture. I have all the culture supplies I will need, and between these pupae and the two cultures I bought from the flymeat place (should arrive today) I think I might just be OK.

Thanks everyone for all your help. I should know better than to impulse buy by now, but it always seems so easy on paper. There's nothing like experience to teach you.


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## laichui (Jun 26, 2007)

Thats finally some good news =)

Good luck with the azureus, those little guys are awesome


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## qwertkb2d (Aug 14, 2007)

*Fruit Flies*

HEY!!!

I LIVE IN AMES IA...IF YOU NEED FRUIT FLIES I CAN BRING A BUNCH OVER FOR YOU. HEIDI AND MELANOGASTER.

..........................................................

Contact me and we will get your buddy food!

I also have plenty of supplies to build a nice temporary viv if you need one. No sense in having a lil blue die from bad luck


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## Misskiwi67 (Sep 24, 2007)

Hey!!

Yeah, I definately need some flies. I am barely hatching enough from my semi-dead culture to feed the little guy AND USPS is being stupid and won't leave my package from Eds flymeat at my door or in the complex mailroom. I should be able to get it tomorrow from the post office (IF my patients discharge on time) but if its dead too from being in the post office truck for 2 days in a row, I'll definately be in trouble soon... again.

Do you think you could drop some off at the vet school for me tomorrow, or could I meet you somewhere? I'm more than happy to pay you for the cultures too, just let me know how much!!

Thanks a million!!!


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## Misskiwi67 (Sep 24, 2007)

The mailman finally left the package of fruitflies... and the cultures are incredible... so I think I'm good for a while now! My frog is hunting like crazy, so I figure thats a good sign!


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## candm519 (Oct 15, 2006)

Are things still going okay?


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## Misskiwi67 (Sep 24, 2007)

Yep, the little guy is doing great! He's got his favorite sleeping spot at night, and actively hunts and gobbles down fruit flies during the day. I'm slowly figuring out how not to over-dust them, and I'm alternating Hydei and melanogaster for variety. I actually like the hydei better, but don't trust myself to culture them consistently...

I'm currently building a real terrarium... will start a new thread for tips here shortly.

Thanks for asking!!!


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