# D.Histrionicus



## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Hi.. Am i looking in all the wrong places or do i never see D.Histrionicus for sale/trade/show/photo galleries? I would really like the red morph but i never see it? Is it available in the US? Is it a frog that is illegal? or is it just people have them but don't wish to advertise?

I have been able to find out very little about this gorgeous frog.

Apologies for my possible ignorance and i certainly don't wish to tread on anybody's toes as i am relative newbie to the hobby but if anyone can throw me a few pointers they would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Steve


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## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

I think you have two chances of getting histos... slim and none. There are VERY few people who have them and they will not sell them and even fewer will let you know they have them. As of right now they are illegal because they violate import/export agreements so you are unlikely to see them for quite some time. There are rumors that some may come in with legal INIBCO shipments, but you can rest assured that if that does happen they will go to the most experienced selected hobbiest as they are very delicate and hard to breed and as such should be left to experts. Not to be mean, but you should probably let go of the idea of getting some of these, at least for a few years, and who knows what might happen then. There are plenty of awesome frogs availabel that should knock your socks off. Run a search if you would like any other info.


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Thanks.. That explains it to me. I had a feeling it might be something along those lines. I have a book with some in however it is vague at the most and lacking in detail.

I wasn't sure if they were specialised or not as i could never find out. For now i will happily stick with my Azureus and Tinct's with the possibility of some vents in the future but for now simple is good for me.

And no you're not being mean, for such a fantastic frog to never get mentioned must mean there is a skill/legal/availability issue floating around in the background somewhere, but figured i was in the best place to ask such questions.

Many thanks again.. and who knows.. in ten years or so when they are more understood and more stable in captivity.. and legal, they may be more widely available.

Steve


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## NCSUdart (Oct 1, 2004)

^^ you are thinking about mysteriosus, because histrionicus are not illegal, they came into the country in fairly large numbers during the 90's from columbia and were cheap too. The problem now is that they are no longer being imported and the stock from the 90's and their offspring are few and far between. They are obligate eggfeeders, and not particularly good ones in captivity. People have had success giving them large enclosures, and there are still some around you just have to know the right people. They will cost you though, quite a bit.


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Ok.. I don't know the right people but i would like to.. if what NCSUdart says is true (not for one minute that i don't belive you and i appreciate your information too) somebody out there has some. How much are we looking at for a sexed pair and why don't we try to get them bred back into the hobby.. 

I think they are a wonderful looking frog and it would be a shame to see them disapear from the hobby.

Even though i have only kept PDF's for 18+ months i would love the oppertunity to try to get some, keep them and hopefully one day breed them.

Who is with me? any takers?

Steve


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

People are definatly trying...hard...to get them established...(check out Rob M.'s site...see the links page).
I have seen them for sale (cb) before...can't remember what they were going for...almost scratched up every last dime to try to buy them...but common sense came around, and realized they should go to someone who at least has some experience with pumilio...
Sorry, I can't remember the price...it wasn't out of line, considering their rarity...
Kind of like when I seen an ad for CB blue jeans a while back (best offer)...I've been lusting after true BJ's for as long as I've known they existed...but I know even very experienced froggers have trouble with getting them to raise their young...so I didn't bother giving a bid...hoping someone who knows alot about eggfeeders ends up with them, and hoping they have success....(and I have a later opportunity to work with them).
If histos are you're goal...and nobody can convince you otherwise...try you're hand at some other egg-feeders (pumilio), to get the hang of how things work with that class of frogs...then maybee someday you'll have the opportunity to get some histo's to work with, and might have the experience necessary to do great things with them.


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## rompida (Mar 15, 2004)

Dancing frogs said:


> If histos are you're goal...and nobody can convince you otherwise...try you're hand at some other egg-feeders (pumilio), to get the hang of how things work with that class of frogs...then maybee someday you'll have the opportunity to get some histo's to work with, and might have the experience necessary to do great things with them.



couldn't have said it better myself. Also, the people who have histos are definitely working with them and trying to get them more established in the hobby. There are a few issues that are preventing it though...

1. Lack of animals - most of the histos around tend to be males
2. Breeding difficulties, parents not feeding tads
3. lack of networking between the folks breeding them


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

There was a really good discussion about them not too long ago - I want to say it occured in the Members Frogs and Vivs section and involved the user "colombianfrogger". They tossed around some of the problems like the 6 month wall for froglets and some thoughts on their enclosure's impact on them.


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## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

I was under the impression that any new imports were illegal because they would have to be wild collected specimens (which are illegal). I guess my description above was kinda vague, but yeah, there were some brought in years ago and the offspring of those (although rare) are not illegal, but any new imports that could potentially come in are illegal. Seems the INIBICO project is trying to chage that, but who knows if it will happen. As I understand it, since the INIBICO specimens would not be wild caught, they would not fall into the illegal category, but like I said, we have to get them here before we start worrying about all that.


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## NCSUdart (Oct 1, 2004)

^ histos occur in Ecuador and Columbia, INIBICO is dealing with frogs in Peru, so as far as I know INIBICO is not dealing with any histrionicus nor will they in the future. The big frog for INIBICO is going to be mysteriosus and some of the very beautiful fantasticus morphs. you are correct though, any new histos that find their way into the states are smuggled out of columbia or ecuador.

As for the price of a pair, i'd say you are looking at around $1500+ and knowing a breeder who thinks you are experienced enough. which i find very very funny since they were less than $50 when they were still being imported


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

Ok now i'm seeing the bigger picture and these explanations help clarify things. I wouldn't say histo's are my goal.. they are just very beautiful and i just got the impression that they had been lost in the hobby and although not forgotten, that maybe efforts were being concentrated with other types of obligate egg feeders.

I can and will wait 'til my experience with the smaller frogs is a lot greater and considering the skill required to even house Histo's i am more than happy to leave it to the experts in the hope one day they will be more available to me when my experience is far greater.

Thanks to everyone for your input.

And Brian, thanks for your words of encouragement, for a moment i thought i may be starting a fire with this thread (unintentionally), but its nice to see people looking on the positive side that even relatively in-experienced people like myself may one day be a subject matter expert on the rarer frogs. (My dream).

Steve


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## rmelancon (Apr 5, 2004)

There are a few people (very experienced) who have been working with various histrionicus morphs for over 10 years and yet they are still not really an established frog here in the US. That should give you some idea of how difficult they can be.


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## Dendromad (Jul 4, 2006)

Any that do come up are very expensive, a friend of mine who has kept them in the past recently got offered a pair of histrionicus from europe for about £600 (not sure how much that is in dollars?) but its a lot over here! He was also offered a pair of lehmani for £800! Silly money, but there's someone out there that will pay it! Just hope they know what they are doing with them!


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## NCSUdart (Oct 1, 2004)

^ that would be extremely cheap stateside. I believe someone paid upwards of 700 for a single male histo at an IAD a few years back


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## biocmp (Mar 7, 2006)

so... when does an organization like INIBICO get started in brazil or any other country housing the frogs that people like to smuggle? I would love to see some new blood quins and plenty others. T


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

biocmp said:


> so... when does an organization like INIBICO get started in brazil or any other country housing the frogs that people like to smuggle? I would love to see some new blood quins and plenty others. T


"someone" should probably make that a new thread...


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