9 replies to this topic

[Onyx Rain]

Ok so I keep Dart frogs as a hobby....and they are some of the most colorful animals on the planet. There are a ton of different patterns/color combos that could be used for inspiration for mech camo/skin designs..

Here are a few.... (first 3 multi-pic sets are of only 3 species....those 3 species have tons of color morphs...more then in these pics)




More...

Edited by Onyx Rain, 09 December 2012 - 01:48 PM.

[Ozric]

Though there may be a risk of not blending in to your surroundings as well as you my want to, everybody needs a psychodelic mech to confuse and disturb your foes with. Many organic patterns are quite striking actually.

And those frogs are just so damn cute!

[White Bear 84]

Interesting hobby.. ..arent many species really rare/threatened? They are pretty amazing though, bright colours to warn of predators they are not to be messed with.. ..how do you handle them, not a frog expert but know enough to know that many of the frogs you have up there (if not all) would be pretty venomous, i think through the skin??

Edited by White Bear 84, 09 December 2012 - 04:19 PM.

[Rathmun]

White Bear 84, on 09 December 2012 - 04:19 PM, said:

Interesting hobby.. ..arent many species really rare/threatened? They are pretty amazing though, bright colours to warn of predators they are not to be messed with.. ..how do you handle them, not a frog expert but know enough to know that many of the frogs you have up there (if not all) would be pretty venomous, i think through the skin??

Monor technical gripe, they're poisonous not venemous. Venom is injected (or at least can be, the spitting cobra uses its as both venom and poison)

[Onyx Rain]

White Bear 84, on 09 December 2012 - 04:19 PM, said:

Interesting hobby.. ..arent many species really rare/threatened? They are pretty amazing though, bright colours to warn of predators they are not to be messed with.. ..how do you handle them, not a frog expert but know enough to know that many of the frogs you have up there (if not all) would be pretty venomous, i think through the skin??

Many are in the wild, and smuggling especially to Europe and Japan markets is a real problem , but a fair share in the hobby now have been CB in the hobby for decades, and many others are "farm raised", or part of some conservation/indigenous economic program. Most countries limit the number and types allowed for export, often countries shut off the exports for years, and some countries rarely if ever have been open to export. They constantly discover new dart frog species and color morphs, and in dangerous places like Colombia it is difficult for even scientists to get safe access to study/find them...let alone for anyone to arrange legal export.

The hobby takes conservation issues, smuggling and crossbreeding very seriously. They find out you are involved in things like that threaten the integrity of the wild populations, or our breeding stock here in the USA and you'll likely be reported, shunned, hated, and probably some P.O'd frogger will drag you into a dark alley and beat the **** out of you or worse Dart frogger are some serious people... it isn't nearly as laid back as the snake/gecko/fish hobbies. We generally shun designer color morphs, inbreeding/crossbreeding for specific traits, or keeping multiple species and/or color morphs in the same vivariums.

The majority of frogs are probably CB (Captive Bred)...In captivity they generally loose most if not all their toxic nature fairly quickly because they don't have access to the food types they use to sequester the poisons/raw materials to make the poisons from in the wild. Though there have been instances where WC (wild caught) frogs maintained their toxicity for a few years.

There are only a hand full of dart frogs that are toxic enough to pose a serious threat to larger animals and/or humans. Generally it is the most toxic ones like [color=#000000]Phyllobates terribilis that manage to retain any significant toxicity, which is fairly common in the hobby and carries the toxin [/color][color=#000000]Batrachotoxin, which I've have seen written as the #2 most toxic substance in nature (Probably top 10 at least. (2 fine grains like salt worth is enough to kill 150lb person) ).[/color][color=#000000] but most if not all have been CB for many years. So pretty unlikely you could get a hold of one that was toxic. (Yes btw the toxins are in the skin, and stressing a frog can make them produce more)[/color]
Phyllobates terribilis:
]


Generally most reptiles and amphibians should not be handled much...even the ones pet dealers claim you can handle because it stresses them out, and stress kills/shortens lifespans. For darts Most people use bare hands, gloves, a cup, tube or something to transfer them to one tank or another just to minimize stress and their exposure to contaminates. You can hold them bare handed, but shouldn't for their health not yours. With the wild frogs about the worst that would happen to you if you held one is a burning/tingling or numbing sensation on your hands, especially if you had cuts or abrasions. You wouldn't want to put one down your pants, or touch your face or eyes just after handling probably

And lastly a shameless plug. One of my vivariums with special guest appearance by Echo the Fennec Fox...



Vivariums like this are not that difficult to make, and are actually much much easier to care for then high end fresh or saltwater aquariums. For more info/pics and to join up and learn how to make your own viv/get started in the hobby visit...
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/

Edited by Onyx Rain, 10 December 2012 - 02:38 AM.

[aspect]

Cool idea, I like.

[Ozric]

Onyx Rain, on 10 December 2012 - 02:34 AM, said:

And lastly a shameless plug. One of my vivariums with special guest appearance by Echo the Fennec Fox...



Vivariums like this are not that difficult to make, and are actually much much easier to care for then high end fresh or saltwater aquariums. For more info/pics and to join up and learn how to make your own viv/get started in the hobby visit...
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/

A Fennec Fox, In your house? Isn't he a little nippy? Props for the viv though, 'tis awesome. My own menagerie has been reduced by time and girlfriends to just a single lizard, but dart frogs have been on my radar for years. A wee bit longer than the time I've been on dendroboard.

(starts furiously researching Fennec Foxes....)

[Onyx Rain]

Ozric, on 10 December 2012 - 09:11 AM, said:

A Fennec Fox, In your house? Isn't he a little nippy? Props for the viv though, 'tis awesome. My own menagerie has been reduced by time and girlfriends to just a single lizard, but dart frogs have been on my radar for years. A wee bit longer than the time I've been on dendroboard.

(starts furiously researching Fennec Foxes....)

Yep, she has her own room. She isn't to nippy unless she hasn't been handled/out much for awhile, then she kinda gets pi$$y and/or forgets how hard she can bite playfully before it gets painful. But she gets out/played with most days pretty regularly. The thing is their teeth are so small/needle sharp that even a play bite can break the skin if you don't resist the impulse to jerk away. Generally she doesn't bite hard enough that I have that impulse....and a stern word will usually stop her. She has only broke the skin maybe 3 times? tops in over 3 years.

When I went to pick her up, when we first met and she could fit in the palm of my hand... She walked up, I offered her my hand to sniff/play with...she did, and bit hard enough to puncture my finger. Later I asked which one was mine, and The seller said the one with the black spot at the top of her tail....I was like "That is the one that bit me? She was like " Yep, that one is yours....they have a way of picking their owners"

You're on DB? ...I'm Dendro Dave (typed just like that, no _ in the name)...been around for years and years. Who are you? Used to have what was probably the largest Dart/mantella frog collection in Oklahoma, if not in shear number of frogs then in most species/color morphs before the big ice storm came and wiped most of them out. Now I'm broke and unemployed and only keep about 6 frogs and a couple vivs...I'll get back into it more someday.

Here is an old DB thread On Echo my fox with more pics/info. And you'll find some other pretty interesting/wacky viv threads if you search for topics I started...I was/am kinda a resident mad scientist there
http://www.dendroboa...my-new-fox.html

Also here are 2 flckr accounts of mine with fox, viv pics and other crap...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22373860@N02/
http://www.flickr.co...s/53171039@N07/

Edited by Onyx Rain, 10 December 2012 - 11:23 AM.

[Ozric]

Onyx Rain, on 10 December 2012 - 11:19 AM, said:

You're on DB? ...I'm Dendro Dave (typed just like that, no _ in the name)...been around for years and years. Who are you? Used to have what was probably the largest Dart/mantella frog collection in Oklahoma, if not in shear number of frogs then in most species/color morphs before the big ice storm came and wiped most of them out. Now I'm broke and unemployed and only keep about 6 frogs and a couple vivs...I'll get back into it more someday.

That's some really good work you've done there, you have a real eye for building those naturalistic vivs. I don't think I've ever posted on dendroboard, but I am a long time lurker. You will probably not be surprised to hear that even from the UK that forum is one of the best around. And I'm wondering if I've perused some of your threads before...

But that ice storm must have been horrific. I never had to deal with anything on that scale, and to be honest it was loosing a few of my treasured animals that led to the end of my tiny wildlife park. A cataclysm like that might have broken me. But one day I too will be able to rebuild. The attraction of the dart frogs was not just because they were awesome, but also that dozens of species become extinct in the wild every year due to their myriad nature and tiny populations. While there is a good argument against keeping any animal in captivity, those frogs need to be taken under our wing before it's too late.

Great work though, seriously.

Edited by Ozric, 10 December 2012 - 01:09 PM.

[Onyx Rain]

Ozric, on 10 December 2012 - 01:07 PM, said:

That's some really good work you've done there, you have a real eye for building those naturalistic vivs. I don't think I've ever posted on dendroboard, but I am a long time lurker. You will probably not be surprised to hear that even from the UK that forum is one of the best around. And I'm wondering if I've perused some of your threads before...

But that ice storm must have been horrific. I never had to deal with anything on that scale, and to be honest it was loosing a few of my treasured animals that led to the end of my tiny wildlife park. A cataclysm like that might have broken me. But one day I too will be able to rebuild. The attraction of the dart frogs was not just because they were awesome, but also that dozens of species become extinct in the wild every year due to their myriad nature and tiny populations. While there is a good argument against keeping any animal in captivity, those frogs need to be taken under our wing before it's too late.

Great work though, seriously.

Thanks man, and ya it sucked...over $3000 worth of frogs and $100s in plants lost...some of my favorite/first frogs i ever got. Was really pissed/sad. Will definitely get a generator if I ever grow my collection to that size again...maybe get one anyways. We'd just never lost power in 25 years for more then a day or 2 so it didn't seem worth rushing into that investment...But 7 days no power and freezing temps in a mobile home is bad for tropcial frogs though. So many were without power that even if I could have found the frogs/captured them and got them moved there was no where to take them and the large vivs most were in. I only had room by my parents fireplace to save 2 small tanks with a few of the rarest frogs.

Most of the frogs in the hobby are CB, or part of some conservation project and takes smuggling pressure off the wild populations, so I'm ok with them as pets, and the people in the hobby are really serious about the integrity of the species and their environment so I feel like it is a good thing that at least some are in captivity in case the wild populations fail.

Edited by Onyx Rain, 10 December 2012 - 01:24 PM.