[Dane]

I'm planning on ordering 3-4 Bicolors from Sean Stewart in the next week or so, and was looking for some input on their initial housing. I have a planted 29 gal that I just completed (will post pics later) that will be their eventual home, but I was under the impression that they would be better off quarantined for a few weeks before being transfered to the 29. I have several sweater boxes that I could use as temporary housing, but I was wondering if they would be best off housed in pairs, or individually while quarantined? I thought the pair arrangement might prove less stressful, provided that neither of the 2 were overly aggressive. I figured that the frogs would be better acclimated to a community environment as opposed to being in isolation for weeks, then suddenly introduced to 2-3 other tank-mates.

 

[Guest]

Hi,
When I got my 4 I kept them in shoeboxes all together wothout any problems.They will be real small frogs when you get them and they are very quick.I was trying to get them into one shoebox and about lost one behind the stove.I was doing it on our kitchen counter.
When I went to put them into my 29g they were pretty shy still and I didn't find one for about 3 days.Come to find out it had escaped thru the small hole I had in my top for the cord that runs the pump in their tank.
The 3 I have now are 1.5 years old and are still trying to figure out breeding.They are great frogs and are very bold.Just lastnight I had to just about pick my male up to get him off the petri dish I fed them waxworms off of.
Mark W.

 

[Guest]

Sean Stewart is great to deal with. I jst got 3 azureus from him and was able to see his set up, it is terrific.

If these are the only frogs you are getting for that tank and there are no other frogs in there already there really is no need to quarantine them in a seperate container. My advice would be to put them straight in the tank.

 

[Guest]

Quarantine is always a good idea. You can control food intake better, catch them easier, watch for any signs of trouble ect. If the frogs going into the tank have any contaminants at all the tank is contaminated, with some contaminants for ever . Sean sells top notch frogs, I am not inffering that they will have anything wrong at all. Quarantine is just a very good practice to get into. I would keep them together.

Rich

 

[Dane]

Well, ran into a bit of a snag, apparently Sean is out of the bicolors at the moment, but Reptile Depot has 4 available. Has anyone ever dealt with their herps?

 

[Guest]

Believe me I understand the value of quarantine as I manage an enormous quarantine facility for fish. The benefit for quarantining animals is when you plan to add new animals to an established colony. You want to make sure that the animals that you are adding to your group do not have any pathogens. If I read your first post correctly, these are the first frogs you will be adding to your 29 gallon that you set up, is this correct? If so you should feel comfortable adding them straight into the tank so that they have the optimum living conditions and you will get to observe them better in this environment than in a plastic shoe or sweater box. You will also enjoy them better this way.

If you do plan on adding animals to your group I would definitely wait at least a month, which you should do even if you go the sweater box route. The reality is that unless you are going to profilacticly treat your frogs or have a vet examine a fecal sample you still might not know if your animals have internal parasites or not for months or years as many animals can deal with small levels of parasites if they are in an unstressed environment. Now the upside is that you are dealing with a very realiable vendor.

The bottom line is that if this is your first group of animals you might as well enjoy them in an environment that is better for both you and the frogs. In a sense you will be doing the quarantine in the display tank. Do not add new animals for a period of about a month and then quarantine any new animals before they go into that tank. Without doing proactive medical treatments or tests putting animals in a sweater box is just observing if they die, it can hardly be called a true quarantine.

My 2 cents.

 

[Guest]

The main reason for quarantine is to monitor your frogs' health. If your frogs had , say, Coccicia, and you added them to a new tank, you tank will forever have Coccidia. Any frog placed in the tank will have Coccidia.Any clippings will have Coccidia. If the tank is lush with plant life, hiding spots , ect. as it should be , and a problem comes along, you now have an interesting capture to attempt with a frog that is most likely stressed to begin with. If you want to do fecals on your new frogs, one way to find out if it has Coccidia, a fresh paper towel in the box will make this much easier. When brought up in these environments, (sweaterboxes ect.) most froglets get along very well. It is a controled environment which is key until you are sure that your frogs are happy and healthy. I can find very little downside to this meathod. Please do not assume that your new frogs will be contaminant free. I understand that one of the reasons we buy these awsome creatures is to veiw them in their natural enviroment , I have to refrain from jumping the gun all the time. Err on the side of quarantine.

Rich

 

[Guest]

I jumped the gun and that is what lead to me losing one of my bicolors when they were froglets.Just so you know when you do get them,bicolors are shy when they are young but it doesn't take long for them to become bolder.When I could open their shoebox and they didn't try and hide is when I put them into their tank.Probably took a few months.I hope you are successful at finding them,they are worth it.
Mark W.

 

[Dane]

I checked out the vendor feedback section of the board, and it looks like the BBB has nothing good to say about Reptile depot, but I am a little anxious to get some frogs soon. Does anyone know of any reputable breeders that have available P. bicolors or green/wide banded P. Aurotaenia?

 

[Guest]

Dane,
You could try Patrick Nabors.He is who I got mine from but when I talked with him out at NWFF he said he hasn't had much luck breeding them.
Also, there is the guy who lives in Michigan, his name slips my mind no but I think it is Bill something.
Mark

 

[Dane]

That is actually who I ended up ordering from, Bill Weirts of Quality Exotics. As luck would have it, he had a trio for sale, and he said that they would be shipped on Monday. I'll keep everyone posted when they arrive, and thanks for all the input.

 

[Guest]

I don't think anyone upon getting their very first froglets wants to hide them away in a sweater box or any other container that is not perfectly clear/transparent. If the froglets are small I would really hesitate to put them in a 29 gallon. When I got my first group of frogs I had bought a 29 gallon got it all set up in anticpation, brought my tiny frogs home, and realized that if I put them in the 29 I might never see them again. So I rushed out bought a 5.5 gallon, moved them from that to a ten gallon after about 2 months, then later moved them into the 29.

After having gotten more frogs I dont mind starting the new ones out in smaller/opaque containers b/c I dont need to marvel over them every 5 minutes like I did my fiorst group

-tad