[ZookeeperDoug]

Just thought I would poke my head in and say hi. My name is Doug. I'm a Zoo Keeper at the El Paso Zoo in Texas. I'm a Marine Biologist and my main focus has always been Coral Reef Aquaria but I've always loved animals of all kinds. I had a small vivarium at one point in the past with some D. tinctorius "citronella".

Our Zoo recently aquired 0.0.20 D. auratus and 0.0.20 D. azureus. They are all juv. or young adults anywhere from nickle to quarter sized. They are in Quarantine right now so only our vet staff gets to play with them at the moment. But lucky me they're going into our "Reptile" house and I get to work with them and build their displays. They'll be in seperate displays and yes not all of the frogs are going in each display. The displays will be fairly large. I've been lurking to boards getting a lot of good ideas for their vivariums, care, etc... I'm one lucky SOB that gets to work with these guys at work and get paid to do it!

In addition, seeing all those frogs come in and spending time gleaning the net has rekindled my personal intrest in frogs so I scooped up an 18x18x24 ZooMed and I'm going to set it up at home and aquire some frogs for myself. I've always loved tincs and some of the new morphs are really hot. Any idea how to explain to my wife on why boxes of moss, bromeliads, etc keep showing up on our doorstep? I can't WAIT to explain the fruit fly cultures.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for a great forum. I look forward to sharing some of my expeiences with you all and learning from yours. There are alot of amazing vivs and frogs and keepers here.

 

[Pumilo]

Hey Doug, I'm Doug! Welcome aboard. Be sure and post up some pictures of your frogs and vivs as you get them set up.

 

[mordoria]

Wicked jealous! I wish I was a zookeeper. All those years of college should of been better spent.
Have fun with your new frogs and let us see some pics of your zoo's and your setups!!!

 

[ZookeeperDoug]

Will do! I can't get to the zoo frogs in quarantine for another couple weeks. Waiting for some plants from black jungle, moss from theresa, and dry goods from amazon etc before I can begin my own Viv. I know these are the dendroboards, but I also get to work with Sea Lions, Galapagos Torts, tons of snakes, lizards, birds, small primates, gators, and 2 Ocelots. We're a small zoo so most keepers work a geographic area, mine being the America's.

 

[fishr]

Way jealous about getting up close and personal with the Ocelots.

 

[ZookeeperDoug]

Its fun. They're very well conditioned. They sit, station, target, as well as are conditioned to allow for vet staff to perform blood draws and injections. I wish we could be free contact with them. Our female rio is like a big ornery house cat but Fredo, our male Brazilian Ocelot, he'd shred you.

I'm sometimes jealous of our real big cat keeprs. We have amur leopards, tigers, and lions but I don't get to work with them.

 

[fishr]

The big cats have always been my fave, so I'm basically enthralled by your info about your experiences with them, plus drooling.

 

[bazza30]

hey doug could do with ya help i getting desperate iv got tricolour tads and have no clue how to care for them. im a new keeper of about a month pls get in touch would be really appreciated

 

[PantMan]

Hopefully you have some nice breeding programs with some other zoos. Amur leopards are practically extinct in the wild. It would be a shame to see such a beautiful cat disappear.

 

[PantMan]

Hey Doug, I'm Doug! Welcome aboard. Be sure and post up some pictures of your frogs and vivs as you get them set up.

looks like you may have some competition for the title of Favorite Doug on DB

 

[guppygal]

Holy cow! A fellow Texan! That rocks - welcome to the board.

When your wife asks, tell her that all the stuff is for a terrarium, which it is, until you add a frog. She'll love it, once she gets used to all the fruitflies hanging around.....

best regards,
kristi
Magnolia, TX

 

[ZookeeperDoug]

@bazza30 - Unfortunately I don't have any experience with that species. Does your zoo have access to the AZA Amphibian Biology and Conservation Manual? You might have some usefull info there.

@ Pumlio - I just realized you're a Doug in Denver. I'm a Doug from Denver origionally! Too cool.

@Pantman - Our leopards are not currently breeding but have bred in the past. They are working on our malaysian tigers right now as we are better equipped to have cubs from them as well as the SSP gave us permission to do so.

@GuppyGal - Yep TEXAS proud. I wasn't born here but I got home as soon as I could. I actually used to work at an Aquarium Company in Houston Texas( very close to magnolia as you know) before moving to El Paso with my then fiance.

BTW - I just found out the larger Azureus and Auratus we have in quarantine are already producing eggs. The oldest eggs are already morphing. Sadly I think we may be culling them tho until we can veryify who the 1.1 parents are by their ISIS numbers to be sure they should be allowed to reproduce.

My wife knows about the frogs, she likes them. I had Citronellas when we met.

 

[guppygal]

It's especially helpful to have a supportive spouse who digs frogs. That rocks.

There are several aquariums in Houston - which one? Downtown? Out 290? They're all a bit of a drive for most outlying towns like Magnolia, The Woodlands, Conroe~

Have you located any other pdf hobbyists in your area? They are few and far between and that's the hard part about getting the hobby established in TX. I heard that there were 1000 of us here, but I couldn't tell you where. Dallas has more than most because of Cindy Dicken/Vivarium Concepts. It's awesome that you work at the zoo - at least you have someone to talk 'frog' with.

The folks on Dendroboard are extremely helpful, so don't hesitate to ask. You'll learn something new everyday

best regards,
kristi

 

[ZookeeperDoug]

I worked for Aquarium Design Group, Aquarium Design Group. All but 2 of the Coral Reef aquariums featured in their online gallery are my work. They're doing amazing work. I wish I was still with them sometimes but I chose love over career and karma paid off in a way. I know one of their techs is a frog nut, they bought PDF from "The Patricia" aka Vanishing Jewels back in the day so I know the herp/frog scene is very live in Houston.

 

[guppygal]

Alive and hiding, maybe? Rats....

I love it when a plan comes together. No more humidity, and it's a dry heat, right? Like 111 degrees, thereabouts? I'm gonna slap the next person who tells me that

I'm glad you finally found the work you love, cuz you'll never have to work again. Sweet.

take care,
kristi