MOTW - Jul 15 - Jul 21 2012 - JeffreH

[Jenste]

Congratulations to this weeks MOTW - Jeffreh!!

Can't wait to learn about you!


Don't forget to submit nominations on the main thread!

[Jenste]

Monday, tell us all about you! We know you obviously like amphibians, but we want to know about the rest of your life. Details about you, your life, hobbies, families, past times, favorite colors, poems you have written etc etc....just use this post to brag/boast/bore us how you please.

[DC101]

Congratz jeff! I really wanted you to win! You helped me loads with my roaches and everything else to do with feeders.

Well done!

[JeffreH]

Thanks guys = )

Well, to start off I interestingly have no amphibians in my collection. I joined this forum as a means to obtain more information about some frogs and to contribute to the feeder forum mostly... But I'll save more of the details behind that for tomorrow. My brain is essentially mush right now, so bare with me as this post will likely be sporatic and unorganized.

I was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio and have lived here my entire life. Family has always been great and the story of my life is pretty much an animal lover cliche, so I'll save that. Aside from a couple of near-death experiences that drastically changed my outlook and appreciation for life, nothing too remarkably exciting to report. I've done work in a few labs between Wright State University, the Univeristy of Dayton and for Wright-Patterson AFB for biofuels and working with certain microorganisms (particularly the common cold virus). Lab work has always been my fortay but it isn't necessairly something I wish to do for a career. I'd much rather spend my time outside in the fresh air if possible.

For my interests and whatnot I'll just list things as they come to mind...let the random ranting begin! I don't really watch TV, but enjoy movies... good comedies and action movies are always good. My favorite color is Red. I don't really like talking on the phone or texting for extended periods of time. I like to lay in the grass and stare at the stars and the clouds. I like to run, bike, and workout at the gym in my free time. I do a lot of yardwork and enjoy growing my own produce. I have a cat, and my doggie just recently passed at the age of ten to an autoimmune disease. My cat is 21 years old and she inspires me with her lawlz. I recently rescued a litter of kittens that were left in a box in the middle of the road... the people in this world amaze me. I shower at least once a day. I'm very left-brained and lack any creativity whatsoever. I'm kind of a perfectionist. I enjoy longboarding and always wear a helmet doing so. I listen to a lot of dubstep but can appreciate good music of any genre (except for some rap music). I don't watch a lot of sports. Most of my good friends are hippies. I haven't been in a relationship in 3 years after my ex cheated on me. I'm afraid to commit to relationships now (working on it). I've been shot at. I try not to judge people by first impressions. I'm a moral person but do not have any serious religious beliefs. I don't have a facebook . I've been on various herp related forums for about ten years. I absolutely hate heights and roller coasters, and I'm claustrophobic. I like ice cream... anyone else ever feel like you can eat pounds of ice cream even when you are full? Brownie batter and cookie dough are both better than ice cream. I like to cook. I don't like to dance. I like to take naps in hammocks. I sometimes spin poi. Jack Daniels is my drink of choice. I brake if I see leaves moving across the road. I'm always hot and prefer cooler weather. I like to fish sometimes... lakes are some of my favorite places to be in the world. I'm a morning person. I don't write poems or make any kind of art, and am deeply envious of those who can.

Thats probably good enough for now... enjoy reading that mess ; ) A bit rushed today so don't really have the time to organize my thoughts, haha

[BlueisallIneed]

Congrats Jeff!!! Great getting to "know" you!

[DC101]

Great to learn about you Jeff My brother hates it when i listen to dub step. He says it isn't music but meh...i like it

[Jenste]

Tuesday, tell us about your amphibians. How you came to keep them, mistakes/learning curves, species kept, breedings, how you found Frog Forum etc....we heard enough about you on Monday, let us hear about them frogs!

[Heatheranne]

Great post Jeff! Lab work can be very interesting. I enjoyed microbiology. What is it you think you'd like to do for a career? Any plans? (Ugh! I'm afraid of heights too. Lol!).

[JeffreH]

Thank you everyone = ) this MOTW thing is pretty fun. I've gotta say, FrogForum has been one of the most pleasant forums I've ever been a member of. Everyone here is always so friendly and respectful to one another... its very refreshing!

@Blue - It was nice getting to know you as well in your MOTW thread = ) thank you!

@David - I have a few friends who hate dubstep with burning passion and refuse to call it music, but I enjoy it! There is so much great music out there for whatever mood you are in. If I'm feeling kind of rowdy there is always some good rage dubstep, rock, and metal to go with and if I'm feeling chill I've got Dave Matthews, some reggae, and Pretty Lights in my arsenal :3

@Heather - I'm actually pretty held up on what I'd like to do with my future. I'm finishing up my Bachelor's with a couple of classes this coming semester and have no idea what I'd like to pursue on the Graduate level. My original goal as an undergrad was med school, but it was more of an idea placed into my mind growing up and not really something I'm truly passionate about. I've considered getting my PhD and becoming a professor, or maybe I'll just get a Masters and permanently reside at the base where I can have a stable and secure job. Still a lot to think about... A couple of friends are also encouraging me to join the Peace Corps.

I shall tell you all about my herps and buggy friends in my next post when I have a bit more time today. Kittens need their medicine and I need to see my optometrist!

[Jenste]

Take care of those kitties and your eyes! We shall all wait in eager anticipation of your photos! (It's not like we can stalk on FB to see any )

[flybyferns]

Thanks guys = )

Well, to start off I interestingly have no amphibians in my collection. I joined this forum as a means to obtain more information about some frogs and to contribute to the feeder forum mostly... But I'll save more of the details behind that for tomorrow. My brain is essentially mush right now, so bare with me as this post will likely be sporatic and unorganized.

I was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio and have lived here my entire life. Family has always been great and the story of my life is pretty much an animal lover cliche, so I'll save that. Aside from a couple of near-death experiences that drastically changed my outlook and appreciation for life, nothing too remarkably exciting to report. I've done work in a few labs between Wright State University, the Univeristy of Dayton and for Wright-Patterson AFB for biofuels and working with certain microorganisms (particularly the common cold virus). Lab work has always been my fortay but it isn't necessairly something I wish to do for a career. I'd much rather spend my time outside in the fresh air if possible.

For my interests and whatnot I'll just list things as they come to mind...let the random ranting begin! I don't really watch TV, but enjoy movies... good comedies and action movies are always good. My favorite color is Red. I don't really like talking on the phone or texting for extended periods of time. I like to lay in the grass and stare at the stars and the clouds. I like to run, bike, and workout at the gym in my free time. I do a lot of yardwork and enjoy growing my own produce. I have a cat, and my doggie just recently passed at the age of ten to an autoimmune disease. My cat is 21 years old and she inspires me with her lawlz. I recently rescued a litter of kittens that were left in a box in the middle of the road... the people in this world amaze me. I shower at least once a day. I'm very left-brained and lack any creativity whatsoever. I'm kind of a perfectionist. I enjoy longboarding and always wear a helmet doing so. I listen to a lot of dubstep but can appreciate good music of any genre (except for some rap music). I don't watch a lot of sports. Most of my good friends are hippies. I haven't been in a relationship in 3 years after my ex cheated on me. I'm afraid to commit to relationships now (working on it). I've been shot at. I try not to judge people by first impressions. I'm a moral person but do not have any serious religious beliefs. I don't have a facebook . I've been on various herp related forums for about ten years. I absolutely hate heights and roller coasters, and I'm claustrophobic. I like ice cream... anyone else ever feel like you can eat pounds of ice cream even when you are full? Brownie batter and cookie dough are both better than ice cream. I like to cook. I don't like to dance. I like to take naps in hammocks. I sometimes spin poi. Jack Daniels is my drink of choice. I brake if I see leaves moving across the road. I'm always hot and prefer cooler weather. I like to fish sometimes... lakes are some of my favorite places to be in the world. I'm a morning person. I don't write poems or make any kind of art, and am deeply envious of those who can.

Thats probably good enough for now... enjoy reading that mess ; ) A bit rushed today so don't really have the time to organize my thoughts, haha

Hi Jeff,
I'm behind by one day. Sorry about that.
Good to really meet you.
However, all of this wonderful information does not surprise me one bit as FF posts have always been :smart, sensitive and intelligent, and polite !

[JeffreH]

I'll be sure to drag out some photos for tomorrow = ) Funny story about those kittens... last night I had a dream that I was in a helicopter...woke up shorlty after to find 4 kittens sleeping on my chest purring conspicuously. Clearly the sounds of the helicopter from my dream was the kittens! I'm really not even that much of a cat person but these little ones are just too much lol. They had pretty bad ear mites, fleas, worms and feline herpes but all are recovering nicely.

Anywho, to Tuesday!

As I alluded to earlier, I do not actually keep any amphibians. I came to FrogForum while researching about Milk Frogs and some Dart Frogs to aid some fellow hobbyists... while browsing I came across a couple of questions about feeder roaches in the feeder forum and the rest is history. I've enjoyed browsing random threads and learning some new information about phibs during my stay, but I'd say 90% of my posts are in the feeder forum, and the rest are likely in the 'other pets' and general discussions to update about reptile related laws in the states.

I've been keeping reptiles seriously as a hobby since about 2000; this is when I purchased my first crested gecko and shortly thereafter a leopard gecko. Always been a bit of a research junkie and began participating in several forums around this time as well. Over the course of the next few years I began adding more Rhacodactylus geckos to my collection and began breeding the R. ciliatus. I continued to breed geckos until just a few years ago and have since sold most of my stock and am down to only 4 geckos at this time. Breeding was an awesome experience, but I found myself lacking a real connection with individual animals to an extent... I had so many cages and lizards to tend to that I couldn't give much personal attention to each individual. I now keep all of my geckos in naturalistic vivaria and I'm finding the smaller scale is much less hectic and enjoyable (for me, at least). Herps are like potato chips ; )

In 2004 I adopted my bearded dragon, Charlie. He taught me a valuable lesson that I thankfully have not had too many problems with... the importance of setting money aside for vet bills. Charlie was mis-diagnosed by the vet when he was a few months old to have coccidea, and after treating him for several months with no improvement, I went in to another office for a second opinion. It turned out he had pinworms and needed a completely new treatment, probiotics, and a special diet. We battled illness for almost 4 months before he finally recovered, with vet bills pushing close to $400. I now save bits of money into an emergency vet fund in preparation for anything that may happen.

In 2006 I picked up my BCI "Hypo" Hog Island Boa, Drake. He was about 3yrs old when I purchased him and he has been an absolute sweetheart since day one. A couple of years later I became exposed to the world of ball pythons and my hobby interests shifted drastically from gecko morphs to python morphs. I purchased several double codominant morphs with intentions to breed, having a total of 12 snakes. My most prized snake in my collection now is the one in my avatar - my little Luna. She is a blue eyed leucistic ball python (BEL) that I received in a trade for a subadult female pewter. I don't plan on breeding my pythons anytime soon, as I'd like to get myself in a more stable environment. I also have no intentions of adding any new animals to my collection until that time, but if the right one comes along I may have to bite = ) The next snake I aim to add to my collection is a T- Albino Blood Python.

Finally, as some of you many know, I enjoy keeping my feeder insects. I've always loved creepy crawlies, and I began breeding a variety of species to keep my animals well fed. I started with mealworms, superworms, and crickets...and moved into breeding silkworms, hornworms, and waxworms. But my true insect passion has manifested itself in keeping Cockroaches! After obtaining my first feeder roaches, I began adding additional species to my collection....even those not meant to be used as feeders, lol. I have an entire rack system devoted to my roaches and feeder insects and I enjoy taking care of them. I'll add pictures of some of the soecies I keep tomorrow.

I think thats about enough for today, don't want to bore anyone = )

[Heatheranne]

Ah, so you'd be the perfect person to ask dubia roach questions then?

Can't wait to see pictures...

[Jenste]

Wednesday, show and tell. Wow us with your pictures/videos/sound clips.

Everyone's favorite day for MOTW!

[DC101]

Ive always loved your avatar Jeff and i always know its you when i see it. I would love to expand into snakes but my parents would really want me sitting on the couch with a snake around my neck. I think they are used to the "killing" factor of snakes and don't know that they are actually very placid. Oh well.

Cant wait to see the pics!

[Badger]

Grats Jeff

[JeffreH]

Thanks Dalton! How's that trip back to RI? You're going to need to change your location on the forum to Tennessee once you guys are permanently set up = )

David - Snakes are a pretty common phobia to a lot of people, and I'd wager living in Australia doesn't help with all of those venomous species running around. If you do ever get the chance to add one to your collection though, they are some of the best pets a person could ask for. I only keep pythons and boas, but they are absolutely beautiful animals and require very minimalistic care once you have the setup down. Definitely the lazy mans pet... feed once a week, poop about once a week... and the species I keep tolerate handling better than any herp I've kept before aside from my beardie ; )

Picture time! On to Wednesday!

I'm going to apologize in advance if these photos are too large - I'll gladly look into resizing later and a mod can remove them temporarily if that is the case. These are just coming straight from my photobucket album. This computer does not have any of my photos saved to it... so I'll try to get more photos up later too = /


Drake the BCI


My biggest regret in the hobby was letting this girl go, a beautiful pastave:


Miss Luna when she first arrived; she has gained about 350 grams since then:










My cat Missy...21yrs old and going strong! :3


My doggie Riley who recently passed, miss ya buddy:


A few Roaches! = D
Elliptorhina javanica


A. tesselata


Eublaberus posticus


B. craniifer nymphs...I unfortunately do not have photos of the breathtaking adults with jet black wings:



And finally, the temporary additions to the family...the kittens! Tell me...how could someone leave these little guys in a box in the middle of the road?!



I suppose I could sneak in a picture of me... I don't have anything super recent on here but this is a pic of me and my mom at my 21st B-day =P



I'm pretty sure if I post any more photos the thread will spontaneously combust

[NatureLady]

Great getting to know you and congrats!!! I am a few days late to the thread, but great getting to know the master of roach raising!!!! LOL
BEAUTIFUL photo's!!!!!

[DC101]

Wow, awesome pets Jeff! Surprisingly, i dont get much snakes in my house even though I've had kangaroos and a huge koala come strolling around that escaped from the zoo. Im kind of grateful because i have 2 dogs and don't want them to get hurt. Plus, i don't want to get hurt either.

Even though your cat is 21, she looks so young and healthy! Adorable kittens, i would love to have one of them. Those blue eyes are hard to resist!
Those are some huge roaches, im sure you would scare off a few people with those

[Heatheranne]

Great pictures! I'm not a snake person...I've always had a bit of a fear of anything with no legs, except worms, lol! Yours are so pretty. My daughter would love them . Adorable kittens! Love the pic of you and your honey .

So, as the roach man, do tell... Can I feed my dubias strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, green mellons, grapes, etc.? I feed mine fluker's cricket water gel, fluker's calcium fortified cricket food, oranges, clementines, apples, cheerios, and occasionally potatoes. Thanks!

How many roaches do you have in your colonies?