Bumble Bee Toad (Melanophryniscus stelzneri) - CB Wanted

[Socrates]

Hey just wanted to know if anyone knows if it is possible to locate someone who raises these in the U.S. I saw some for sale at my local Reptile Show, but I wanted to ask if there where any captive breeders. If not, would it be wise to purchase them, I'm just concerned how healthy they'll be, exist in captivity, ability to breed them etc. Any comments, suggestions and advice are greatly appreciated!

[John]

Posted in the wrong section. Moved to the classifieds.

[John]

To my knowledge, no one is captive breeding these in the US because of the complete lack of demand until recently. That may change now, since there has just been a huge importation to the US and Europe and the species appears to be "fashionable" like it never was before. But for now, no I don't think you'll find CB stelzneri in the US, sorry.

[Socrates]

Thanks for the info, looks like I may give it a go then and try breeding some myself. Just hope some of the other breeders still have some later this month at the reptile show.

[SethD]

Like John said, your not going to find any CB stelzneri at the moment. If you see any labeled "CB" right now they are probably just wc's mislabeled by someone. I have seen that once or twice. Give it a bare minimum of 8-9 months to a year or so before you see any true CB's around and it could easily be longer than that. These aren't that terribly hard to breed but they aren't as easy as poison frogs either. Interest is high at the moment and lots of people seem to plan on breeding them so that at least is a good sign, but it remains to be seen how many people will actually be successful or how long interest levels will remain high.

[John]

Yes, I find it amusing that all of these dart frog enthusiasts are suddenly jumping on the stelzneri train - dart frogs are probably the easiest frogs to breed (they do it themselves for goodness sake).

[SethD]

lol, I am glad to see poison frog enthusiasts potentially expanding their horizons and "jumping on the stelzneri train". I have always thought it was a shame that so many poison frog keepers never keep any other type of frogs. Poison frogs are nice, but they are just a drop in the bucket of what is out there.

[Kurt]

I couldn't agree more!

[JimO]

I noted a thread on another forum where a member has successfully bred his toads over the past two month. It looks like he has 10 adults 6.4. Based on the most recent posts, he expects well over 100 froglets. You might try contacting him.

Here's the thread: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/lou...awning-12.html

[John]

He's selling the froglets for $20 each right now.