Member of the Month - February 2015 - DigitalPunk/Paul

[LilyPad]

Paul will be kicking off our first MOTM! Congratulations Paul


Week 1, 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.

[DigitalPunk]

There isn't enough interesting stuff about me to fill up a whole month lol.

My love for frogs is a new love. My wife asked for Frogs for Christmas in 2013. She has loved them her whole life but never kept them as pets. So I did what we advise everyone against and bought them without knowing a thing about how to care for them. Long story short that is what lead me to the Frog Forum. I instantly fell in love with the design, layout, and construction of Vivariums. I poured over build threads on multiple sites. Watched all the videos I could find and asked an endless amount of questions. The vast majority of help i received was from Bill (Deranged Chipmunk) on this very site. Add that with all the support, help and encouragement I got from Lynn and Heather while I learned how to care for my new Red Eye Tree frogs and the FF quickly became home.

Outside of frogs my interests vary. I love spending time with my wife and 2 kids. I enjoy kicking back on the couch and playing video games, watching TV, and doing odd projects around the house. I am old enough to know I am not young, but young enough to fight being old.

I am married (little over a year) to my best friend (Not Bill sorry buddy). I have 2 kids from a previous marriage (Son 13, Daughter 12) and My wife and I have a baby on the way. My son has falling head first into frogs right with me. We have built a couple tanks for him as a father son project and he currently has 4 Azuresus he cares for. He talks about adding to his collection, but girls are starting to catch his eye so I have convinced him to hold off for a bit before adding more responsibility on him that would probably fall on me each time a new girl enters his life.

I live in the middle of no where America and face some pretty unique challenges when it comes to sourcing Vivarium supplies and plants. Unlike others I know I can't simply drive to some awesome local store and buy everything my heart desires. I have to source all my supplies online and suffer through the shipping delays as I wait (not so patiently) for my goodies to arrive.

My Favorite color is Red and I am indeed a real person.

I will leave you with a poem I wrote that you all may or may not have read.

There's a shadow just behind me,
Shrouding every step I take,
Making every promise empty,
Pointing every finger at me.
Waiting like a stalking butler
Who upon the finger rests.
Murder now the path of "must we"
Just because the son has come.

Jesus, won't you whistle
Something but the past is done?
Jesus, won't you whistle
Something but the past is done?

Why can't we not be sober?
I just want to start this over.
Why can't we drink forever.
I just want to start this over.

I am just a worthless liar.
I am just an imbecile.
I will only complicate you.
Trust in me and fall as well.
I will find a center in you.
I will chew it up and leave,
I will work to elevate you
Just enough to bring you down.

Mother Mary won't you whisper
Something but the past is done.
Mother Mary won't you whisper
Something but the past is done.

Why can't we not be sober?
Just want to start this over.
Why can't we sleep forever.
I just want to start this over.

I am just a worthless liar.
I am just an imbecile.
I will only complicate you.
Trust in me and fall as well.
I will find a center in you.
I will chew it up and leave,
Trust me

Why can't we not be sober?
Just want to start things over.
Why can't we sleep forever.
I just want to start this over.

I want what I want


Paul

[LilyPad]

Week 2 - 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!

And for the rest of you, don't forget to ask Paul any questions you may have! He gets to answer those in week 4

[Frogger00]

Here's a question: do you have any other pets other than frogs?


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[DigitalPunk]

Species kept:

Dendrobates Tinctorius Citronella

I got the Citronella because I really was looking for a bigger Dart frog that was bold and boy are these guys and gals bold. I could (and do) sit and watch them for hours on end. They are quite the little characters

Dendrobates Tinctorius Azureus

These are technically my sons frogs, but I claim them as mine as often as possible. They are typical Tincs... They are very bold and very pretty

Ranitomeya Ventrimaculata

These were my first Dart frog purchase. They are very shy and hard to enjoy until you start to appreciate what these little fellas allow you to see of their life. I originally bought 4 Vents and learned a hard lesson on double checking tanks for possible escape routes when 3 of them escaped. 2 escaped one day and a 3rd escaped a couple days later before I could find where they were getting out from. 2 of the Vents sadly were never found. The lone escape actually hopped up to me one day while I was down in the frog room and then surprisingly enough jumped right into my hands and then back into the tank he went. I didn't know it at the time, but the frog who returned home was a male and the smart one that never escaped was a female. These 2 lone survivors are on a mission to repopulate the world it seems. They are actively breeding right now and lay a new clutch every 3 - 5 days. Each clutch consists of 3-5 eggs. They are machines lol

Oophaga Pumilio Blue Jean

I have wanted a Pumilo for a while now. I have several morphs on my list and suprisingly enough the Blue Jeans was not one of them, but I came across an opportunity to buy a sexed pair of Wild Caught Blue Jeans and jumped at it. I am new to keeping Pumilos, though the don't differ in basic care from any other Dart frog their needs within the tank are different and it has been interesting seeing how they use the various items I have placed in the tank for them and see things that I wish I would have done different. These are by far my favorite frog in my collection at the moment with the Citronella in a very close 2nd.

Soon to be added

phyllobates terribilis Mint
Dendrobates Tinctorius Leucomelas
Oophaga Pumilio - Several


Mistakes

This could be a very long section. The vast majority of my mistakes has been in the design and execution of Vivariums and Paludariums. I am not even able to accurately count how many times I have built a tank only to want to tear it apart and start over near instantly. A lot of the mistakes have been me "learning on the job" as it were. I would set out with a specific design in mind and attempt to do things I hadn't done before and would be less than excited about how it had all turned out or I would realize that while the tank was great it did not suit the frogs that it was built for. I try to limit these sorts of mistakes as much as possible because I frankly cant afford to rebuild tanks constantly lol.

Other mistakes cost me the lives of some of my frogs. My vent mistakes is pointed out above. I also lost my group of Mantella Ebenaui due to cold temps this winter. Some hard lessons and stark reminders that the creatures I keep need me to be attentive to their habitats I have created and make sure I am doing all I can to keep them as safe and healthy as I can.


Breeding

I plan to breed each species I own. I purchase frogs with the intent of ending up with a pair for future breeding. Most of my frogs are to young to breed currently. The Blue Jeans should be breeding in 3-5 months I would assume, but other than that the R. Vents are my only group that is actively breeding. It has been a huge learning curve for me! I have learned a lot about Vents and their breeding habits, eggs and their care, and tadpoles and how to care for them through research and trial and error. I must have read every single thing on the internet about vent egg care and tadpole care. I asked several friends for advice near constantly and it still took me actually caring for the eggs and doing some trial and error to find that magic combination to be successful at it. I currently have 7 tadpoles in the water and 15 eggs in various stages of development waiting their turn to hatch out and become tadpoles.


How I found The Frog Forum

I found it much like many of you did I would imagine. I bought my wife 2 frogs for Christmas without doing any prior research and realized within 24 hours I was into something that I needed help with. I googled for answers and found the Frog Forum. It would take me several weeks of reading and doing before I would join and ask for the help that I needed. I quickly found a home here and people I could call friends that have helped me every step of the way.

[DigitalPunk]

Here's a question: do you have any other pets other than frogs?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Only other pet we have is a Dog. I use to keep snakes when I was a kid and have had several different birds over the years. Until I acquired my first frogs I had only had Dogs for years.

[Frogger00]

Only other pet we have is a Dog. I use to keep snakes when I was a kid and have had several different birds over the years. Until I acquired my first frogs I had only had Dogs for years.

Nice to know! What snakes did you have?


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[DigitalPunk]

I kept Pythons for several years and a couple boas. Nothing to exotic or fancy. I gave them all away when I turned 17 and signed up for to serve in the Armed Forces. I stayed away from having pets after that for a long time. It was hard to let them all go and with military life it is impossible for me to keep them and give them the proper care they needed and quite frankly deserved.

[deranged chipmunk]

Yeah, we're gonna need pictures of the dog


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[DigitalPunk]

[deranged chipmunk]

Paulie!! He looks just like you! Lol

He is such a cutie!!


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[DigitalPunk]

Thanks! He's a She She is a spaz lol Love her to death!

[deranged chipmunk]

She/he, I respect it's privacy and can choose to be whatever he/she wants to be. I don't judge lol


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[irThumper]

Aw, a Red Heeler (aka Australian Cattle Dog) baby!!!! ^_^ <3

[DigitalPunk]

She is a mutt. Like 3 different breeds all rolled into one crazy mess. We love her, but man is she weird lol.

[deranged chipmunk]

hey!! we still have a couple more days until the next phase. I wanna hear all about the mistakes you've made in the hobby!! LOL

[DigitalPunk]

The only real mistake I made early on was buying frogs without doing the proper research before hand. I did that one right out of the gate lol.

All my mistakes can be lumped into "learning curve"


I guess looking back and reflecting on issues and problems I have come across I don't consider them "Mistakes" when I tried something new and then ended up having to rework the tank because something wasn't going the way I expected. I look at everything (the good and the bad) and can say I would not be where I am at right now with my tanks and frogs if I didn't learn somethings through experience. Some issues I came across wasn't anything I did really wrong as much as it was learning the technique for building a certain background or feature. Learning how not to kill certain types of plants, Learning how to culture fruit flies, Learning how to get fruit flies out of the culture without having 1000 of them escape, learning how to properly apply spray foam, learning how to design a tank for the frog and not just for me, learning how to keep humidity up, how to heat.... I could go on and on. I am still learning and learn some new trick or technique or get an idea from another tank daily.

Paul

[LilyPad]

Week 3, show and tell. Wow us with your pictures/videos/sound clips.

[Heatheranne]

Paulie?

Let's see those pics please ?


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[DigitalPunk]

Keep trying to post them but the site issues lately keep messing things up. I will try again now.

First Frogs:








































Current and Past tanks:

























Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for looking Sorry it was late