Dart frog price tags

[bshmerlie]

Its sad to say but its simply about supply and demand. If the frog breeds easily and there are a lot of them on the market the price will drop. If there are only a few breeders out there breeding a particular frog then they will be able to ask for a hefty price when it comes to selling offspring. Some people buy the rare frogs to breed them as a business to make money with. I don't see why that should be a bad thing. Its called capitalism and you see that in every hobby. Besides I don't believe anyone is getting rich selling frogs. The amount of money that goes into keeping and maintaining the frogs with equipment and supplies im sure sucks up a lot of profit. Also being expensive does keep some rare frogs out of the hands of some amateur hobbiest that shouldn't have them in the first place. The dart frog community is interlinked pretty well and youll see some breeders trading amongst themselves. Get involved in the regional dart frog community in your local area and start making relationships. Sometimes its also who you know.

[tjtreefrog]

Get involved in the regional dart frog community in your local area and start making relationships. Sometimes its also who you know.

I don't think that's an option for me. Like I mentioned earlier, It's hard to find dart frogs around here. Actually, it's hard to find any frogs around here. I've lived here my entire life and I've only seen Red-eyed tree frogs once at the local petshop. I got one when they were on sale for $40, thought I'd found an amazing deal. When I got crickets the other day, they said, "What are they for?" I told them they were for my Waxy Monkey frogs. They had no idea what I was talking about, they had never heard of them! So it's probably going to be a while before I get dart frogs.

[bshmerlie]

Yes living in a small town far from a big city is definately going to limit your options, but the internet is an amazing place. It allows you to get involved in the bigger community. Again it goes back to the relationships that you develop. I would have no problem giving away a frog to someone that I consider a friend on a forum. Of course they would have to pay for shipping. Frog forum is a lot like family..so get to know the regulars and make friends.

[Leefrogs]

I find quite a few things posted here very disturbing. It's not sounding like capatilism to me, more like elitism. Usually the longer something out on the market the cheeper it becomes, then that increases the demand by poularity. And that u have frogs to give away only validates my point, if red eyes were 40 instead of 60, people might have baught two instead of just one. You would have no frogs left to give away, loss eats up proffit. Anyway, to my main point, don't u think that keeping these prices high on certain animals also causes the decilne of wild populations. Doesn't high prices tempt the locals to take animals from the wild. Talk about putting frogs in the hands if a novice!!!!!! How many die in small containers before they're even sold to a broker who then sells them to the ELITE. Much like DeBeers holding onto diamonds to elevate prices, that's not supply and demand, that's greed. and that greed pushed locals to mine blood diamonds with slaves just to feed debeers stock of unrealeased diamonds. Death for nothing!!!!! Exept elitism.....

[bshmerlie]

First off I have never bred or sold any of my frogs. Do I plan on eventually breeding my red eyes? Absolutely! Sometime in the next few months. I don't plan on making this a business and if I want to give some frogs away...they're mine to give away. There's been a couple of younger members here on this forum that I have already promised to give some free frogs to if I'm lucky enough to have a healthy clutch. That is what im talking about when I say get to be friends with other members in the frog community..I'm sure I will not be the first to give a free frog away to someone who maybecant afford them. If my Cobalts breed I would do the same with those offspring as well. I am not in this for the money....its just a hobby. Secondly...its the buyers that drive the price not the sellers. If people want to pay stupid money on something that is what keeps the price high. I don't know how this went into diamonds but no one has to have a diamond stop buying them and the price will go down. Lastly, I have made it public knowledge that I don't believe that any frog should be taken from the wild. The hobby should sustain itself with captive bred frogs only. But then could you imagine the price? Frogs then would only be had by the elite.

[tjtreefrog]

The amount of money that goes into keeping and maintaining the frogs with equipment and supplies im sure sucks up a lot of profit. Also being expensive does keep some rare frogs out of the hands of some amateur hobbiest that shouldn't have them in the first place. The dart frog community is interlinked pretty well and youll see some breeders trading amongst themselves. Get involved in the regional dart frog community in your local area and start making relationships. Sometimes its also who you know.

Looking back on this, I'd say that dart frogs are probably one of the cheapest frogs to breed and keep. They breed relatively easy compared to more common species like White's tree frogs and other tree frogs that require a lot more conditioning. They also consume very little compared to most frogs. Their food itself, fruit flies, is much easier to breed and more prolific than crickets or roaches that we feed to most other frogs. Space is another factor, and dart frogs require very little space to breed. So I'd have to say there are people out there that are making a pretty good profit of breeding dart frogs.

If keepers just refused to pay the high prices for these frogs, this might lower the price or it could be a sign for breeders to turn away from these species entirely as the demand has decreased. If the species is hard to get in the wild and there is little demand for them in captivity, why breed or carry them?

If only one breeder lowered his price (and his dart frogs were nice and healthy), the demand for his dart frogs would certainly overwhelm his supply. It would take the effort of several breeders simultaneously lowering their prices to effect a long term change. But who wants to do that when there are people out there willing to pay these high prices for them? And I would guess that even at such high prices, a lot people buying them shouldn't. Wesleybrouwer pointed out that if you want them bad enough, you will pay the high prices for them, however, I would absolutely love to have some of these rarer dart frog species (and I really want some P. hosii), but I simply do not have the funds to do so at the present cost of obtaining them.

[Leefrogs]

Did u see the new kid that's got picture perfect WC red eyes!!!! This so called well established species has been bread in captivity for what 50 years!!! Wild caught because prices are so damn high!!! WC established prices first, then breeders jumped on the band wagon. A sick cycle that CAN be stoped, especially now with chitrid, climate change, polutants, and clear cutting. Were just adding pressure on frogs by DELUDING ourselves thinking WC is not common. Get to the root, you'll find the worm

[Woodsman]

Hi Gingerlee,

Frogs are not collected from the wild because they are cheaper than captive-bred frogs, only because it is legal. If we want to eliminate the suffering that occurs to wild-collected animals and the damage it causes to wild populations, we have to bring pressure on the CITES process to close export of dart frogs from some of these countries (Panama and Madagascar account for over 90% of all exports of frogs worldwide and this should stop). Some of this work is already occuring,

I breed a lot of dart frogs and usually sell wholsale to a large retailer here in the Northeast. It is not easy to advertise frogs for sale, negotiate with all comers, and ship frogs around the country with a live arrival gaurantee.

The best advice I have been given in 14 years of rearing darts was that, if you are a good, dedicated breeders and behave responsibly, you should be able to sell enough frogs to pay for your expenses in the hobby. I have lived by these ideas and have been very happy in the hobby.

Take care, Richard.

[Leefrogs]

I also beleive that making ANYTHING illegal doesnt stop anything. That just makes price go up usually. But I see what you're saying. Thanks for your responce.

[bshmerlie]

I also beleive that making ANYTHING illegal doesnt stop anything. That just makes price go up usually.

There are many species that are endangered and not legal for import or sale in the US. There are many countries that have made it illegal to export their frogs.
It does work so how can you say it doesn't help anything? By the way,Captive Bred Red Eyes can easily be found for 20 bucks so" damn high" is an exaggeration. Unless of course,someone with 20 bucks is considered the" elite".

[Leefrogs]

Did u see previous posts, they are 60 in stores, on sale, rarely for 40. Can be found and are found are different things. And those 20 dollar ones are probably old and/or maybe sick. And I'm sure there are plenty of endangered frogs in collections. Ever hear of smuggling? the world is full of loop holes

[pez]

Ok, so here is how I see the situation.

Prices in some frogs may be high, yes we all know that. Frogs with high prices are also "rare" frogs, yes ok. But that is ok in some way because many of this frogs are wild caught, imagine for a moment what it would be if wild caught frogs were sold at 20$ in stores (Sadly there are some cases were this happens and some red eyed tree-frogs and other species are taken away from their habitat) there populations would decrease at a faster rate. Frogs would be affected not only by the chytrid fungus and the global warming, but also by the frog-keeping hobby. How would all of you feel if you knew that you are one of the main causes of the amphibian decline???

So, what i'm trying to say is that is not right to sell frogs at so expensive prices, nor taking them out of their natural habitat to then be the rest of their lives between glass walls. What should be done is that "frog sellers" should try to breed these expensive frogs (the ones that are wild caught), and in that way help amphibian populations in the wild.


Countries should have laws to protect frogs and ban exporting frogs. I think that all Agalychnis and the Cruziohyla calcarifer are listed on CITES II, and that Costa Rica banned the frog exporting but I have seen in other forums people that has an Agalychnis annae an endemic species from here, so all of us should think when we are about to buy a wild caught frog, and countries should try to help to preserve the ecology.