Scaphiophryne Gottlebei

[clownonfire]

I personally like natural earth setups for everything. I do not like coco fiber except occasionally as a soil ingredient. It tends to stick to the frogs and just doesn't seem to work well. When I kept this species I personally used local topsoil mixed with sand, leaf litter, pothos, and a couple of small tropical garden center plants I forget the name of. Humidity was pretty high. They seemed to do ok with that but like mantellas they seemed to stress out when it got to warm. Since it is frequently warm in texas I quit working with a number of years ago since I did not feel like going to the pains necessary to keep them in the 70's or cooler.

Seth, any other information you have on the housing setup? Did you keep the soil/sand substrate wet all around? Or did you create micro-habitats around the tank? What size of enclosures did you use? Or from the best of your knowledge, what would you say is the ideal setup for them, without saying the bigger is better? They are known to climb on rocks when not burrowed.... Were there any rocks and did you observe that behavior? Were any other branches laid for hiding spots when burrowed? I've read that high humidity was not a determining factor, as long as the substrate remained somewhat moist, while other resources claim that maintaining very high humidity is key. Did you observe any signs of stress in either very high or dryer setups?

I have also found this article (from Brent Brock) on our sister site Caudata.org. It dates to 2009 and I don't know if this project is still going with TWI.

[bshmerlie]

I personally don't see them going over a $100 bucks. Rare doesn't always mean high price....demand does. I don't think there is going to huge popularity swing for them and as Seth said there's not enough advanced hobbiest out there with an interest in working with them. I think we just need to get one or two solid breeders being successful with them and that would be able to handle the demand for them in the hobby. So if they are cut off it wouldn't matter....well, at least not to the hobby anyway.

[clownonfire]

I personally don't see them going over a $100 bucks. Rare doesn't always mean high price....demand does. I don't think there is going to huge popularity swing for them and as Seth said there's not enough advanced hobbiest out there with an interest in working with them. I think we just need to get one or two solid breeders being successful with them and that would be able to handle the demand for them in the hobby. So if they are cut off it wouldn't matter....well, at least not to the hobby anyway.

Actually, as for solid hobbyists/breeders wanting to work with them, there are already more than a few I know who would jump on the occasion. Valerie Clark and Corey have shown interest if the right papers are behind the frogs. I know Michael Lawrence has also shown interest. There was Ed Kowalski back then... There's a friend of mine closer to home which received 3 this week and is planning on having 6 and working on breeding them (can't name him yet, I'll wait till he comes out of the closet himself). And there's me. Not a serious breeder, yet. Again, I know a breeding project was picked up by TWI a few years back, I'd like to know if this project is still going.... Actually, I'll inquire today!

Eric

[bshmerlie]

Im not saying that no one is interested in them but it would probably only take one or two successful breeders to handle the demand for them in the entire hobby.

[clownonfire]

I have exchanged with Brent Brock this morning from TWI, and here's what he had to say about the project:

"The gottlebei program is still active but seriously stalled because we haven’t been able to obtain enough specimens to attempt any breeding. (...) Very briefly, I can tell you that a couple of zoos have been successful in getting frogs to spawn without hormones and producing tadpoles. But tadpole mortality has been 100% (unless there have been successes I’m unaware of in the last year).(...) But as I recall, a rain chamber was used to stimulate breeding. In nature the species appears to respond to floods."

Brent will drop by to add more on this.

Eric

[bshmerlie]

Hmm...I wonder why the 100% mortality rate with the tadpoles? Have they done any tests on water quality in their natural habitat, maybe even the water composition, to figure this out? Eric I think I know where you need to go on your Honeymoon.

[clownonfire]

I've been speaking with Phil Ramos on Canadart, and here's what he found available in the US:

Well I just did a quick shearch and found some in the U.S. at Ben Siegels. New arrivals just came in for $50each:
Ben Siegel Reptiles Inc.

I highly doubt they come with any papers though....

Eric