hello there, new to hobby

cburns32 · 03-29-2010, 07:11 PM

Hello all I am new to the forum and new the to the hobby but I am ready to dive right in.

I recently came across a business opportunity I could not pass up...me and my cousin Matt visited his cousin in Costa Rica a few weeks back and man did it blow me away. It was absolutely wonderful and I fell in love with what my cousin's cousin did in his free time. He currently catches, raises and breeds dart frogs from the Costa Rica area (apparently fairly hard to come by darts in the states). He has a basement full of 50 or so different vivariums and it is simply mind blowing.

As the week went on me and my cousin fell more and more in love with the vivariums and colorful frogs. As we got to talking with his cousin he said that we could make a killing here in the states off these frogs with just a few vivarium setups in our homes. He offered to ship us the darts (all sexed pairs) and charge us only for shipping!!!! He said of course we'd need the vivariums to be setup before we got our hands on some darts so here I am.

I want to get started asap, money is not a problem for me as I have a highly lucrative job, I just really need to know where to begin....tips, pointers, suggestions, comments are MORE than appreciated. I don't want to get too crazy too fast, I was thinking maybe a 29-gallon tall for 2 sexed pairs to start but like I said I am new to all this and would love to hear your guys input and thoughts.

Once I get my feet wet I'll start a build log and all, but I really would like to hear from you experts and hopefully you guys have some good sites or even some good hookups in Illinois.

jellyman · 03-30-2010, 11:10 AM

I would assume you will need some sort of import license and paperwork to bring any animals into the US. There are probably guidlines from the Costa Rica gov't as well.

Rich Frye · 03-30-2010, 11:57 AM

As of right now Costa Rica is absolutely closed to exports. Any frogs coming in from Costa Rica would be illegal. They will not pass customs, and those involved would be subject to prosecution.

Rich

cburns32 · 03-30-2010, 02:40 PM

Regardless of all that I am going to begin construction on a terrarium, frogs or not. I can worry about that later, I know I need the terrarium up and running before I can introduce frogs. So for starters, what size/kind of tank should I use in your guys' best opinion. I plan on having 2-5 frogs in my enclosure.

Rich Frye · 03-30-2010, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cburns32

Regardless of all that I am going to begin construction on a terrarium, frogs or not. I can worry about that later, I know I need the terrarium up and running before I can introduce frogs. So for starters, what size/kind of tank should I use in your guys' best opinion. I plan on having 2-5 frogs in my enclosure.

Have you any idea what species you are interested in?
Have you any experience , other than checking out some Costa Rican frogs?

Rich

P.S. , I live in Chicago and we have meetings every now and then.
Also, It's always nice to know exactly to whom one is talking ...

cburns32 · 03-31-2010, 04:14 AM

I'm not interested in any particular species but I'd imagine I'd want to start out with some more durable frogs to start with (ones more for beginners). I have kept white tree frogs for 3 years now and just recently sold them but that is the extent of my experience. I'm willing to learn and put in the time to making this a long lasting hobby. I also live in Chicago (Bloomington-Normal for the school year) and my name is Chris.

Carlos Pineda · 04-01-2010, 10:40 PM

Wuz up Chris! Like all welcome to DFF! I've been here for about almost a year and keeping my dart frogs for just about as long. There is many experienced froggers here and I hope they will help U like they done for me.

Well, my advice in good starter frogs are Leucomelas I started w/ two of these litlle frogs pretty bold nice colors, pretty hardy. My 2 are doing great I have them for almost a year now. Another starter frog are the Aurutus which come in different colors, green and black I believe are the most popular. A little bigger frog and very popular and bold especially when its feeding time is the Azureus ( I have 3 of these! thats why I know, real fun man). I would have to say these are the most popular and well known when it comes to dart frog keeping especially to START with. Hope this helps buddy.

By the way, Go Chicago Bears! I'm originally from Chicago been there almost all my life lived like 10 - 15 min. away from Wrigley Field can get there fast on the Brown line. But I moved to Florida the cold weather can beat up a brother man! Yet I don't know if U like the Bears so sorry if you don't, I'm still a die-hard fan. Anyways if U have more questions ask away its cool here Good Luck with your Dart Frogs.

D. Auratus Camouflage · 04-14-2010, 05:09 PM

hey there every one i'am new to this site and i'am very interested in dart frogs I have grown up taking care of most things u could keep in a tank in your house snakes, lizards ,frogs , turtles but i recently became very interested in dart frogs and i'am not 100% on how to care for these beautiful creatures any tips on how to look after and such would be greatly appriciated i have my tank up ill post sum pics of it soon iam in the process of buying my plants and frogs if u cant tell by my name i'am really interested in D. Auratus camouflage.
now to get to my tank. My tank is custom i got it made its plexi glass all one piece its a 46 gallon corner tank with a custom oak stand I got my fogger and im in the process of making my own humidifer and rain system ive been having troubles with my humidity my book says humidity should be 80% to 100% and i cant just cant get it to go past 80% this is why im making a humidifer

SO PLEASE IF ANY 1 HAS ANY TIPS AND OR INFORMATION PLEASE EMAIL ME AT bmxing_forlife69@hotmail.com

Thank you for all your time.

Rich Frye · 04-14-2010, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D. Auratus Camouflage

hey there every one i'am new to this site and i'am very interested in dart frogs I have grown up taking care of most things u could keep in a tank in your house snakes, lizards ,frogs , turtles but i recently became very interested in dart frogs and i'am not 100% on how to care for these beautiful creatures any tips on how to look after and such would be greatly appriciated i have my tank up ill post sum pics of it soon iam in the process of buying my plants and frogs if u cant tell by my name i'am really interested in D. Auratus camouflage.
now to get to my tank. My tank is custom i got it made its plexi glass all one piece its a 46 gallon corner tank with a custom oak stand I got my fogger and im in the process of making my own humidifer and rain system ive been having troubles with my humidity my book says humidity should be 80% to 100% and i cant just cant get it to go past 80% this is why im making a humidifer

SO PLEASE IF ANY 1 HAS ANY TIPS AND OR INFORMATION PLEASE EMAIL ME AT bmxing_forlife69@hotmail.com

Thank you for all your time.

ALERT...ALERT...RUN-ON SENTENCES ALERT...

I'm jumping in here only to correct a few misconceptions. I usually do not respond to no caps, run-ons, no punctuation posts. I mean really. Almost unreadable...Not trying to come off harsh, but please put some effort in.

It is a very simple matter to raise humidity. If you have an air tight box and you add water to it, you can get 100% relative humidity. If your measuring devise is accurate, simple take the sealed air tight 'box' and remove whatever is blocking the air from getting in until you get your desired RH. In other words, more ventilation = less humidity. Less ventilation = more RH.
I do not like foggers simply because the are prone to breaking (especially the cheap ones , which everybody seems to be drawn to...) and they are absolutely not needed.
Not sure how you are 'making' a mister, but hand misting a single tank is no biggie. In fact I hand mist every one of my vivs each day I am home.
As to the issue of tips and facts, read up plenty ahead of time. There are about five different forums (worth reading through) now pertaining to darts and if you have any question I'd give great odds that it has been answered on one of those forums.

Rich

ALERT...ALERT...THIS HAS BEEN A RUN-ON SENTENCES ALERT...

D. Auratus Camouflage · 04-14-2010, 09:54 PM

well g im sorry i dont type good enough for you

03-29-2010, 07:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
cburns32 Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 3	hello there, new to hobby Hello all I am new to the forum and new the to the hobby but I am ready to dive right in. I recently came across a business opportunity I could not pass up...me and my cousin Matt visited his cousin in Costa Rica a few weeks back and man did it blow me away. It was absolutely wonderful and I fell in love with what my cousin's cousin did in his free time. He currently catches, raises and breeds dart frogs from the Costa Rica area (apparently fairly hard to come by darts in the states). He has a basement full of 50 or so different vivariums and it is simply mind blowing. As the week went on me and my cousin fell more and more in love with the vivariums and colorful frogs. As we got to talking with his cousin he said that we could make a killing here in the states off these frogs with just a few vivarium setups in our homes. He offered to ship us the darts (all sexed pairs) and charge us only for shipping!!!! He said of course we'd need the vivariums to be setup before we got our hands on some darts so here I am. I want to get started asap, money is not a problem for me as I have a highly lucrative job, I just really need to know where to begin....tips, pointers, suggestions, comments are MORE than appreciated. I don't want to get too crazy too fast, I was thinking maybe a 29-gallon tall for 2 sexed pairs to start but like I said I am new to all this and would love to hear your guys input and thoughts. Once I get my feet wet I'll start a build log and all, but I really would like to hear from you experts and hopefully you guys have some good sites or even some good hookups in Illinois.

03-30-2010, 11:57 AM	#3 (permalink)
Rich Frye Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chicago Posts: 172	As of right now Costa Rica is absolutely closed to exports. Any frogs coming in from Costa Rica would be illegal. They will not pass customs, and those involved would be subject to prosecution. Rich __________________ Please enjoy Fryebrothersfrogs.com

04-14-2010, 05:09 PM	#8 (permalink)
D. Auratus Camouflage Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 2	hey there every one i'am new to this site and i'am very interested in dart frogs I have grown up taking care of most things u could keep in a tank in your house snakes, lizards ,frogs , turtles but i recently became very interested in dart frogs and i'am not 100% on how to care for these beautiful creatures any tips on how to look after and such would be greatly appriciated i have my tank up ill post sum pics of it soon iam in the process of buying my plants and frogs if u cant tell by my name i'am really interested in D. Auratus camouflage. now to get to my tank. My tank is custom i got it made its plexi glass all one piece its a 46 gallon corner tank with a custom oak stand I got my fogger and im in the process of making my own humidifer and rain system ive been having troubles with my humidity my book says humidity should be 80% to 100% and i cant just cant get it to go past 80% this is why im making a humidifer SO PLEASE IF ANY 1 HAS ANY TIPS AND OR INFORMATION PLEASE EMAIL ME AT bmxing_forlife69@hotmail.com Thank you for all your time. Last edited by D. Auratus Camouflage; 04-14-2010 at 05:15 PM..

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03-30-2010, 11:10 AM	#2 (permalink)
jellyman Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 37	I would assume you will need some sort of import license and paperwork to bring any animals into the US. There are probably guidlines from the Costa Rica gov't as well.

03-30-2010, 02:40 PM	#4 (permalink)
cburns32 Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 3	Regardless of all that I am going to begin construction on a terrarium, frogs or not. I can worry about that later, I know I need the terrarium up and running before I can introduce frogs. So for starters, what size/kind of tank should I use in your guys' best opinion. I plan on having 2-5 frogs in my enclosure.

03-31-2010, 04:14 AM	#6 (permalink)
cburns32 Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 3	I'm not interested in any particular species but I'd imagine I'd want to start out with some more durable frogs to start with (ones more for beginners). I have kept white tree frogs for 3 years now and just recently sold them but that is the extent of my experience. I'm willing to learn and put in the time to making this a long lasting hobby. I also live in Chicago (Bloomington-Normal for the school year) and my name is Chris.

04-01-2010, 10:40 PM	#7 (permalink)
Carlos Pineda Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: South Florida Posts: 48 Real Name: Carlos Pineda	Wuz up Chris! Like all welcome to DFF! I've been here for about almost a year and keeping my dart frogs for just about as long. There is many experienced froggers here and I hope they will help U like they done for me. Well, my advice in good starter frogs are Leucomelas I started w/ two of these litlle frogs pretty bold nice colors, pretty hardy. My 2 are doing great I have them for almost a year now. Another starter frog are the Aurutus which come in different colors, green and black I believe are the most popular. A little bigger frog and very popular and bold especially when its feeding time is the Azureus ( I have 3 of these! thats why I know, real fun man). I would have to say these are the most popular and well known when it comes to dart frog keeping especially to START with. Hope this helps buddy. By the way, Go Chicago Bears! I'm originally from Chicago been there almost all my life lived like 10 - 15 min. away from Wrigley Field can get there fast on the Brown line. But I moved to Florida the cold weather can beat up a brother man! Yet I don't know if U like the Bears so sorry if you don't, I'm still a die-hard fan. Anyways if U have more questions ask away its cool here Good Luck with your Dart Frogs.

04-14-2010, 09:54 PM	#10 (permalink)
D. Auratus Camouflage Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 2	well g im sorry i dont type good enough for you