poison arrow frogs

[lynsey_togofire]

okay. this is gonna sound like a dumb question. but. i have been a reptile owner for quite some time now. i've owned a Nile Moniter, an Iguana, and now a Togo Fire Skink. so now my boyfriend is getting into this reptile/amphibian thing and wants a poison arrow frog really bad! i told him i would try to find him one by his birthday (august 30). my problem is, however, that 1) these amphibians are deadly...and 2) i've heard rumor that they are breeding some that are NOT. any ideas on where to find the NON-poisonous poison arrow frogs?? *blush* i know what needs to be done to keep them, and i most certainly know the risks involved and i have educated him on it and have made him look up things about this frog...but i still can't find a breeder :(...i live in St. Louis and would like someone within a two-hundred mile radius of me...or who could provide cheap shipping. thanks for any help you could give me! LOL!

[marisa]

Hi

Poison Dart frogs are NOT deadly in captivity. You can rest assure no matter where you buy them you won't die from them. Apparently they lose their toxcity as captve breds.

I read this little peice:
"The most toxic member of the group is Phyllobates terribilis, just classified in the 1970's. This bright yellow frog is found in Colombia, South America and can even be harmful to humans if the poison enters the body through an open wound, the mouth or permeates unbroken skin. "

So even getting a totally Wild caught one would be low risk. I would suggest *not* handling any type of frogs anyway.

Just post a wanted ad about your location and what you want.

Marisa

[marisa]

Talks about the fact they are not deadly:
http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/species/poison.html

Caresheets:
http://www.**************/dartfrog/cs_smalldartfrogs.htm

http://members.aol.com/Frogkeepr/poisonfrog.html

http://www.reptileallsorts.com/dartfrogcage-cs.htm

http://www.amphibiancare.com/frogs/poisondartfrog.html

There are so many online! Just thought I'd give you a few

Marisa

[Laurier]

poison frogs are extremely over rated. You see all of these vivariums and think thats what you need and it looks like you will have to blow almost $100 on a vivarium. With all of my enclosures I just have a water dish, pothos, aquarium gravel and spagnum moss than a rock or 2 and a hut. The heat pad under neither keeps the humidity up getting the water circulating and keeps the heat around 70 degrees and than the humidity at about 80%.

Laurier

[lynsey_togofire]

thanks for all your help! one question...why shouldn't you handle ANY frogs? i mean, firebellies i know give off a toxin and all, but i was just curious. i work at Petsmart (the one i work at is one of the best petstores i've ever been in btw) and we sell firebellies, Pac Man frogs, chubby frogs, and we just got in some Mexican frogs. i was just curious so that i can inform customers. and the only reason i am getting one is because my boyfriend loves the colors of the green auratus. he has wanted one of those forever and since he just bought me my skink for my b-day, i figured that i would get him his amphibian for HIS b-day...talk about a nice gf huh? LOL! thanks for the info and i will definatly look into that! btw...on one of the poison arrow frogs sites they said that they can cause paralasis or even death to humans just by being touched...is that true or should that website be banned? just wondering...LOL!

[marisa]

Well you can handle frogs...its just that frogs skin absorbs things like water and anything else....i.e. toxins on our hands or leftover soap...their skin is soft and can easily be injured. All this depends on species though some being tougher than others. I believe holding darts doesn't nothing but stress them out. Pac Man frogs are a bit tougher but then again can also deliver a hard bite when they become adults. Its not that frogs can't be held, their is just better pets to own if you want to hold something often. :)

marisa