Hi from Tujunga, California!

Hello everyone!

After trying to access information from various forum pages on this site over the past few years, I realized I could become a member and participate more actively--so here I am!

I'm a former zookeeper, but my experience with amphibians is limited. Not counting the toads and tadpoles I kept when I was a child, it actually began with my interest in reptiles--mostly turtles and tortoises (I have terrible luck keeping snakes!). About 4 years ago I attended my first reptile show, and I came home with a pygmy leaf chameleon, some baby veiled chameleons, and 5 argus reed frogs (hyperolius argus, I think?). The leaf chameleon died within the month, as did one of the veiled chameleons. The other veiled chameleon survived a bit longer, but to my amazement, the reed frogs did quite well!

I lost all but 2 of the reed frogs a couple years ago (it seems that the water in their terrarium became toxic somehow), but I felt encouraged to try to find more, since they didn't seem to be that demanding. Unfortunately, I've had absolutely no luck in locating more argus reed frogs. However...various visits to pet shops and reptile shows has led me to discover other attractive frogs. I don't have a lot of money, so I've stayed away from the more expensive species (thus far!). I find many of the common (and less expensive) frogs to be just as attractive and rewarding to keep.

Aside from the surviving argus reed frogs, I currently have 2 fire-bellied toads (the brown ones, I'm still learning scientific names), at least one (or possibly two or three--can't find them in their vivarium) red-eyed tree frog, one Great Plains toad, 2 Egyptian toads, and 3 absolutely beautiful peacock tree frogs, which I think are also called big-eyed tree frogs.

I have acquired most of these quite recently, so I have lots of questions about caring for them. I DID have a lovely ornate pacman frog, but it died suddenly. I am hesitant to try pacman frogs again just yet, but I'm always looking for more reed frogs!

I don't have any photos of my frogs yet--I'm always nervous about handling them and even opening their vivaria for more than a few seconds to feed them. Well, except for the toads, of course... :happy:

Hi, and welcome to the forum!
I too agree that the commonly kept species are just as fascinating and beautiful.

This forum is largely caudate oriented, and the anuran section usually has little movement, so i thought i´d recommend you John´s other forum, FrogForum, which is much more suited to your interests, and is also a great site!

Thank you for the suggestion...now I just have to figure out how to get to the FrogForum!

However, I neglected to mention that I was looking for info on axolotls when I decided to join this group. I don't know much about axolotls, but for some reason they fascinate me. I watched a TV show about them last week, and that got me looking for more info. It seems they may be illegal in California?

I also had a couple of fire-bellied newts a few years ago, but I didn't have much luck with them, mainly because I followed the directions I got from the guy at the fish store. I DO hope to try them again--I'm told they are easy to keep if you know what you're doing. The local stores around here don't sell many other types of newts or salamanders, so it's hit or miss finding the more exotic species. Eventually, I'd like to learn more about them all, and I can easily see myself having a house full of frogs and caudates one day...

Thanks again!

You can access FrogForum here:
FrogForum.net

I think axolotls are indeed ilegal in California, you should check that.
I would strongly recomend to keep away from Cynops orientalis that are sold in pet-shops. They are all wild caught and usually in bad shape, ranging from horribly emaciated, to ill, to simply stressed (which is still quite dangerous). It can be very disheartening to see them die from infection...
Additionally, buying them promotes the wild caught market, which is a horrible thing....
Buying from pet-shops is definitely not your best option, since most of the species they sel are WC.
If you want quality animals that are dead easy to keep, your best bet are Pleurodeles waltl. They are available from breeders (you can find some in this forum), they are not expensive, and they are one of the easiest species.
The species from the genus Triturus are very good options too.

Check your local laws first, and then decide. With one of the species i mentined you simply can´t go wrong hehe.

Thanks again, Azhael, you've given me some food for thought.

I'm not ready to start with a new species yet--I know I need to do some research first, which is one reason I joined this group. I have a tendency to buy things on impulse, and then it's a matter of figuring out the proper way to care for them. Not the best approach, obviously!

We have a big reptile show coming up in January, and it's possible I'll find some interesting caudates there. The Pleurodeles are very attractive, but it looks like they get quite big. I'll have to figure out if I could house them properly. The Triturus are also lovely, and seemingly smaller?

I'm almost afraid to check out the classified listings on this site--I KNOW I'll be tempted to try all kinds of new things!

My biggest challenge in housing amphibians is temperature control. It gets very hot here during the summer, so my pets have to be able to withstand high temperatures. I think heat may have been a factor in the death of my Cynops, but I'm not sure. I know it was a problem for my leaf chameleons. I'd like to figure out a way to house some of my amphibians outside during the summer, but that involves another set of problems, of course... :happy:

Welcome! I'm sure they're will be alot of people willing to help you learn them all on this site!

P.S.Your first vivarium probably failed because you mixed species-when you mix different species of Herptile, especially amphibians, the toxins they carry could mix with others and cause poisonous chemical reactions throughout the vivarium, hence the reason the water turned toxic.

Chameleons are hard to keep alive, especially for amateurs. I had one live for a couple of months, eating well and such, and then just up and died. And they do NOT do well in aquariums or glass-sided tanks. I've heard they can be really touchy.

Welcome to the forum!

I have found that chameleons do best with LOTS of ventilation (the mesh Reptariums work best) and water with some form of movement, be it from a dripper or an air stone. Leaf chameleons aren't known for their longevity anyways, if you get one to live more than a year you've accomplished something

The one chameleon I have now (a mature male veiled chameleon) lives in a large screen cage. I've had him over a year now, and he seems to be doing okay, although I'm hoping that I can set up an outdoor cage for him so that he can get some natural sunlight when the weather is warm--I'm not convinced that any form of artificial lighting is truly a replacement for natural sunlight. The problem, of course, is that chameleons don't like being handled, so moving him out and then back in might do more harm than good. Even when I take him out of his cage to clean it, he gets very agitated.

The leaf chameleons are SUPPOSED to do okay in aquariums--at least, that's what several seemingly-knowledgeable vendors told me. They apparently live in humid forests in their natural habitat. I think the problem mine had was that my house gets too warm in the summer. I don't have central air conditioning, and when I'm not at home it can get to be over 90 degrees F. in the house during July and August. Anyway, I'm seeing quite a few little leaf chameleons for sale cheap in this area, and nearly all seem to be wild-caught. Given that they are difficult to keep, that translates into a lot of dead chameleons. I won't try them again any time soon.

The only reason I have the veiled chameleon now is that a local pet store went out of business, and the manager made me a deal I could not refuse, since he knew I had been admiring the chameleon from afar.