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Breeding RETF

M

mark

Guest
Hi, Does anyone know a site for specifics of breeding Red eye tree frogs? All the site I see now days don't tell too much. Thanks
 
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edward

Guest
Mark
If you have access to some of the old Reptiles Magazines there are some good articles there.
RETFs are pretty easy to breed provided you have multiple males. The females receptivity and ovulations is more likey to occur when kept in multiple male groups.
Feed them heavy, raise the temperature of the water to about 80F, increase the humidity to about 90-100% and rain twice a day. This is what I do at work when we need to breed them.

Ed
 
M

mark

Guest
Nice, thats what I was thinking. How do you know if they are males or not? I am getting three, so it would be important to know. You are a Zookeeper! That is so awesome. How is it for you?
 
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edward

Guest
At work my main area currently includes,
Emerald Tree Boas, Typhlonectes natans, Boa (Acarantophis) dumerili, Abronia graminea, Atelopus zeteki, Hyla cinera, Bombina bombina, Cynops cyanureus, Hyla squirrella, Pleurodeles waltl, Desmognathus quadromaculatus, Salamandra salamandra, Tylototriton shanjing, Siren intermedia, Amphiuma pholeter, Bufo baxteri, Red Eye tree frogs, Dendrobates pumilio, Phyllobates terriblis, Naja naja. However depending on the schedule I could be taking care of everything from Crocodilian to rattlesnakes and everything inbetween.
In the past I have worked with many more amphibian species (including a lot more caudates).
I have a number of different species at home.....

Ed
 
M

mark

Guest
A man, you are awesome, you should like write a book about how to become a zookeper and give it to me, I so wanna become a zookeeper. Any advice?
 
E

edward

Guest
Most Zookeeping jobs require a college degree these days. There are some colleges that offer a degree in Zookeeping. There is one in Gainesville Florida (SantaFe teaching Zoo) and one in Bucks county Pennsylvania (Deleware Vally College). Those are a couple of good places to start.

That said, Zookeeping jobs do not pay top scale. The average pay for a Zookeeper is close to $30,000 a year and you have to work holidays and weekends. A very large percentage of the people that start as Zookeepers leave the field within 5 years.
One of the hardest things for people to understand is that the animals you take care of are not yours and that most of the your time will be spent cleaning cages.

Ed

(Message edited by Ed on December 18, 2004)
 
W

william

Guest
Wow you take care of a lot of animals. To bad about the pay though because that would be something fun to do as far as jobs go.
 
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edward

Guest
Zookeeper jobs tend to be in high demand so there are a lot of people that want the job initially so this helps keep the pay down.
You have to like what you do.

Ed
 
M

mark

Guest
I would still love to be a kookeeper. You enjoy your job, correct? I am pretty sure I would. So if I wanted to become a zookepper, you would suggest going to a college that offers zookeeping, correct?
 
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edward

Guest
If that is what you want yes then you would need to go to school to be a Zookeeper.

I do like my job, but there are a lot of Zookeepers that do not.

Ed
 
J

joseph

Guest
Just popping in. But by you saying the animals arent yours how much "authority" do you have over them? For example-who chooses the conditions the animals are kept under and whether or not to attempt breeding? I'm assuming the director and the keeper has to follow the directions?}
 
E

edward

Guest
Breeding can depend on whether the animal is part of a SSP or PMP (species survivial plan or Population Managment Plan) or not. The keeper has little to no say in whether or not an animal is to be bred or if it is an egg layer, hatched and reared. These are based on recommendations based on holding and exhibit space and whether or not any institutions are interested in that species (and if the animal is part of a PMP or SSP, it may be requested that it be bred due to genetic representation, but this could also mean you are sending it to another Zoo as opposed to doing it in house). For example, even though I have various Dendrobatids reproducing at work I currently do not rear any eggs but since a couple of Zoos have asked for RETFs I am cycling my adults for reproduction. Live bearers are kept in male or female groups to prevent unwanted reproductions.
As for the conditions, if you are told specifically how to maintain an animal, that is the plan that you follow regardless if you agree with it or not. This is totally dependent on the curator. I have seen curators that would tell you down to the substrate how they wanted an animal set-up and expect you to follow it. Otherwise, you need to discuss with the Curator how you want to set any new animals up unless you have a curator that trusts your judgement.
Very few Zoo directors have any animal experience anymore. Most Zoos are run as a buissness by people that understand bussiness.

Ed
 
M

mark

Guest
Right Ed, what I meant was what would say the next step for me after high school would be?
 
E

edward

Guest
There are a couple of different paths. If you only get an associates or a BS then you will find it hard to rise above Keeper. Many of the better Zoos are looking for MS or better for Curator positions.
You can get an associates at the Santa Fe Teaching Zoo in Gainsville Florida and I think Deleware Valley College in Pennsylvania offers a Bachelors in Zookeeper. I think there is also a program associated with Syracuse.

Ed
 
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