Tbharness
New member
I'm originally from North-Central Indiana (Clinton County) but I have been living in the Smoky Mountains in Sevierville, TN for the last 5 years. I have worked as a zookeeper, and will go back to that passion one day, but for now I work full time at Petsmart trying to help people better care for their animals. (I need a car and education doesnt pay as well as retail. Lol) My level of experience and knowledge is a little unusual for my position as a pet care associate, but educating pet parents gives me joy.
I currently only keep a few species of dart frogs and some red footed tortoises. I downsized my collection when I moved.
The Smoky Mountains has been called the salamander capital of the United States. If you collect all of the animals in the National Park, like bears and turkey and skunks, and place them on one side of a scale the number of salamanders in the Smokies would outweigh all of the other animals. There have been times where I couldn't go hiking without finding at least 10 salamanders on or just off of the trail.
With the ban on imports and trade I'm not sure how possible it is but I'm hoping to be able to keep some fire belly newts again. I used to have a breeding trio years ago but got sold them to a breeder in Indiana. I'm hoping somebody here in Tennessee has a captive bred population of fire bellies that I could get a few from. I love those little dudes!
I currently only keep a few species of dart frogs and some red footed tortoises. I downsized my collection when I moved.
The Smoky Mountains has been called the salamander capital of the United States. If you collect all of the animals in the National Park, like bears and turkey and skunks, and place them on one side of a scale the number of salamanders in the Smokies would outweigh all of the other animals. There have been times where I couldn't go hiking without finding at least 10 salamanders on or just off of the trail.
With the ban on imports and trade I'm not sure how possible it is but I'm hoping to be able to keep some fire belly newts again. I used to have a breeding trio years ago but got sold them to a breeder in Indiana. I'm hoping somebody here in Tennessee has a captive bred population of fire bellies that I could get a few from. I love those little dudes!
