My Bolitoglossa platydactyla ! from veracruz mexico

[mcraneck]

Hi everybody i m from el paso texas, usa i live at veracruz, Mexico

i m an amphibian collector i have multiple species of frogs to breed here in mexico is illegal to have all the frogs or amphibians.

I have some Bolitoglossa platydactyla caught in the wild about 6 months ago in tropical jungle...

they are wild caught but are very very fine not stressed and not hard to care i feed them with Micro crickets also i have about 17 B. platydactyla in the same vivarium.. i interchanged the half part with a friend who is frog entusiast. so they are gonna be ok.

I m interested about breeding this specie, do you know how to breed? also if i need to do a treatment to prevent CHYTRID fungus? is Icotranazol fine?

I want to breed, trade a legal breeding proyect & export to u.s.a. & europe to save this beautyfull specie.

THE HISTORY OF BOLITOGLOSSA IN VERACRUZ MEXICO:

This little and beautyfull animal is called ''Tlaconete'' people live with scare they think it get in the human anus and womens can get pregnant with this little and strange amphibian. this fake & bad reputation cause the people who see a Bolitoglossa sp. Kill it in automatic!!!!!! this is very ignorant, they are peopleo who think they may be poisonous, dangerous for girls and no one like to care this small animals. so if here they dont care who is going to take care of this animals? government in mexico is bad, they dont permit sell any amphibiam but they dont do nothing to resolve the ''TLACONETE'' killing.
so we need to save them.. how? i m in tramits to have a breeding station in-situ putting a lot of banana plants, pandanus, etc to make they breed.

THEY ARE not a delicated amphibian, i see in the forum comments about the high mortality in Bolitoglossa.. that not apply for this specie, this specie can live in any place with humid. they can eat in your table with out problem!! never stressed



HERE ARE SOME PICS

they are prensil!!!! like a monkey!!

 

[Otterwoman]

Nice pictures!! Welcome to the forum.

 

[Azhael]

Protecting their habitat will save the species, breeding them in captivity to supply the market won't, specially if it starts with taking large amounts of animals from the wild...
You are actively harming the species, not helping it in any way.

 

[FrogEyes]

There are legal captive breeding and export programmes in Mexico for Abronia lizards and Brachypelma spiders. I have long thought that such a programme for salamanders in Mexico was a good idea. That's especially in light of existing habitat destruction [pollution of Lago Xochimilco; deforestation of Oaxaca], the seemingly miraculous appearance of garter snakes in the USA and Pseudoeurycea and Bolitoglossa salamanders in Germany, despite lack of apparent legal export, and the potential or probable extinction of some species already (eg. Pseudoeurycea aquatica, possibly Bolitoglossa lincolni in Guatemala). One private keeper who cannot export a common animal is not likely to harm the species. Someone who can develop an in situ propagation programme can help enthusiasts elsewhere, potentially protect wild populations through education, and potentially protect some through captive husbandry [while simultaneously admitting that hobbyists generally do NOT protect any species through captive breeding - it's more myth than fact]. Begin with a common, and hopefully 'desirable' species such as this one, and expand into additional species as legalities, skills, and resources allow.

I would love to be involved in establishing one or more facilities in Mexico in some way. I was approached some 25 years ago to do the same in Costa Rica, but as a university student had no means to do so. There are a number of zoos and a few hobbyists who have suitable knowledge and skills relevant to this idea. I would suggest that Philadelphia and Houston Zoos are great starting points, and Tim Hermann a probable individual with knowledge and expertise. The latter uses this site as "tahermann" [too many "n"s?]. Look into the Brachypelma and Abronia facilities. Abronia especially tends to come from the same localities and habitats as many salamanders, although favoring drier microhabitats.

 

[taherman]

one "n"

I am very supportive of efforts to sustainably and legally breed amphibians for commercial sale, especially if funds can be redirected back to conservation activities within the range countries. As platydactyla are in the mexicana group, you might be on the right track with augmenting/rehabilitating habitat with bananas, etc.

mcraneck, I sent you a private message about this.

Also, I'm not sure where anyone heard B. lincolni are extirpated from Guatemala. They are reasonably abundant in suitable habitat.

Tim

 

[FrogEyes]

I'm thinking of B.jacksoni. Many names are certainly attributed only to one or two populations, some of which have not been seen in decades. This also holds true for P.aquatica, where the habitat was gone and animals absent long before the species was described from a few preserved specimens.

 

[taherman]

Yes B. jacksoni is a tricky one. We and others have been looking for it many times, and I am convinced one of the men who lives in Buenos Aires Chiblac has seen it in the past 10 years. He described one animal with pattern identical to the original specimens, and another almost completely yellow with only a small amount of black pattern. I am hopeful it will turn up sooner or later, as the amphibian populations in that region still seem reasonably healthy and we have found a few new surprises.

 

[Azhael]

I'm all for properly designed breeding programs and also for some of those animals to go to comercial use if that means the money raised with their sale is going back to conservation efforts of some kinds, but what i see here has nothing to do wth any of that. Unless i'm missing something, what we have here is someone collecting lots of animals, presumably with no legal supervision, trading them and dreaming about breeding them to sell them to the US and Europe because that somehow is benefitial for the species?
I see nothing here that suggests a properly conducted collection or the possibility of any actual benefit for the species. What i see instead is the same old story of people exploiting a wild population for profit and pretending that breeding them in captivity to supply the exotics market is magically benefitial. I may be wrong, but that's what seems to be the case. Furthermore, i fail to see how someone qualified to do a proper collection and stablish a breeding program with a real, factual intent in generating benefits for the species, would come here and ask "how do you breed these?".

 

[taherman]

That's pretty harsh.

We all start somewhere. With poorly understood obscure species like this, it seems like anyone paying attention to them might be the best thing for the species. They are on the right track with raising awareness about wanton persecution due to popular fallacies, and interest in modifying marginal habitat with plants that might help the species populations exploit otherwise unsuitable habitat.

I guess I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I do not believe there is any chance of a "get rich quick" scheme involving Bolitoglossa of dubious legal origin panning out well. So if they want to try to do the right thing, I offered to help.

 

[3k0]

Hello everybody

Even this conversation comes from too many years ago, current behavoir of people is not different about this salamander, but endangered population decreases dramatically because urban spot grows every day and eats the forest quickly.



Unfortunayelly everyday intrested people wants to know more about maintenience of their animals but for sure they have no idea for reinsert programs and only breed them for pride of reproduction or simply show to teh people as freaks.



But the big question about caught specimens is to bring all info for care the animals or deny it to discourage illegal capture,



I take the opportunity to invite to all of you to join us at our FB Facebook Groups and a little section in our dendrobates forum dedicated to the salamanders and newts Conectarse

Kind regards