ISO dart frog tads in Maryland
Good afternoon,
I am an avid vivarist that absolutely loves frogs, and tropical plants. I had spent the last 5 years cultivating a beautiful collection of 14, bioactive vivariums that housed 10 different species of dart frogs. Unfortunately, about a year and a half ago, I lost 90% of my collection due to some unknown pathogen that pretty much wiped out my collection in less than a three week span. After doing fungal and bacterial cultures, I am still not 100% sure what it was, but I suspect it came from a pair of rescued WC tree frogs that I took in from someone who had gotten them without doing any research on how to care from them (though, of course, they were quarantined well away from my frog room, but they were the only 'new' thing I can think of that might have introduced a new pathogen). In the interest of safety, I dismantled and sanitized all of my enclosures-- this included taking everything apart, getting rid of the soil, etc. Any plant or item that couldn't be satisfactorily sanitized was thrown out or burned. Understandably, this was absolutely heartbreaking, and extremely disheartening. I'd loved maintaining all of my tanks, and felt extremely proud any time something unusual bloomed, or one of my frog groups had tadpoles.
Initially, my feeling was that I was going to give up and get rid of everything. I didn't want to run the risk of it happening again, but lately, I find I am really missing them. I started replanting my tanks. Unfortunately, the financial aspect of replacing the frogs that I had lost is rather a large one. I had collected my initial groups over quite a few years, and had bartered/traded for most of them, since I had had breeding groups at that time. I am also about to go back to college for the second time and-- well. I am pretty sure I already owe the student loan people a kidney.
I am wondering whether or not there are other hobbyists locally that might have too many tadpoles, and would be willing to pass a few on to a bereft frogger? I am an experienced keeper, and, save for this freak plague, have been extremely successful in keeping frogs of a multitude of species.
If there is anyone out there who is able and willing to help me out, please feel free to shoot me an email with what you have, and your prices for tads.
Thanks in advance!
|