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Amphibian Breeding Successes
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 Theloderma corticale  Epipedobates pictus  Rhinoderma darwinii |
I have a long history with the captive husbandry and maintenance of amphibians. Through incredible support provided by my parents, I captively reproduced my first species, Bombina orientalis, before the age of ten. In the years to follow, phyllomedusine frogs became a focus. I have captively bred common species like Agalychnis callidryas and Phyllomedusa hypocondrialis, and the more uncommon Agalychnis annae. A current project is the breeding of A. calcarifer. Other early focuses involved various dendrobatid and mantellid species, also successfully bred in captivity. Among the poison frogs I've bred, Epipedobates trivittatus, has been a recent focus.
Among the hylid frogs I have bred was the Amazonian Milk Frog, Phrynohyas resinifictrix, in 1996. Data collection began in 1997 and an article on the success was published in Reptiles Magazine in April of 1998. I have also bred a species of caecilian, the west African live-bearing, Geotrypetes seraphini. Live young were dropped in 1998 but it was unclear weather the females were gravid when obtained or actually reproduced while in captivity. One of the same females dropped live young again, two years later, in 2000. Owing to the close association of a particular male to that female for the two year interim period, reasonable confidence in the female being impregnated while in captivity led to the conclusion that captive reproduction had been achieved. Other recent captive breeding successes include the Vietnamese Moss Frog, Theloderma corticale, the bird dropping mimic, Theloderma asperum, and the phyllomedusine frog, Phyllomedusa tomopterna. Another current project involves a species I had some success breeding years ago, the Darwins frog, Rhinoderma darwinii. I am now working with the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Dr. Klaus Busse, Dr. Marty Crump, and collaborators in Chile on a project aimed at establishing several captive populations of this species at institutions in the United States and Europe. The project also entails methods that enhance further protection of the species in Chile. The image to the left is of a froglet that had just been "coughed up" from the vocal pouch of one of my male frogs the first time I worked with the species. |