Home is where the fronds are.

The vivarium is almost complete! I'd like to have something to decorate the back wall with... but I'm so happy with it. The moss will probably dry up and look like crap, but it's pretty for now!



I managed to put a gash in my thumb while working with the false gravel front. I cut two pieces of glass (7.5" x 2.5" and 3.5" x 2.5") and siliconed the same gravel I used in the pond to the fronts of the glass. This way you can see the ugly pipe and the false bottom that is holding the entirety of the land up off the bottom of the tank. Drainage = awesome. While installing the glass, I decided it be a great idea to push it into the corner... Resistance + sharp glass = blood. I can't believe how stupid I am sometimes.


I also got my package of Herptivite and Rep-Cal in the mail today. Mmmm, nothing like candy coating your fruit flies!

Turns out another local breeder is offering frogs for sale, but they are a thumbnail species. They're so incredibly tiny, but they seriously look like living opals. I might have to get a pair of those- they're supposed to be fairly easy to keep.
Behold D. ventrimaculatus:



Too many decisions!

More frogs!

It's another 3 day weekend for Julie!

I LOVE working at a bank! Hurray for Columbus!

And in other news, the dart frogging adventure is evolving! After discovering that Seattle has a TON of dart froggers, I ventured out to find a few of them. Turns out, Darren Meyer (no relation) lives in Seattle and has a very, very impressive frog collection. We got in contact and Val and I went over to his house today to check out his frogs.

I don't think I've ever been more impressed in my life.

I don't remember seeing dart frogs in person ever. Seeing such amazingly brilliant and teeny tiny creatures was just a complete trip for me. Turns out there's a show in Puyallup a couple of weeks from now, and Darren will be there with a large amount of frogs for sale. Looks like Julie is going to be a new mom to some amphibians very, very soon!

Here are the kinds I'm looking at:







All pictures have been snatched from pumilio.com. They have fantastic pictures on their site, and I strongly encourage anyone interested in darts to check it out.

I'm strongly leaning towards the last frog. They're simply amazing in person- very vivid, very bold, and watching them stalk around in their tank is a really impressive experience.

New Home, New Month

So it's finally October! It's much cause for celebration. Val and I are settled into our new home- it's tiny but we love it. When I decide to be brave enough to condo hunt again, we've decided to go with something smaller... We both love how cozy and relaxed our new apartment is. It's not as modern as our old apartment, but there's something refreshing about the leaky faucet and the 70's tile.

In 12 days, we'll celebrate our second anniversary. In honor of it, I have decided to use my vacation hours. Speaking of days off, Columbus Day is a paid holiday! I love working at a bank.

The frog project is still in full swing. After having the waterfall set up for a couple of weeks, it started leaking and I tore the thing out. I put a new false bottom in, and replanted everything. There's a little pond in the front of the tank. I'll have to buy some new gravel or buy some duckweed to make the rocks look a bit less out of place.



I have yet to pick the kind of frog that's going to live there... There's a project that's located in Peru called INIBICO that is quite phenomenal. Regardless of what frog I pick, I truly hope to be able to support this group and their cause.

Over the past 8 years, there has been an interest to farm raise dart-frogs in Peru and export these frogs the world over. The impetus for this project was experiments and data that Dr. Rainer Shulte had compiled over the last 10 years. Specifically, Rainer has shown that by providing artificial breeding sites in the natural habitat of dart-frogs that these frogs could increase their populations in the wild. Rainer felt if land owners in Peru were paid to keep their land intact and not sell the land to cattle ranchers and the timber industry, the natural habitat and the fauna and flora within could be preserved.

The vision was to provide artificial breeding sites in Dendrobatid habitats and harvest a percentage of the tadpoles. The tadpoles then would be raised in captivity in Peru. The metamorphosed frogs would then be exported around the world to institutions and hobbyists. The proceeds would pay the land owners and employee indigenous people. Overall, land would be preserved and the frogs would be "protected" while employing native people.

Click here to read more about it.

New Home, New Month

So it's finally October! It's much cause for celebration. Val and I are settled into our new home- it's tiny but we love it. When I decide to be brave enough to condo hunt again, we've decided to go with something smaller... We both love how cozy and relaxed our new apartment is. It's not as modern as our old apartment, but there's something refreshing about the leaky faucet and the 70's tile.

In 12 days, we'll celebrate our second anniversary. In honor of it, I have decided to use my vacation hours. Speaking of days off, Columbus Day is a paid holiday! I love working at a bank.

The frog project is still in full swing. After having the waterfall set up for a couple of weeks, it started leaking and I tore the thing out. I put a new false bottom in, and replanted everything. There's a little pond in the front of the tank. I'll have to buy some new gravel or buy some duckweed to make the rocks look a bit less out of place.



I have yet to pick the kind of frog that's going to live there... There's a project that's located in Peru called INIBICO that is quite phenomenal. Regardless of what frog I pick, I truly hope to be able to support this group and their cause.

Over the past 8 years, there has been an interest to farm raise dart-frogs in Peru and export these frogs the world over. The impetus for this project was experiments and data that Dr. Rainer Shulte had compiled over the last 10 years. Specifically, Rainer has shown that by providing artificial breeding sites in the natural habitat of dart-frogs that these frogs could increase their populations in the wild. Rainer felt if land owners in Peru were paid to keep their land intact and not sell the land to cattle ranchers and the timber industry, the natural habitat and the fauna and flora within could be preserved.

The vision was to provide artificial breeding sites in Dendrobatid habitats and harvest a percentage of the tadpoles. The tadpoles then would be raised in captivity in Peru. The metamorphosed frogs would then be exported around the world to institutions and hobbyists. The proceeds would pay the land owners and employee indigenous people. Overall, land would be preserved and the frogs would be "protected" while employing native people.

Last Post!

This will be my last post from my old apartment. We'll have internet up and running in our new place tomorrow (along with cable!). It just seems weird to leave behind this apartment that has been the basis for so many interesting memories...

Vivarium Ahoy!

I finished my vivarium!

And by finished, I mean that the ground work is done, there are some plants in there, and there's a functioning waterfall.

And because I'm a sucker for pictures, here's what I turned a 10 gallon aquarium into:

OMG SO TIRED! WTFBBQCORNPOPS!

It's Friday night and I've been fighting to stay awake. It's Friday! I'm only 25! I should be out partying the night away!

Or not. It's really hitting me lately that I'm a good portion of the way to 30, and 30 is more than halfway to 50.. I'm simply too old to be going out to clubs and being a hooligan. Life is going way too fast.

And I haven't really done much with it.

But no fixating on the negative for Julie tonight! I'm tired and cranky, and I have no idea what I'm doing writing such a pointless post.