28 July 03
Hi,
My name is Christina Hanson, and I live near Seattle, Washington. My husband Todd Kelley and I have been keeping treefrogs and dendrobatid frogs for about 10-12 years now, I can't really remember. They're a huge part of our lives on many levels. We have met most of our close friends through the frogs, the frogs share a large portion of our living space, and they've given us a lot of enjoyment.
We no longer keep treefrogs due to tank and food considerations, we solely focus on the darts (well, and the kid, and the reef tank, and the dog, and the cat, and the pond, and family.... many of the reasons I don't post much). Through the years we have kept almost every kind of dart, but in the last year or two we have shrunken our collection down to mostly the eggfeeders and the thumbnail species. We have several forms of pumilio, histrionicus, misc others, D. fantasticus, D. lamasi (2 forms) several forms of ventrimaculatus, the true red amazonicus form Peru (very cool) true quinquevittatus, castaneoticus, reticulatus, imitator, intermedius, etc.... Galactonotus, azureus, and more of the usual suspects. All in all, a very nice collection that Todd maintains beautifully, and has been very successful in encouraging them to breed. We have a lot of experience with these frogs, we still have a lot to learn. I wish I know all there was to know about breeding histrionicus or reticulatus, because if I did I'd be out in Puget Sound on the boat of my dreams right now, not in this 80 degree office. What I do know is that there are many ways to reach the same end, so I don't post up much because I really don't have any confidence that our way is the "right" way. We keep our frogs very differently than Tor, for instance, but we both have success. So, Tor says don't waste time with bromeliads, we do waste time with them, and both ways work. I also think I can sex imitator and intermedius when they're a month old, but that's just me.
I'm very excited about NW Frogfest, we had the founding fest at our house a few years ago, much smaller and less organized, but fun as heck. Thanks for organizing it Erin (Ed's Flymeat), I no longer had the energy for it.
We know and are friends with many of the characters on this forum, and I can say that they're nicer and saner in person, if you haven't met them yet don't be scared off. People that are poking at each other should quit it, though. Many of us are guilty of getting our dander up from time to time, I am for sure. But forums are not about getting pumped and stoked, they ideally should be informational, and there has been some good information put up here, if you can wade through the crap, just like regular life.
Christina
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