11 Aug 03
My name is Tor Linbo and I've been keeping dart frogs for a number of years... and before that i kept any frog I could get my hands on, for very little money, ( being a broke student) and before that any South / Central American fresh water fish that I could get my hands on cheap...
My love of frogs started very young... I think people are just born as "frog people"... there are many pictures of me hunting frogs in the stream below our house, as a little kid... I would go to my brothers soccer matches and come home with pockets full of Pacific tree frogs, to release in the bushes around my house...
My interest in frogs waned as I became more interested in chemistry and girls... after a bad breakup, in University, I started keeping fish ... then got a frog (fire bellied toad) and found them more interesting than fish... more crazy life and more frogs... Met Todd and Christiana on-line and as we were both trying to get our fire bellies to breed we talked a lot about frogs... we both got them breeding ... I reared the offspring of mine and traded them to get mantellas (an expensive frog compared to what I kept up till then). Ultimately I kept 9 species of mantellas and successfully bred all most all of them.
Conversations with Todd grew. He gave me a set of E. tricolor tads to work with... I grew them up... I can still remember the joy of getting them... the hobby at the time was very different... it was very hard to get any darts...pre-frog net... just a herp discussion group that was full of snake talk and flame wars.
I then took a trip to visit Todd and Christina at there central washington home... a basement room full of frogs... I was amazed... I know that the collection must have been less than half as large as theirs or mine is now... but it was amazing... some amazing tree frogs as well... and the surrounding countryside was so dry... it was just a shock...
went home with the auratus tads... obsession taking hold.
My skill and collection grew... in a way I was very lucky to be poor... I couldn't buy everything I wanted so had to add things slowly through breeding and selling frogs or trading... so my collection didn't out pace my skills and so most everything I've gotten I still have...with a few things sent off to other froggers. (with the exception of 3 very painful losses).
as my collection was growing, frognet also began and grew... I've gained greatly from it and hope that I've given back at least something of value to it.
My collection now is made up of just over 30 different species of darts, many different races.
Life has changed a lot since I started frogging... from a starving student I'm now a geneticist at the University of Washington using zebrafish as a model system for studying early development. From a bachelor living in what ever apartment I could sneak my frogs into... to being married and having a house and a real frog room...
I hope to help keep this hobby growing... sit back from Frognet some... there are many great froggers that have moved up the ranks and are here to help... spend more time getting the finer parts of the hobby... knowing the animals as completely as possible...
Happy for the years I've spent in the hobby and looking for many more. Happier for the friends I've gained through this hobby, looking forward or a lifetime of friendship with them.
Tor Linbo
_______from the notes and contributions of Frognet Patrons_______