Changing the Future of a Frog in Captivity
This story begins in 2016, when Chris and his son Nate fell in love with Waxy Monkey frogs. The problem was that only imported adults or farmed babies were available. Now, you should know that imported adults struggle to thrive in captivity for any extended period of time. Farmed babies also have a very high mortality rate. Maybe as many as 90% die within a few months. Needless to say, the importation of these frogs rarely ever ended well. It made people skeptical about purchasing them to just have them die and it was a cruel fate for the frogs themselves.
We knew we wanted to do something to change the future for this frog. What made it even more challenging was the fact that the Giant Waxy Monkey frog also had a bad reputation amongst some keepers as being "the hardest frog in the world to breed."
What could be done to improve the outcome? After all, we are gecko people, not frog people!
After doing our research-which was very difficult considering how little information was out there-and becoming familiar with the species and their needs, we decided to pick up some farmed babies and take our chances. The froglets came to us VERY young and we were sure that none of them had eaten yet as they still had tail remnants. Looking back, we were very lucky to have the success we did. We were able to raise 19 froglets to adulthood. Our lessons started almost immediately and simple set-ups were key.
We raised our frogs up to 30 months before our first attempt at breeding. Knowing the stress that breeding places on the frogs, we wanted to have strong established frogs to work with. Our first attempt was an absolute failure. We used a home made rain chamber 4x2x5 feet tall. Males would call to females but the females showed little interest. (Picture below: some of our first bicolors at 30 months old in our first rain chamber.)
After this first attempt to breed our Bicolors, we went all in on developing the best possible enclosure for our group. Our next attempt would be a game changer for us and the frogs themselves. It would require a greenhouse, some creativity and a ton of work.
The build took about 5 months to complete. It was not only a fun project to work on but was a quick success. Within 6 weeks we had our first nest but the hurdles were just beginning. What water conditions would the tadpoles need? What would be the best diet for them? How long before eggs would hatch? Answers would have to come quickly or it would be our worst nightmare!
11 days! Thats how long it takes for a bicolor nest to develop. 11 days!!! Once out, tadpoles are fed a specialized diet that we developed through trial and error. Within 2 months, froglets start to emerge.
It's been crazy to think at times that we have the world's largest collection of Giant Waxy Monkey frogs in captivity in our basement in Utah. Lol. It's also very rewarding to think that it will not be too long before there will not be a need to import wild caught or farmed specimen into the pet trade to suffer massive losses. With each new generation, the frogs become more domesticated and the likelihood of them reproducing in captivity for others is greatly improved. We are so glad we could be a part of changing the future of this species in captivity. - Chris
To purchase any of our USA CBB Bicolor, click here!
Like any story, it is hard to pinpoint exactly where the story of our love
of reptiles and especially leopard geckos begins. Growing up in the hills of northern California during the 1980’s was a dream for twin brothers who were drawn to these misunderstood critters and the not so cuddly creatures roaming the countryside. We often invited “guest reptiles” to hang out with us for a
week or two before releasing them back into their natural environment and we did all we could to understand and connect with them. There never was a “show and tell” at school when we didn’t bring something with scales.
We bred our first Leopard geckos in 1988 starting with a trio of what we
would now call “normal” or “wild type”. That’s all there was! Our stock came from Pakistan, and we worked with them through our teenage years at the one and only Hoffmann’s Pets in Concord Ca. Leopard geckos were not terribly popular back then, but we knew they would someday be considered by many to be the best pet lizard you could buy!
Gecko Daddy started in the spring of 2006 when we decided to continue
the hobby we grew to love when we were kids, passing on to our
own children the love we have for these amazing creatures. We are excited to share with you what we feel are some of the best leopard geckos available and we hope that whether young or old, the wonder of reptiles will bring you the joy and excitement it has given us.
We are Gecko Daddy!
We knew we wanted our kids to learn to be responsible and compassionate
If we had to describe Leopard Geckos in two words, they would be hardy and handleable. Leopard geckos are the perfect size for young and old reptile lovers and their docile temperament makes them the perfect reptile pet for holding. What adds to their enjoyment is their ease of care. These two qualities made Leopard Geckos the easy choice to help teach our kids responsibility and compassion for other living things.