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Zibi's Frogs and Plants

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Zibi's Frogs and Plants

Frogs and Plants is a small scale business that specializes in Poison Dart Frogs and Rare Terrarium Plants for newcomers and dedicated hobbyist.
(4)

01/02/2023

Dendrobates tinctorius Powder Blue

23/03/2022

Ranitomeya imitator 'Varadero' Egg Development.

Ranitomeya imitator lay distinct white colored eggs, which is rare in the Dendrobatidae family, however the tadpoles will get darker in color as they mature to become a froglet.

13/03/2022

I have two STARTER cultures of 25-30 specimens of Bilobella braunerae "Red Springtail" looking for a new home.

I took several pictures of them, in different illuminations, the ones that are darker give back their natural color better, but that bright red-orange can only be seen in person.

Preferably in CLUJ, for more details in private.

https://insektenliebe.com/de/shop/bilobella-braunerae/ - here you can read more about them.

12/03/2022

Epipedobates anthonyi Rio Saladillo

A not so well known species of Dendrobatidae, the genus Epipedobates is such a unique genus. They live in groups and the dominant male is always singing from the tallest point in the terrarium and he has the right to mate with the female. And, as you can see, when younger, they are very shy and fast, but as the mature, they become the boldest frog!

10/03/2022

R. imitator Varadero Eggs Developing.

It is interesting how they start out white and later darken in color. You can also see a small newer fresh white egg, they deposited in the same canister.

09/03/2022

Phyllobates terribilis Yellow

What can I say, they just love to eat. They jump to the food like they did not eat for a whole moth. It is incredible how fast they are growing. In the start they were slower (might be because of transportation stress since they came from Germany), but now they are growing nicely, and even color up to a strong yellow.

08/03/2022

Begonia rex Sizemore

A stunting Begonia sp. that grows to a medium size and can fill up a corner of a terrarium with lighter green leaves, red venation and an interesting pattern variation. Even the little hairs are interesting, and frogs seem to enjoy sitting on the leaves.

08/03/2022

Ranitomeya imitator Varadero Eating

My breeding group of R. imiatator Varadero are ferocious eaters, even if I feed them daily with either Drosophila melanogaster or Collembola sp. they are always hunting for food.

07/03/2022

Dendrobates tinctorius Graubeiner

They doubled in size since I got them, they grew the fastest for me out of all D. tinctorius locale that I own and keep. And the colors, they just pop in person, the photos don't have the popping yellow on black background as I see them. I can just recommend this locale, very bold, always hungry and great personality.

07/03/2022

Dendrobates tinctorius Azureus Feeding

My 2.2 (2 males. 2 females.) breeding group is doing fine together, even though it can be problematic keeping D. tinctorius together, since they tend to fight for territory. If I see aggression I will separate them immediately, for the record.

05/03/2022

First Clutch of Eggs from Ranitomeya imitator 'Varadero'

I am very happy to get my first eggs from R. imitator, that are fertile and look good. I am hoping to raise up this year a few of these colorful and tiny frogs. I will keep you up to date of the stage the eggs are in.

03/03/2022

A small Epipedobates anthonyi 'Santa Isabel' who just metamorphosed and is ready to live on land. This coloration is very 'dirt-like' when they are youngsters, but this local as it grows up it will develops a cherry red color that pops in the terrarium like a light bulb.

02/03/2022

Marcgravia sintenisii

A beautiful shingling plant from South America, that has a striking reddish-orange coloration to the new growth. It takes time for this vine to root and to start growing actively, but once it does, it puts out new leaves frequently, at they are absolutely stunning.

01/03/2022

Skin Microbial Fauna of Dendronbates tinctorius in captivity.

After a short and simple experiment, I managed to find out what could live on the skin of the Dendrobatidae in captivity.

The first step was to take a swab sample from the frogs skin, and then culture it on different mediums (in the picture you can see the Blood Agar) to culture the bacteria. After 24 hours in a incubator set to 37 C, here are my findings. NOTE: It was only a bacteriologic examination (done under 100x magnification, so the exact species of bacteria are not identified, for this a biochemical identification would be needed)

Picture 1: Klebsiella spp. - It is a Gramm - Bacteria, a member of the Enterobacteriaceae, and it is found all over in nature, from the soil, to water and pf course, on and in other organisms. It is harmless when the immunity of the person is strong, but there are a few species that can be very dangerous (Klebsiella pneumoniae - type species), but in our case it is not hemolytic (it doesn't break down the blood cells), which makes it probably not pathogenic - For species ID further investigation would be needed.

Picture 2: Gramm + Bacillus. It was not hemolytic. - For species ID further investigation would be needed.

Picture 3: Bacillus spp. likely cereus - A Gramm + bacteria, which is found in the soil and also in the food, through which it can be consumed. It can be dangerous if ingested and the immune system is weekend (through a toxin which it releases). On Blood Agar it forms a characteristic waxy colony, through which it is easily identifiable and it is hemolytic. - For species ID further investigation would be needed.

Picture 4: Staphylococcus spp. likely epidermidis - In humans it is normally found on the skin, and it is a facultative-pathogen, who is only harmful when the immune system is compromised. - For species ID further investigation would be needed.
In conclusion, in captivity the microbiological fauna is very similar of what you would find on the human skin, or other animals from the household, since these animals were born and raised in captivity. In order to find the exact bacterial fauna of the Dendrobates sp. frogs, a wild specimen would have to be examined in its natural habitat.

28/02/2022

Ranitomeya benedicta 'Shucushuyacu'

A very striking representative of the Ranitomeya genus, having a strong red colored head and different shades of blue and even green patterns on its body. They are shier then the other species I kept, but were still a joy to see them in the terrarium (now these frogs are at a fellow hobbyist from close by).

27/02/2022

It might not look like much, but these are Oophaga pumilio eggs! It is a premier for me and I am very excited to see how these developed. I hope to get some froglets hoping around in the near future!

Of course, I will let the parents do their job since they take care of the tadpoles and feed them with infertile eggs until it grows into a little frog.

27/02/2022

Phyllobates terribilis 'Yellow' feeding on some Drosophila hydei. They have a big appetite and could eat every day, but I have to be thinking about them getting obese, so I have to stop myself from overfeeding. Even though, they are a joy to watch eat, as they jump to the flies and gobble them down.

26/02/2022

Lepidodactylus lugubris

It is a small species of gecko that can be kept together with Dart Frogs without any issues. The interesting thing about them is that they are Parthenogenetic, which means that in order for them to reproduce they do not need any male presence (they exist, but are very rare). In other words, the female produces clones of herself.

26/02/2022

Selaginella uncinata

An incredible plant species that is very rewarding to watch it grow, since if given the right conditions it can grow very fast, but, this is not what makes it special. Of course, it is the coloration of the leaves, that can turn electric blue under medium light or in the shade when kept in terrariums.

25/02/2022

Plastic Terrariums.

I was drawn to this solution since I have to move yearly because of university, and this solution is lighter and less fragile then glass terrariums. The ones in the picture are all only a couple of months old and are all growing in nicely as you can see.

Other benefits are that it keeps humidity much better then glass terrariums, frogs feel safer since visibility is reduced (this is also a drawback for viewing them), frog escapes are much lower (it can be accessed through a very small opening on the top for feeding and spraying) and since it is easily workable you can customize it as you wish (I added multiple ventilation holes very easily). Also, maintenance is a dream! Easy water removal, easy plant trimming, easy frog capturing.

As i said earlier it has drawback, most noticeable bering the lack of viewing. I am planing on adding a small plexi glass door mechanism to the front in the future, so it will be solved also. For now, i can easily open the top and get a great view.

All in all, I can say having experience from both worlds, glass ans plastic terrariums, I am very surprised of how good a plastic terrarium can work and made into a naturalistic enclosure. Glass has the advantage of being clear, but as I said before, it can be achieved in a plastic terrarium as well.

24/02/2022

Dendrobates leucomelas 'Fine Spot'

The species D. leucomelas is one with only yellow and black representatives (in English also called 'Bumble Bee Frog'), with varieties that can have different shades of green on the limbs. The polymorphism of the spots is an impressive one, some with a lot of small black dots, and others with only a few, it is always interesting to see how they will get out of the tadpole stage!

These frogs are from Catalin Josan!

24/02/2022

Another Plant Package has left the Frogroom, this time some climbing plants:
Begonia thelmae - it starts low, but if given the space it will climb up;
Philodendron hederaceum Brasil - such amazing colors and variability on the new leaves;
Solanum sp. Costa Rica - it gets a beautiful red hue if grown in medium light;
Raphidaphora hayi - an amazing climber that produces leaves very close together and can be slow in the start.

If you like what you see, feel free to contact me!

23/02/2022

Dendrobates tinctorius 'Cayenne'

I'm back with a local of D. tinctorius, this time from French Guiana. The color is less interesting, I can even say monotonous compared to other species, but for me what makes it special is the huge difference in size between male and female.

22/02/2022

I had the chance to catch my Oophaga pumilio 'Solarte' male eating small tropical Collembola sp.. Always a joy to see them walk around their terrarium and eating on their way.

22/02/2022

Phyllobates terribilis 'Yellow'

Another species of the genus Phyllobates, this time the best known of all the poisoned arrow frogs, the Golden Poison Frog. Thanks to Batrachotoxin it is very dangerous in nature, but in captivity it is harmless, because only in the natural habitat it has the possibility to metabolize this toxin from the insects it feeds on. It is a pleasure to see them eating, as they use their forelimbs sometimes to grab fruit flies.

22/02/2022

Geogenanthus poeppigii

This species is an interesting one, since I only got them recently I had the pleasant surprise that the leaves aren't as they appear on the pictures, in my opinion of course. I thought that they will be soft and will wither instantly if they are taken out of a terrarium, but they are quite robust. About the underside, it is a deep purple that can be an indicator that this plant lives in the understory, since this color helps it capture more sun.

21/02/2022

Labisia sp. Dino / Brown

Labisia sp. for me are the Holy Grail of terrarium plants, since they are hard to find, can be very diverse and most importantly they grow re...a...ly s...lo....w. This guy here is almost 1 year old since it got propagated from leaf cutting, and, not much has changed, a few leaves and that is all. Now I appreciate how fast a Marcgravia sp. can grow, LIGHTING FAST compared to Labisia sp.

21/02/2022

Bilobella Braunerae “Red Springtail”

A new species of Collembola that has been introduced in the European hobby recently, that is absolutely stunning! It can vary in all the shades of orange and red as it matures, a species that I will be surely keeping as a pet, not as Dart Frog Food.

21/02/2022

After some years in the hobby, I gradually developed an appreciation for tropical plants, since they are so diverse and can offer such a delight watching them grow and mature.

In the last week I sold some of my excess plants, cuttings for local hobbyists, as you can see in the first picture, quite a few people were excited to get some nice, healthy and rare terrarium plants.

Thank you everybody for the support and enjoy the plants!

21/02/2022

Phyllobates vittatus

I return with a common species in the hobby, Phyllobates vittatus. Thanks to its very specific color with orange on a black background, and the ease of multiplying them, was quickly reproduced in captivity and thus became one of the most popular species. Their call is powerful and can carry a person right in the middle of the rainforest of South America.

If you are interested in owning such a species, there are a few youngsters looking for a new home (in the last picture)!

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Videos

Ranitomeya imitator 'Varadero' Egg Development. Ranitomeya imitator lay distinct white colored eggs, which is rare in the Dendrobatidae family, however the tadpoles will get darker in color as they mature to become a froglet.

Epipedobates anthonyi Rio Saladillo A not so well known species of Dendrobatidae, the genus Epipedobates is such a unique genus. They live in groups and the dominant male is always singing from the tallest point in the terrarium and he has the right to mate with the female. And, as you can see, when younger, they are very shy and fast, but as the mature, they become the boldest frog!

R. imitator Varadero Eggs Developing. It is interesting how they start out white and later darken in color. You can also see a small newer fresh white egg, they deposited in the same canister.

Phyllobates terribilis Yellow What can I say, they just love to eat. They jump to the food like they did not eat for a whole moth. It is incredible how fast they are growing. In the start they were slower (might be because of transportation stress since they came from Germany), but now they are growing nicely, and even color up to a strong yellow.

Ranitomeya imitator Varadero Eating My breeding group of R. imiatator Varadero are ferocious eaters, even if I feed them daily with either Drosophila melanogaster or Collembola sp. they are always hunting for food.

Dendrobates tinctorius Azureus Feeding My 2.2 (2 males. 2 females.) breeding group is doing fine together, even though it can be problematic keeping D. tinctorius together, since they tend to fight for territory. If I see aggression I will separate them immediately, for the record.

Phyllobates terribilis 'Yellow' Eating

Dendrobates tinctorius 'Cayenne' I'm back with a local of D. tinctorius, this time from French Guiana. The color is less interesting, I can even say monotonous compared to other species, but for me what makes it special is the huge difference in size between male and female.

I had the chance to catch my Oophaga pumilio 'Solarte' male eating small tropical Collembola sp.. Always a joy to see them walk around their terrarium and eating on their way.

Bilobella Braunerae “Red Springtail” A new species of Collembola that has been introduced in the European hobby recently, that is absolutely stunning! It can vary in all the shades of orange and red as it matures, a species that I will be surely keeping as a pet, not as Dart Frog Food.