Houston Frogs

Frogger’s tip of the day: Many items in the hobby actually come from other industries and have a variety of substitutes. Fruit fly lids and cups: did you know that most polypropylene containers from restaurant supply stores (will not melt with boiling water) can be used for fruit fly culturing? Instead of buying expensive lids, try 2-3 layers of panty hose paired with a rubber band. Tyvek material or mask making fabric/filter fabric can also be used. You can use the original lids to secure the fabric as well and cut holes in them depending on the amount of ventilation needed. Here are some experimental containers I made in the video. Don’t have excelsior, which has been used for decades for packing wine and other fragile items then repurposed for fruit flies? Use paper plates or cardboard instead! Don’t have Indian almond leaves? You can substitute alder cones, cholla wood, or even oak leaves—the tannins are what you need and are contained in many botanicals. The concentration of these tannins is how black water is made. Want a grow-out bin base layer that doesn’t rot and cause bacterial/CO2 issues like Sphagnum moss does? Get some turface allsport from a nearby store and overlay it with some leaf litter. It absorbs and releases moisture similarly to Sphagnum but without the rot! Stay tuned and follow for more tips.

Frog Keeper’s Tip of the Day: How to reduce mite issues in fruit fly culturing: Mites cling to fruit flies and whether you see them or not, every culture has them! You can only reduce mite issues! A few mites will not crash cultures but a lot can—and they’ll make your face itch! 1. Dispose of cultures at the one-month mark religiously (30 days from the day they are made) 2. Seed new cultures Only with your newest producing cultures—Never use old cultures in seeding if you can help it! 3. Clean shelves weekly. Isopropyl Alcohol is a good start but will not kill most mites (to your horror). We use benzyl benzoate in a 10% solution to Actually kill them! Make sure to wear gloves 4. Use boiling water when making cultures as it will kill pre-existing mites, their eggs, and a significant amount of bacteria and mold spores in your media (pasteurization), to give you a blank slate to begin with. 5. Never store new cultures near old cultures! Separate them by date so any old cultures that may boom with mites will not infest new cultures. 6. Put cultures on diatomaceous earth or mite-paper. You can make your own mite paper by spraying Kraft paper with permethrin 7. Do not store culturing materials near your active cultures (or anything else you care about getting mites). Do not touch new cultures after touching 3-4 week old cultures if you can help it. This is simply preventing cross contamination 8. Don’t freak out! You sleep in dust mites, you have mites on your eyelashes, you are surrounded by mites everywhere! It’s a game of reduction to prevent overwhelming numbers, but you’ll never eliminate them completely. If you have more more reduction tips, feel free to post them here!

Hooded roaches are back in stock! Check out this awesome micro-feeder for your frogs and geckos! Find them here: https://houstonfrogs.com/shop/ols/products/malaysian-micro-roach-culture-mly-mcr-rch-clt1

New Frog Night Light from Houston Frogs!

Besides packing holiday orders (which has been non-stop), I've worked tirelessly to bring some projects to life before Christmas. Scientists are often like magicians and this magical item is proof of that. This new Malaysian Leaf Frog Night Light uses inductive electricity (like Nikola Tesla is famous for) to power its LED light. There are no batteries or wires involved, just put it on any charging pad and (depending on the frequency) it will magically light up. These are made in-house. #nightlight #frog #glowingfrog #frognightlight #houstonfrogs https://houstonfrogs.com/shop/ols/products/frog-night-light-malaysian-leaf-frog

Finally set up and ready to go at Reptilian Nation Expo - Fort Worth. Come by and check things out!

New mini terrarium kits are out of this world :) #theoriginalhoustonfrogs #houstonfrogs #vivarium #vivariums #terrarium #terrariums #dartfrog #poisondartfrogs #fungi #mushrooms #dartfrogs #poisondartfrog #vivariumsofinstagram #dartfrogvivarium

As a part of our fundraiser for Rainforest Poison Dart Frogs and Exotics this week, you’ll find a few new additions to our website such as these Malaysian Micro Roaches (Nocticola Sp.). These micro roaches are easy to culture as a backup food source for your frogs, cannot survive outside of the tank with low humidity, are poor climbers, are the same size as Hydei flies, can be easily dusted with supplements, and eat detritus in the tank but are not protein heavy meaning your frogs and their eggs are still safe! Use the code frogs4life to get 20% off a culture of your own today through Sunday. https://houstonfrogs.com/shop/ols/products/wheat-weevil-culture-dart-frog-snacks-bogo #houstonfrogs #theoriginalhoustonfrogs #dartfrog #dartfrogs #poisondartfrog #poisondartfrogs #vivarium #vivariums

From today until 7/26, grain weevil cultures are BOGO— yes that’s right, you’ll get a Free 8oz culture for every 1 you order! Grain weevils are smaller than bean beetles and more prolific, making them an excellent dart frog snack. While they are smaller, it is still suggested to only give these as a snack or back up feeder as they are high in chitin and should not compose more than 10% of your frog’s diet. Also, these weevils ship Great with the heat unlike fruit flies! Find them here: https://houstonfrogs.com/shop/ols/products/wheat-weevil-culture-dart-frog-snacks p.s. sorry for the grainy video ;) #dartfrog #dartfrogs #poisondartfrog #poisondartfrogs #vivarium #vivariums

Just a Simple trash can in the lab

Sometimes it's the small things that make our work vastly easier when running a laboratory to make products for the amphibian hobby. Take, for instance, this otherwise simple trash can from the future. It bags, seals in biohazardous waste, and refills itself. Now that's satisfying.

For those who have long awaited our next invention, wait no more! We are releasing our Temperature Indicating Nano Frogs today! These turn from Red to Clear when tank temperatures reach 82°F, giving you a visual indicator that your frogs are in danger! Want a 5°F buffer? We have 77°F color changing frogs too! Stay tuned for our low temp frogs coming soon! https://houstonfrogs.com/shop/ols/products/nano-psittacosaurus-meileyingensis-dinosaur-skull #houstonfrogs #amphibians #dartfrog #dartfrogs #poisondartfrogs #poisondartfrog #rainforest #vivarium #terrarium #vivariums

Anyone else hand feed their tadpoles? Here’s one of our Dendrobates tinctorius Azureus enjoying a brine shrimp. While our tadpoles are raised mainly on our HF Advanced Tadpole Food, they do enjoy some treats every now and then :) #dartfrog #dartfrogs #frog #frogs #tadpole #tadpoles #houstonfrogs #poisondartfrog #poisondartfrogs #vivarium #rainforest

For those who have asked us how to harvest fruit fly maggots to fatten up skinny frogs, here is how we do it at Houston Frogs 🙂

We just wrapped up our last show of the year at the Reptilian Nation Expo -Houston and had absolutely record shattering sales. Thank you everyone who came out to support us at this show and to pick up some new amphibian friends. Here’s a quick walk around of our booth. If you missed us there, don’t worry because we will be having our Huge Black Friday/Cyber Monday event soon!

We are at the Aquashella Aquarium Festival in Dallas today and tomorrow! Come check us out along with Texas Mycology Supply, @amphibios labs, and Biology in 3D.

Houston Frogs will be at NARBC ARLINGTON, TX on September 18th-19th along with our friends at Amphibios Labs, Dart Frog Connection, Hail The Scale, and The Bio Dude. See us for all your Dart Frog / Amphibian needs and see why we are Texas’s #1 trusted source for Dart Frogs. We will have at HF: Dart Frogs (With the Best Warranties in Texas Guaranteed—30 days and even beyond + After Support. We will price match any *equivalent quality* dart frogs at the show + we will provide After Support for frogs from DFC as well) Newts & Salamanders Flightless Fruit Flies, Live Blackworms & Media Exotic/Rare Tropical Plants Nekton Supplements HF Proprietary Products Substrates and Vivarium Building Supplies Unique Vivarium Decor And much much more Free Nano Good Luck Dart Frog and Species Specific Dart Frog Care Guides available with every purchase over Ten USD *Video of our dart frogs from the last show. Note how we care for our dart frogs while on “vacation” and their size / weight :)

Labeling live animal shipments may not help with some UPS/FedEx employees, but we have been pleasantly surprised how some have gone out of their way to protect these packages and ensure they get to their destinations safely. Just another part of our first class packaging to ensure your hopping friends arrive safely 🙂

Tired of Hydei fruit flies escaping your vivarium? Getting in your drinks, in your food, and even in your mouth at night while you sleep (I am 😭)? Try flightless Drosophila Buzzati, the laziest and slowest moving fruit flies in cultivation. They literally have nothing going on in that tiny, poppy-seed sized brain including self preservation/escape. Want to try these and a few types we have introduced to the hobby through our genetics experiments? Try our limited edition variety pack below (available in 50mL seeding vials only for this deal) https://houstonfrogs.com/shop/ols/products/fruit-flies-buzzati-frt-fls-bzz51

Want more flies than your frogs can tap their toes at? 🐸 We are having a Memorial Day Special today until Saturday on our famous fruit fly media! Buy One, Get One Free!!! https://houstonfrogs.com/shop/ols/products/fruit-fly-media P.S. We can now confirm that our legion of frogs eat a combined 4 quarts/1 gallon of fruit flies per week 😱🐸