AnneR
New member
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2024
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 6
- Points
- 3
- Location
- Placerville, Ca
- Country
- United States
Hi there! I'm Anne and I'm from Placerville, Calif, in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I have recently returned to amphibian keeping after 15 years. I had forgotten how much joy these creatures bring me. I teach high school where the students rarely have a chance to have their own pets and they love having animals in the class. At the end of last year, I realized I never brought anything back after COVID. I started looking for fire-belly toads because I like their call and couldn't find them in pet stores. Newts were all missing as well. I attended a reptile show- nope-nada-zero! The sellers on line seemed super dicey and now I had sticker shock! My favorite Mandarin newt I bought for ten dollars as a teen was $300! And I couldn't find any anyway. Looking at reviews of sellers, I found MorphMarket where I found some beautiful Danubes and the seller directed me to this group. I found my people! Thank you for being here!
At home, I had only my red-eared slider (nearly 25 years old!) with his gold fish buddy. Lots of outside animals though- dogs, cats, chickens, geese, goats, alpacas, and emus. I tried some dart frogs (easy to get hold of and relatively cheap) and they are very fun, but my focus is going to be with newts/salamanders. Right now as a conservation/ self-sustaining hobby then later as a possible income stream that I can pass to my adult son. His sleeping disorder makes it impossible for him to work. We are both more focused on the conservation side over the income side. I'm starting with some Danubes, but eventually want Mandarins. Both my sons are researching to pick a favorite to start with. My husband fully supports the idea and has agreed to let me make the spare room into an animal studio. I have been working on it since September and it is nearly done. I didn't realize what had been missing from my life! I love building the habitats and working with amphibians! I wasn't unhappy, but now my husband says I glow.
In the classroom, I've kinda gone overboard with seven (soon to be nine) enclosures. Fish, dart frogs, dessert turtles, a bearded dragon who has the run of the classroom, hermit crabs, snails and millipedes, isopods, alligator lizard and chorus frogs. The last two are native so they come and go along with any other natives that might show up. We keep them for a time, then let them go again.
My greatest dream is to win a billion dollar lottery so I can start up an amphibian conservancy/sanctuary much like Monterey Bay Aquarium is for oceans. Until then, I will do my part to try to make captive bred more available, keep teaching conservation to my students, and look for ways to boost our native populations here at home. I'm looking forward to meeting you all!
At home, I had only my red-eared slider (nearly 25 years old!) with his gold fish buddy. Lots of outside animals though- dogs, cats, chickens, geese, goats, alpacas, and emus. I tried some dart frogs (easy to get hold of and relatively cheap) and they are very fun, but my focus is going to be with newts/salamanders. Right now as a conservation/ self-sustaining hobby then later as a possible income stream that I can pass to my adult son. His sleeping disorder makes it impossible for him to work. We are both more focused on the conservation side over the income side. I'm starting with some Danubes, but eventually want Mandarins. Both my sons are researching to pick a favorite to start with. My husband fully supports the idea and has agreed to let me make the spare room into an animal studio. I have been working on it since September and it is nearly done. I didn't realize what had been missing from my life! I love building the habitats and working with amphibians! I wasn't unhappy, but now my husband says I glow.
In the classroom, I've kinda gone overboard with seven (soon to be nine) enclosures. Fish, dart frogs, dessert turtles, a bearded dragon who has the run of the classroom, hermit crabs, snails and millipedes, isopods, alligator lizard and chorus frogs. The last two are native so they come and go along with any other natives that might show up. We keep them for a time, then let them go again.
My greatest dream is to win a billion dollar lottery so I can start up an amphibian conservancy/sanctuary much like Monterey Bay Aquarium is for oceans. Until then, I will do my part to try to make captive bred more available, keep teaching conservation to my students, and look for ways to boost our native populations here at home. I'm looking forward to meeting you all!