# General Topics > Member of the Month >  Member of the Month - February 2015 - DigitalPunk/Paul

## Amy

_Paul will be kicking off our first MOTM!  Congratulations Paul_ _


Week 1, tell us all about you! We know you obviously like amphibians, but we want to know about the rest of your life. Details about you, your life, hobbies, families, past times, favorite colors, poems you have written etc etc....just use this post to brag/boast/bore us how you please._

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MatthewM1

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## Paul

There isn't enough interesting stuff about me to fill up a whole month lol.

My love for frogs is a new love. My wife asked for Frogs for Christmas in 2013. She has loved them her whole life but never kept them as pets. So I did what we advise everyone against and bought them without knowing a thing about how to care for them. Long story short that is what lead me to the Frog Forum. I instantly fell in love with the design, layout, and construction of Vivariums. I poured over build threads on multiple sites. Watched all the videos I could find and asked an endless amount of questions. The vast majority of help i received was from Bill (Deranged Chipmunk) on this very site. Add that with all the support, help and encouragement I got from Lynn and Heather while I learned how to care for my new Red Eye Tree frogs and the FF quickly became home.

Outside of frogs my interests vary. I love spending time with my wife and 2 kids. I enjoy kicking back on the couch and playing video games, watching TV, and doing odd projects around the house. I am old enough to know I am not young, but young enough to fight being old.

I am married (little over a year) to my best friend (Not Bill sorry buddy). I have 2 kids from a previous marriage (Son 13, Daughter 12) and My wife and I have a baby on the way. My son has falling head first into frogs right with me. We have built a couple tanks for him as a father son project and he currently has 4 Azuresus he cares for. He talks about adding to his collection, but girls are starting to catch his eye so I have convinced him to hold off for a bit before adding more responsibility on him that would probably fall on me each time a new girl enters his life. 

I live in the middle of no where America and face some pretty unique challenges when it comes to sourcing Vivarium supplies and plants. Unlike others I know I can't simply drive to some awesome local store and buy everything my heart desires. I have to source all my supplies online and suffer through the shipping delays as I wait (not so patiently) for my goodies to arrive. 

My Favorite color is Red and I am indeed a real person. 

I will leave you with a poem I wrote that you all may or may not have read.

There's a shadow just behind me,
Shrouding every step I take,
Making every promise empty,
Pointing every finger at me.
Waiting like a stalking butler
Who upon the finger rests.
Murder now the path of "must we"
Just because the son has come.

Jesus, won't you whistle
Something but the past is done?
Jesus, won't you whistle
Something but the past is done?

Why can't we not be sober?
I just want to start this over.
Why can't we drink forever.
I just want to start this over.

I am just a worthless liar.
I am just an imbecile.
I will only complicate you.
Trust in me and fall as well.
I will find a center in you.
I will chew it up and leave,
I will work to elevate you
Just enough to bring you down.

Mother Mary won't you whisper
Something but the past is done.
Mother Mary won't you whisper
Something but the past is done.

Why can't we not be sober?
Just want to start this over.
Why can't we sleep forever.
I just want to start this over.

I am just a worthless liar.
I am just an imbecile.
I will only complicate you.
Trust in me and fall as well.
I will find a center in you.
I will chew it up and leave,
Trust me

Why can't we not be sober?
Just want to start things over.
Why can't we sleep forever.
I just want to start this over.

I want what I want


Paul  :Smile:

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MatthewM1

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## Amy

*Week 2* - Tell us about your amphibians. How you came to keep them, mistakes/learning curves, species kept, breedings, how you found Frog Forum etc....we heard enough about you on Monday, let us hear about them frogs!

And for the rest of you, don't forget to ask Paul any questions you may have!  He gets to answer those in week 4  :Big Grin:

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## Frogger00

Here's a question: do you have any other pets other than frogs?


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## Paul

*Species kept:*

Dendrobates Tinctorius Citronella

I got the Citronella because I really was looking for a bigger Dart frog that was bold and boy are these guys and gals bold. I could (and do) sit and watch them for hours on end. They are quite the little characters  :Smile: 

Dendrobates Tinctorius Azureus

These are technically my sons frogs, but I claim them as mine as often as possible. They are typical Tincs... They are very bold and very pretty

Ranitomeya Ventrimaculata 

These were my first Dart frog purchase. They are very shy and hard to enjoy until you start to appreciate what these little fellas allow you to see of their life. I originally bought 4 Vents and learned a hard lesson on double checking tanks for possible escape routes when 3 of them escaped. 2 escaped one day and a 3rd escaped a couple days later before I could find where they were getting out from. 2 of the Vents sadly were never found. The lone escape actually hopped up to me one day while I was down in the frog room and then surprisingly enough jumped right into my hands and then back into the tank he went. I didn't know it at the time, but the frog who returned home was a male and the smart one that never escaped was a female. These 2 lone survivors are on a mission to repopulate the world it seems. They are actively breeding right now and lay a new clutch every 3 - 5 days. Each clutch consists of 3-5 eggs. They are machines lol

Oophaga Pumilio Blue Jean

I have wanted a Pumilo for a while now. I have several morphs on my list and suprisingly enough the Blue Jeans was not one of them, but I came across an opportunity to buy a sexed pair of Wild Caught Blue Jeans and jumped at it. I am new to keeping Pumilos, though the don't differ in basic care from any other Dart frog their needs within the tank are different and it has been interesting seeing how they use the various items I have placed in the tank for them and see things that I wish I would have done different. These are by far my favorite frog in my collection at the moment with the Citronella in a very close 2nd. 

Soon to be added

phyllobates terribilis Mint
Dendrobates Tinctorius Leucomelas
Oophaga Pumilio - Several


*Mistakes*

This could be a very long section. The vast majority of my mistakes has been in the design and execution of Vivariums and Paludariums. I am not even able to accurately count how many times I have built a tank only to want to tear it apart and start over near instantly. A lot of the mistakes have been me "learning on the job" as it were. I would set out with a specific design in mind and attempt to do things I hadn't done before and would be less than excited about how it had all turned out or I would realize that while the tank was great it did not suit the frogs that it was built for. I try to limit these sorts of mistakes as much as possible because I frankly cant afford to rebuild tanks constantly lol.

Other mistakes cost me the lives of some of my frogs. My vent mistakes is pointed out above. I also lost my group of Mantella Ebenaui due to cold temps this winter. Some hard lessons and stark reminders that the creatures I keep need me to be attentive to their habitats I have created and make sure I am doing all I can to keep them as safe and healthy as I can.


*Breeding*

I plan to breed each species I own. I purchase frogs with the intent of ending up with a pair for future breeding. Most of my frogs are to young to breed currently. The Blue Jeans should be breeding in 3-5 months I would assume, but other than that the R. Vents are my only group that is actively breeding. It has been a huge learning curve for me! I have learned a lot about Vents and their breeding habits, eggs and their care, and tadpoles and how to care for them through research and trial and error. I must have read every single thing on the internet about vent egg care and tadpole care. I asked several friends for advice near constantly and it still took me actually caring for the eggs and doing some trial and error to find that magic combination to be successful at it. I currently have 7 tadpoles in the water and 15 eggs in various stages of development waiting their turn to hatch out and become tadpoles. 


*How I found The Frog Forum*

I found it much like many of you did I would imagine. I bought my wife 2 frogs for Christmas without doing any prior research and realized within 24 hours I was into something that I needed help with. I googled for answers and found the Frog Forum. It would take me several weeks of reading and doing before I would join and ask for the help that I needed. I quickly found a home here and people I could call friends that have helped me every step of the way.

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## Paul

> Here's a question: do you have any other pets other than frogs?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk



Only other pet we have is a Dog. I use to keep snakes when I was a kid and have had several different birds over the years. Until I acquired my first frogs I had only had Dogs for years.

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## Frogger00

> Only other pet we have is a Dog. I use to keep snakes when I was a kid and have had several different birds over the years. Until I acquired my first frogs I had only had Dogs for years.


Nice to know! What snakes did you have?


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## Paul

I kept Pythons for several years and a couple boas. Nothing to exotic or fancy. I gave them all away when I turned 17 and signed up for to serve in the Armed Forces. I stayed away from having pets after that for a long time. It was hard to let them all go and with military life it is impossible for me to keep them and give them the proper care they needed and quite frankly deserved.

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## bill

Yeah, we're gonna need pictures of the dog  :Smile: 


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## Paul



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## bill

Paulie!! He looks just like you! Lol

He is such a cutie!!


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## Paul

Thanks! He's a She  :Smile:  She is a spaz lol Love her to death!

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## bill

She/he, I respect it's privacy and can choose to be whatever he/she wants to be. I don't judge lol


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## irThumper

Aw, a Red Heeler (aka Australian Cattle Dog) baby!!!! ^_^ <3

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## Paul

She is a mutt. Like 3 different breeds all rolled into one crazy mess. We love her, but man is she weird lol.

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## bill

hey!! we still have a couple more days until the next phase. I wanna hear all about the mistakes you've made in the hobby!! LOL

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## Paul

The only real mistake I made early on was buying frogs without doing the proper research before hand. I did that one right out of the gate lol. 

All my mistakes can be lumped into "learning curve"


I guess looking back and reflecting on issues and problems I have come across I don't consider them "Mistakes" when I tried something new and then ended up having to rework the tank because something wasn't going the way I expected. I look at everything (the good and the bad) and can say I would not be where I am at right now with my tanks and frogs if I didn't learn somethings through experience. Some issues I came across wasn't anything I did really wrong as much as it was learning the technique for building a certain background or feature. Learning how not to kill certain types of plants, Learning how to culture fruit flies, Learning how to get fruit flies out of the culture without having 1000 of them escape, learning how to properly apply spray foam, learning how to design a tank for the frog and not just for me, learning how to keep humidity up, how to heat.... I could go on and on. I am still learning and learn some new trick or technique or get an idea from another tank daily.

Paul

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## Amy

_Week 3, show and tell. Wow us with your pictures/videos/sound clips. _  :Big Grin:

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## Paul

Ohh Pics! I will get some up in the next couple of days  :Smile:

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## Amy

_Week 4, answer any questions posted to you regarding your posts from the previous weeks. Other members can use this opportunity to pick your brain. (All questions must be appropriate and related to topics of discussion.)

_Well...considering you've already done that and failed to do week 3, let's see some of those pictures, Paul!!

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## Heather

Paulie? 

Let's see those pics please  :Big Grin: ?


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## Heather

Congrats, btw!  :Big Grin:

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## Paul

Keep trying to post them but the site issues lately keep messing things up. I will try again now. 

*First Frogs:*








































*Current and Past tanks:
*
























Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for looking  :Smile:  Sorry it was late

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## Heather

Beautiful pics!  :Smile:

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## Frogger00

Those are some beautiful vivs! Gives me some inspiration..... Mind if I ask what type of dart frogs the ones in the first pic are? They are so cute. 


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## Paul

> Those are some beautiful vivs! Gives me some inspiration..... Mind if I ask what type of dart frogs the ones in the first pic are? They are so cute. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Thanks! The ones in the first pic are D. Tinc. Citronella. They are super bold and a lot of fun to watch. Love them to death!

Feel free to ask me anything!  :Smile:

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## Frogger00

> Thanks! The ones in the first pic are D. Tinc. Citronella. They are super bold and a lot of fun to watch. Love them to death!
> 
> Feel free to ask me anything!


Thanks for letting me know! They look fun. Here's another question: can dart frogs eat anything other than fruit flies? I can't stand the thought of having to deal with fruit flies. 


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## Paul

Fruit flies are the staple diet for them. You can give them the occasional treats of Rice Flour beetle larvae, Bean Beetles and a few other insects, but Fruit Flies are to Darts like Crickets to Tree Frogs. 

I personally have found that keeping and culturing Fruit Flies is easier and cleaner than keeping crickets.

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## Heather

They also like to snack on springtails and dwarf isopods.

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## Amy

Great pics Paul! !  Thanks for sharing.   Love all of your vivs!


Frogger... I hated dealing with fruit flies when I had spring peepers,  it's why I have no darts.  Fruit flies are a must with them.

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## Josh

I'll tell you what, Paul has been one of my biggest inspirations on this site. He's really showed me just how much keeping frogs can be a clearly defined hobby, something that I can do throughout my life. He pops out a tank like every other month! You really deserve member of the month Paul  :Smile:  :Big Applause:

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## bill

hey, let's not go thinking Paulie is done yet. i have a few questions......

1. where do you find the inspiration for your tanks you build?

2. what types of tank do you prefer building? dart tanks? tree frog tanks?

3. what were some of the obstacles you have overcome to be so successful in the hobby?

4. any valuable lessons you learned that you would like to pass on to new and future froggers?

that's a good start  :Wink:

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## Paul

> 1. where do you find the inspiration for your tanks you build?


Various places. I first will read up on the frogs that I am building the tank for and see what bullet points I need to hit with the tank. Then I will look for images of where they are from in the wild and try to pick up a few things from their natural stomping grounds. I also am a member of several frog and Vivarium centered groups on Facebook and pour over tanks others build and will see things that they did that will inspire me on how to do something a bit different. I try not to blatantly rip ideas off but will try to tweak it and make it my own. 

Of all those steps the most important one is designing a tank to suit the frogs that will call that space home. 





> 2. what types of tank do you prefer building? dart tanks? tree frog tanks?


After having built a handful of Red Eye Tree Frog tanks and many many Dart frog tanks I have to say I prefer Dart frog tanks. Dart frogs offer you the chance to include water features, complicated hard scape, simple flat, 3D background.. Anything. So many different needs to meet with Dart Frogs. 






> 3. what were some of the obstacles you have overcome to be so successful in the hobby?


Obstacles... hmm... I feel like I am still working to be "Successful" in the hobby. I am constantly learning new things. I am always trying something new and see how it works. One of the biggest things I had to learn early on is that it is OK to fail. It's ok to make mistakes and learn from them and be public about it. One of the harder things for me when I first started learning about the hobby in Jan of 2014 was sorting through the truly helpful information from the complete garbage. As a noob in Viv building and frog husbandry I really really struggled with being able to tell the good tips and guides from the bad. It required HOURS and HOURS of reading everything I could find and trying to find common strings that various sources kept returning to. 





> 4. any valuable lessons you learned that you would like to pass on to new and future froggers?


1. Proper drainage layer is simple, but not easy to maintain. Check water level often
2. Spend time with your tanks daily. Observing your frogs regularly is not only super awesome it will also help you quickly identify if behavior changes because something is off in the tank.
3. Prepare to fall in love with plants.  Spend time picking cool unique plants... Plants are by far the most expensive thing in my tanks now (if you exclude the frogs)
4. Ask question... Read and learn on your own but also ask question. Be sure the person answering your questions knows what they are talking about 
5. Budget and save. This is a hobby and should be fun. It CAN take ownership of your checking account. Try to not let it  :Smile:

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MatthewM1

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## Lisa

Just catching up on all the posts. Nice getting to "know" ya paulie!  :Wink:

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## Paul

My 15 mins. are almost up. It has been fun. I will miss all the attention  :Frown:

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## Heather

Was wonderful to read your bio   :Smile: .

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## Amy

It was great getting to know you during February, Paul.  Thanks for being our member of the month!

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## Paul

My pleasure!

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