# General Topics > Member of the Month >  MOTW - May 5 - May 11 2013 - RodsBoys

## Jen

Congratulations to this weeks Member of the week!!!

Can't wait to know more about you!

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## Jen

*Monday*, 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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## Tony

> *Monday*, 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.



I'll try to make this as painless as possible. I am 38 and I live in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. I was born in Peoria, Illinois and lived the first 19 years of my life there. I joined the Navy and saw the world. I fell in love with a certain person and by default ended up living where she is from. We have 5 kids all together, her daughter and son (now grown) my daughter (16) and our 12 year old twin boys. We now have a son-in-law and a grand baby also.
My hobbies besides amphibians; You guessed it, fish keeping. I really have toned it back over the years though. Just one tank with some nice community fish and a make shift pond full of lillies(my favorite) and some fantail goldfish.
As a family we love to go camping. We hook the trailer up and head out as often as possible. Planning a big trip this July, heading down to Virginia to visit that grand baby. I can occasionally be found fishhing and hunting as well and the really geeky side of me compells me to build the odd Lego set.
I think that is it for now. I am sure I will remember more later, but it is time to head to work.

Oh yeah almost forgot, I love the Minnesota Vikings, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Georgia Bulldogs. And I like the Chicago Cubs. : )

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## Carlos

Congrats Tony  :Big Applause:  !

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## Heather

Sounds like you have a great family life  :Smile: . 

Ah, Legos...my daughter and I love Legos.  Last year we built the Harry Potter Hogwarts school. Took 2 days and several hours. Fun!

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## Caspian

> Ah, Legos...my daughter and I love Legos.  Last year we built the Harry Potter Hogwarts school. Took 2 days and several hours. Fun!


Oh, I was the biggest Lego fan out there when I was younger! I was also a bit of a perfectionist; if one of the Original Lego building/vehicle/spaceship I made out of spare pieces wasn't as good, if not better, than one of the Official Lego sets, I'd tear it apart and start all over again. I was also a *HUGE* fan of Bionicle. I had all the books, and I'd literally spend about a month on each Bionicle, perfecting them and naming them... I'm rambling on again, aren't I?  :Big Grin:

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## Jen

*Tuesday*, 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!

Love love LOVE Legos - - hate stepping on one in the hallway in the middle of the night.

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## Tony

My Amphibians;
Right now I am only keeping X. Laveis. I have 6 of them.
1 albino female 1 year +
1 reticulated albino female 7 year +
1 reticulated albino male 1 year +
1 wild type male 7 year +
2 wild type females 3 year+ and 7 year +

I am planning to bring a couple of species up with me when I return from vacation this summer. X tropicalis and X. Borealis. I don't know if these are in Canada anywhere yet. If they are they are rare. The last few weeks I have been engaging the various authorities on both sides of the border to make sure everything is on the up and up. Been a real pain because everyone refers you to everyone else. You would think people would know their jobs.... Anyway I would like to breed them and get them into the pet trade so they are not so uncommon.
As far as where it all started, when I was stationed in Virginia I worked on the side at a pet store that had any and everything. I had kept newts once before when I lived in Florida, but failed at it. I picked up a couple of "warty newts" because they were so cool. One day I noticed a lady looking at the newts and started talking to her about them. She ended up being " Jennewt" from Caudata.org. She became my mentor so to speak where newts were concerned. I ended up getting the Crested and Eastern newts from her and I grabbed the entire stock of Warty newts for her with my discount. Turns out there were several species present. At that time they had not been too widely distributed in the US. She sent them out to several other members who could breed them. As far as I know those offspring are still in the hobby. I ended up re-homing everything when we decided to move to Canada. Some of the species of amphibian I have kept are:
Cynops pyrrhogaster
Cynops orientalis
Triturus marmoratus
Triturus cristatus
Taricha torosa
Paramesotriton hongkongensis
Paramesotriton chinensis
N. v. dorsalis
Pachytriton labiatus
Ambystoma mavortium melanostictum
Hymenochirus sp.

Needless to say, I really love newts. I managed to get some spawns out of the Hymenochirus, N. v. dorsalis and C orientalis. The wife said no more when we moved here, even though the basement is ideal! It is virtually impossible to get a hold of anything that interests me here in Canada anyway. I am completely fine with the Xenopus frogs for now though I do consider getting some more newts occasionally.
Forgiveness is always easier to ask for then permission.

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## Jen

*Wednesday*, show and tell. Wow us with your pictures/videos/sound clips.

I have done the forgiveness route a too few many times lol...now I am in the permission category!   (otherwise we would have SO many tanks!)

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## Carlos

> ... As far as where it all started, when I was stationed in Virginia I worked on the side at a pet store that had any and everything....


Let me try and guess... Animal Jungle or Pet Paradise  :Frog Surprise:  ?

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## Tony

> Let me try and guess... Animal Jungle or Pet Paradise  ?


You are correct, Animal Jungle.

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## Tony

I will get some pics on here tonight of various things. No time this morning and at work now.....

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## Carlos

> You are correct, Animal Jungle.


Hum, maybe we have talked; when did you worked there?  Been in area last 10 years but also was here for a couple years in 1990-1993 and 1997-1999 both time stationed at NAB Little Creek  :Frog Smile:  .

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## Tony

Attachment 53367Attachment 53368Ok, I know I dropped the ball a bit. Here are some pics of my frogs. Some of you have probably seen these already though. I do still plan to add a couple more things tonight or in the AM. I might as well stretch the week of me as far as I can. Lol

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## Tony

> Hum, maybe we have talked; when did you worked there?  Been in area last 10 years but also was here for a couple years in 1990-1993 and 1997-1999 both time stationed at NAB Little Creek  .


I worked there in 2001- 2002 I believe.

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## Tony

Some random pics of some of my cories:

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## Tony

Sorry for the double, sideways, and missing pics, my phone is not cooperating.

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## Carlos

> .


I like this one (Reticulated Albino?), very cool looking frog  :Frog Smile:  !

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## Tony

Yeah she is a looker. Adopted her last year with 2 wild types from a couple that were moving out of Province.

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