# General Topics > Member of the Month >  MOTW - Mar 17 - Mar 23 2013 - Tylototriton

## Jen

Congrats to this weeks Member of the week and Happy St. Patty's Day!

Don't forget guys - send in those nominations!

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## Lynn

Congratulations Alex!
I'm looking forward to froggy photos ! 
 :Butterfly:

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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.

Again, today is all about you - - hold off on the frog talk and the picture sharing until the next few days  :Frog Smile:

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## Heather

Congrats!  :Smile:

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## Alex Shepack

Sorry to keep everyone waiting, I know you've all been waiting to hear all about me! Hahah

Where to begin...
My name is Alex Shepack.  I'm a CT boy through and through.  I grew up in the Northwest Hills of CT and spent most of my childhood playing in the ponds, swamps and woods around my house.  I am incredibly fortunate to have a father who loved spending time outdoors and a mother who was willing to put up with both of us! I have many fond memories of hanging out on beaver dams and wading through vernal pools at night.  My interest in amphibians was further supported by my amazing second grade teacher who used to keep frogs in her classroom.  I began keeping herps when I was 9 years old and have been doing so almost non-stop since then.  As I continued through high school my interest in herps grew and during my senior year I was accepted to the Forman School Rainforest Project, based in Litchfield, CT and made up of 3 area high schools (including mine).  Through the FSRP I able to travel to Costa Rica and work on a research project with Twan Leenders conducting population surveys and testing for _Bd._ I have made 4 subsequent trips with that group since then, and now serve as a staff member for it.  After high school I went to UConn where I got a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and studied oviposition site choice in _Hy__la versicolor_.  Now i'm at a Yale working on a master's looking at urbanization and _Rana sylvatica_.

So thats the short story of the amphibian and reptile part of my life.  Now here's the short story of the rest (hobbies and all that fun stuff). 
I'm obviously a big fan of being outdoors.  For the last 9 years I have worked at a summer camp in Litchfield, CT.  I started out as a volunteer and lifeguard and am now the assistant director.  It's an incredibly demanding job but I absolutely love it.  I get to spend my entire summer outdoors and working with a bunch of awesome people.  
I also work as a substitute teacher, an EMT skills instructor and a museum assistant at the Peabody Museum.  
I wish I still had time for hobbies, but I almost never do.  When I have the occasional free moment i'm a big fan of photography, tennis, field hockey and the like.  

Although I know i'm missing quite a bit about my life I can't really put my finger on anything terrible important right now.  Feel free to ask questions!

~Alex

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## Jen

It's great getting to know more about another New Englander member!

Now, *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!

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## Alex Shepack

So, i've been keeping herps on and off for about 15 years now.  I've had a lot of ups and downs in that time and it has certainly been a steep learning curve.  I joined FrogForum shortly after it was started, having been a member on Caudata.org prior to that.  
So heres a rough list of what i've owned, in no particular order.
_Litoria caerulea 
Hyla versicolor
Hymenochirus
Xenopus
Ceratophrys cranwelli
Hyla gratiosa
Lepidobatrachus laevis
Ceratophrys cornuta
Phyllobates terribilis
Tylototriton shanjing
Salamandra salamandra
Ambystoma opacum
Ambystoma maculatum
Cynops orientalis
Paramesotriton sp. 
Plethodon cinereus
Hyla cinerea
Bufo americanus
Bombina orientalis
Eurycea bislineata
Notophtalmus viridescens

_I know i'm missing some species from that list, but not much else comes to mind right now. I am currently keeping almost entirely dart frogs, although that should be changing in the very near future! Right now I have:
1.0.2 _Dendrobates leucomelas
_0.0.1_ Dendrobates truncatus "_Blue"
0.0.3 _Ranitomeya vanzolini_
0.0.2 _Ranitomeya imitator_ "Intermedius"
1.0.4 _Ranitomeya variabilis_ "Highland" 
0.0.4 _Dendrobates tinctorius_ "Azureus"
0.1 _Atelopus hoogmoedi
_1.2 _Pleurodeles waltl
_I also have a handful of reptiles still including a Uromastyx, Sulcata Tortoise, Corn Snake and Ball Python.  

I've learned a lot since I started keeping amphibians, unfortunately most of it was through personal error.  It amazes me how far amphibian care has come in the last decade.  I certainly made a huge number of mistakes early on, but sites like this have really helped in minimizing those errors in new hobbyists.  
Here are lessons I learned the hard way, in no particular order. 
~Always try to buy CB.  When I first started almost everything was WC.  I lost several animals within 24 hours of purchasing them. 
~Clean water is a must.  No big shocker there. 
~Supplementation is really important. 
~It's better to be diligent with care daily then try to make up for it weekly. 
~Try to resist impulse buys (I still have issues with this!)
~Watch temperatures!
~Humidity is important, but so is ventilation!
~Watch out for pathogens. 

I have to admit, I still struggle with some of these.  And even with a major increase in knowledge and understanding (both my own and the entire communities), sometimes **** happens and mistakes are still made.  
Case and point (mistakes I made just recently)
I lost 4 of my 5 _D. truncatus._ I have no idea why.  My best guess is that I failed to sterilize the cage well enough in between, but nothing stings worse than losing a bunch of (pricey!) frogs all at once.  
I also recently lost 2 Budgetts and my _C. cornuta_. One of the Budgetts came to me with some serious bloat that I managed to "cure".  I use quotations there because I managed to spread the infection to the other (formerly healthy) Budgetts and my Cornuta, eventually losing all 3.  

So, i'm definitely still learning.  But mistakes i've made in the past have helped shape much of what I do now.  I always bring a cooler to reptile shows, try to purchase only CB and try to hand pick all of my animals myself.  I also spend time each day checking on and caring for each of my animals.  

So that's the story of my animals.  I think that means pictures are tomorrow? 

~Alex

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## MantisMan

I am also an alex from CT lol

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## Lynn

This was pleasure to read ! 
Fondly, Lynn

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## Jen

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

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## Alex Shepack

Well it's about time I start putting up some photos.  Almost all of the ones i'll put up today are from field work i've done in CT and Costa Rica.  I have almost no photos of my current collection, although i'll try to fix that problem this week! 

_Craugastor fitzingeri_


_Bufo haematiticus
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Sachatamia (Centronella) ilex
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Smilisca phaeota
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Pristimantis cerasinus
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Smilisca sordida
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_Oophaga pumilio
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Duellmanohyla rufioculis
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Anotheca spinosa
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Bufo coniferus
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Rana clamitans
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Hyla versicolor
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Leptodactylus savagei
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Agalychnis callidryas
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_Ranitomeya variabilis_ (CB)

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## Jen

I love this photo!

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## Heather

Beautiful photos!  :Smile:

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## Colleen/Jerrod

Glad to learn more about you! Love the photos and the story of your life and introuction into the hobby. Don't worry about the mistakes. Everyone is quilty of making one or more mistakes when it comes to husbandry. I myself am not innocent. Its a constant learning experience with these animals.  :Smile:

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## Jared

Great photos, and thank you for a very interesting read  :Smile:

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