I'll start out this blog by stating what I feel is the obvious - I have the best job in the world. I, of course, work for Josh's Frogs, a small company committed to providing healthy, captive bred animals (primarily frogs, go figure) to the pet trade, where I oversee the day to day operations of our Animal Husbandry Department. There, we work with dozens of different species and morphs of frogs, figuring out what makes them tick, and how to best breed them in captivity, thus reducing the demand for wild caught animals. 2013 was a great year for us. We bred the endangered Green Mantella (Mantella viridis) for the first time, and were able to transfer several large groups of captive animals into the hands of capable hobbyists - a strategy we feel is the best chance for this species to continue to exist in any numbers. Josh's Frogs also was able to produce bumble bee toads (Melanophryniscus stelzneri), a small yellow and black toad that was once imported by the thousands for the pet trade. In 2014, we expect to produce several thousand healthy, captive bred bumble bee toads, which should help supplant the demand for wild caught animals. This is the future of our hobby - replacing the demand for wild caught animals with captive bred ones. At Josh's Frogs, we feel it's the only responsible path for the pet trade to take, and we're committed to being at the forefront.

Continuing into 2014, Josh's Frogs will also continue to produce true fine spot Dendrobates leucomelas, a smaller morph of bumble bee dart frog we hope to produce in larger numbers. Currently, we're producing the largest variety of Bumble Bee Dart Frogs in the United States.

In early 2014, Josh's Frogs was the first to breed Dendrobates leucomelas 'Blue Foot' - commonly called blue foot leucs, in the United States in over a decade. The offspring of this rare, unusually colored locale of bumble bee poison dart frog represent several years of effort and dedicated commitment. If you're interested, I encourage you to read more about blue foot leucs here. Shortly, we'll have Rodyll ventrimaculata, the ever in demand Ranitomeya vanzolinii, and and R. benedicta. Josh's Frogs will be greatly expanding our thumbnail dart frog breeding stock, and hope to offer many more different morphs of Ranitomeya imiator, R. reticulata, and a few surprises in 2014/early 2015.

2014 will also be a year of 'other' frogs - tree frogs, toads, and some oddball animals we're working with. A new tree frog room will provide us with the capabilities to produce substantial numbers of Red Eye Tree Frogs and Amazon Milk Frogs, while we take the time to further research some other neat species we're currently working with. These include Hyla marmorata (the infamous South American Bird Poop Frog), Hyla punctata (commonly called the poor man's glass frog), and something we're really, really excited about - Pedostibes hosii (the Yellow Spotted Climbing Toad, the only truly arboreal toad in the world. Think White's Tree Frog, but even easier to keep!). We've also picked up a really neat cross section of African reed frogs, notable for their bright colors, transparency, or interesting breeding behaviors.

Keep an eye on the Josh's Frogs Facebook Page, YouTube Channel, Twitter Page, and of course on www.JoshsFrogs.com, throughout the year. We'll be updating constantly with new care sheets, how to guides, videos, and animals for sale. 2014 is going to be a great year for frogs!