Ameerega silverstonei available anywhere ?

[pa.walt]

is there anyone out there that has these. i have always liked these. s. Stewart has them on his site but i have never seen a for sale on it. or are these one of the tuff frogs to get.

[cbreon]

Join the list of people that would love to work with some. I almost got some back in the early 2000's but some bad luck and a vacation mishap ruined my chances. I have heard there are still some around but probably fetch upwards of $500 each...

[RichFrye]

I 'almost' got some in the early 2000's also Craig. Waited for over two years for the trade, after I had supplied my end of the deal . Seemed the guy who said he was breeding them never really bred them when while were trading...

[RichFrye]

BTW Walt, contact Eric M.

[pa.walt]

after i wrote this did some "looking around" read that this is a very tough frog to keep and breed. read that some people had them and as soon as they transfered them to a diferent viv they died. or they bred and then stoped breeding for these people. i just wonder why sean stewert has had them posted on his site for all these years and not see "availible for sale''.
i guess now i know why you don't see any for sale.

[Philsuma]

I think a few 'west coast' hobbyists had them, but you are right Walt, that species is hard to keep in addition to rare in the hobby. Nice looking though.

[goods]

[Philsuma]

Nice colour on that bad boy. Do you use Naturose or similar?

[cbreon]

Most of the Silverstonei I have been seeing lately have colored in nicely. Like many Ameerga, it seems they don't reach full coloration until 18-24 months. I definitely would like to have a nice big display tank with some silverstonei eventually, they'd be my only non-obligate.

[goods]

The photos almost capture the intensity of red in these animals. It's still a tad washed out. Their colors are funny in that the red coloration isn't consistent throughout the frogs. Some spots, especially near the fringe of red/black transition, are almost gray to whitish as if there is no pigment present at all. Getting them to this color has taken some research, effort, and patience, but I'm almost happy with the progress. I use a rotation of Superpig, Naturose, and a formulation I've developed myself with the help of some of my former professors in fisheries management. They also have the option for UVB basking a few days a week.

[joneill809]

Great looking frog Zach! How's the new water feature working out with them? Can you share more on the UVB setup?

[Philsuma]

Thanks for the info Z. I was pretty positive that they needed some, somewhat intensive colour supplementation and that they were not going to just 'colour up' with age.

[goods]

Water feature is finally looking the way I want it to...had our first storm since moving them and no go. I think they need to settle in a bit, and we can finally see some successes.

The UVB is just an Arcadia bulb (6% I think) that is attached to the same timer as my regular lights. They have their own switch, so I just flip it on a few hours multiple days a week when I'm sitting down doing homework. Back half of the top is all glass and the front half is about 1/4 screen.

Don't get me wrong...I think they'd color up to a degree with just regular supplementation, but you won't see any red ones that way. I'll never see those great colors that are represented in field photos, but I'm going to do everything I can to get as close to wild as possible.

[Philsuma]

Do you observe them basking, under the UVB, like Red heads ?

[goods]

It's too soon to tell. They sit under the spot where UV would emit, but that also seems to be one of their go to spots regardless. I'm not sure if they're seeking out the UV in times when it's off by sitting there, or if they just like that area of the tank.