Cheap amphibian books

[Otterwoman]

I recently pulled my copy of Amphibians in Captivity off the shelf to do some review. I remember when I bought it (for $18, including shipping) I was shocked that the sticker on the back of the book had a price of $99.95. I just want to point out (? remind?) people that you can buy used books so easily on the net...I got mine from amazon (I hope I'm allowed to say that?), and I checked today, and there are currently two copies for sale at under $10. There are many other used bookseller sites, you can just google "used books" and find a slew. If there's not a cheap copy on the site you're looking at, try another; I recently ordered Alphabeasts recommended by Sam/Lims; on amazon the cheapest was about $50, but I found it on another site for $6. There's even a used book site that will compare used book prices among used booksellers.
Happy reading!

 

[caudataman]

Great point Dawn! Lest we also fail to mention "flEa"-bay as a source as well. Trick is picking WHICH book to buy, as there's a fair amount of **** out there as well. For field-study and nat'l history, I'd recommend the Bishop and Petranka books for US species, along with Peterson's field guides. The Audobon guides have pretty pictures, but their maps are way too small and I've seen prettier pictures on the web. For care, the Indiviglio book isn't bad and is pretty cheap. Your Mattison book is good. Most TFH stuff ain't worth the money and the Zimmerman book is vague and outdated, though it was good in it's day. That's the problem with care books as the fundamentals are discussed in soo many places and too many try to do too many things. Seems like the web (and caudata.org esp) and a few magazine back issues are the best places to find care info. If you're multilingual, there are a number of other well regarded books and websites as well...

 

[freves]

I think that we as salamander enthusiasts are definitely shortchanged when it comes to book selections, especially when compared to most all of the major groups of herps. I was in a bookstore earlier tonight and noticed a Merks manual for pets. There was a short chapter on amphibians and in that there was a chart listing mostly US species of salamanders commonly kept. It was not much but it was the first new material that I have seen published (in English) in a while.
Chip

 

[lims]

i just ordered a copy of :

"Amphibians: the World of Frogs, Toads, Salamanders and Newts"

for £9.29, looks to be good maybe, nice photographs maybe, anyone have it?

i also got a Sun Ra record "Sun Song" for £6.54

 

[joonas]

"Amphibians: the World of Frogs, Toads, Salamanders and Newts"
for £9.29, looks to be good maybe, nice photographs maybe, anyone have it?

By Robert Hofrichter (editor)?

It is one of my favourite books!
Photos are exellent, and there are plenty of them. But even better is the text. Book is a collection of amphibian related texts written by university herpetologist around the German-speaking Europe. Still text is easy-to-follow: one doesn't need to be qualified herpetologist to understand it.
Main chapters are:
- Evolution, Systematics and Biogeography
- Biology and Physiology
- Ecology and Ethology
- The Meaning of Amphibians for Mankind
- Amphibians: Endangerment and Species Protection.
Every one of these chapters include several sub-chapters, so text covers pretty widely the world of amphibians. So widely, that if there is something about amphibians I need to check, I usually first take a look at this book, and only after that I check Duellman&Trueb and other "classic text books".

Hofrichter's book is an exellent source of information about amphibians. I do highly recommend it to any salamander/amphibian lover.

PS. If there are Finnish speaking readers around here, you might want to check my longer review about this book at http://www.sammakkolampi.net/kirjoja/Hofrichter.html.

 

[mantighoul]

my big thing with amphibian books(ones that are like :frogs toads salamanders and newts) is that cecealians are often left out, maybe mentioned in one paragraph. I know our section at the book store I work at is pitiful when it comes to animals that are not cats, dogs, horses, cetacean. Amphibian and reptiles it the top shelf, right quarter, like a total of 8 books or something.

I just get really bummed in those "general" amphibian books that leave out caecilians.

 

[Otterwoman]

I got that merck manual the other day (mail order) and I was especially impressed in the amphibian section with the HEAT LAMP pictured over the amphibian enclosure.

They did have a nice long section (about 200 pages) about cats that I'm sure is good, but haven't read yet. But in exotic pets (mammals) hedgehogs are not even mentioned. It's probably a book that's good for cats and dogs (oh, and horses) but the rest...but like I said, I haven't read the whole thing yet, just the amphibian section.


I don't know much about frogs, are there are any frogs that require heat lamps? If someone can confirm that? Because if not, then I will write the publisher of that book a scathing letter.

 

[John]

Some frogs do require heat (Pacman frogs, African Bullfrogs, for example). I don`t think there is any evidence that they require a heat lamp though.

 

[joonas]

I don't know much about frogs, are there are any frogs that require heat lamps? If someone can confirm that? Because if not, then I will write the publisher of that book a scathing letter.

Tropical frogs require heat, and even a heat lamp is not the best way to warm up frog terrarium, lamps are widely used. Many (tree) frogs also bask, so in such case a heat lamp may be appropriate device.

 

[Otterwoman]

Oh all right.

Well, if they can make a case for a heat lamp, I guess then I can't argue. :crazy:
Boy, and I already had some good lines in my head.