Marc Staniszewski = pollywog?

[uwe]

Hi,

is pollywog and Marc Staniszewski connected in any way?

Thank you for the info

Uwe

 

[froggy]

I thought Pollywog was Andrew Tilson-Willis - why do you need to know (out of pure curiosity)?

Chris

 

[John]

Dartfrog.co.uk is Marc Staniszewski, and Pollywog.co.uk is Andrew Tilson-Willis.

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

Hi
I usually make orders from dart frog, but did not know the last name of Marc ...

And have had to make orders from pollywog, they have good prices in animals, but they do not send them to Portugal.

But there was a problem Uwe?

 

[spoons]

yes john is right . both have high quality animals .

 

[uwe]

"I thought Pollywog was Andrew Tilson-Willis - why do you need to know (out of pure curiosity)?

Chris"

I thought Marc does not sell animals anymore.

Uwe

 

[Azhael]

yes john is right . both have high quality animals .

I wholeheartedly disagree.....
They have quality CB animals AND they also have WC animals, which cannot, by any means, be considered quality (specially when they are ilegally collected).

 

[uwe]

I wholeheartedly disagree.....

(specially when they are ilegally collected).

is there any evidence for both groups?, because is a heavy-weighing statement. I thought marc stopped animal selling for that reason.

Uwe

 

[froggy]

Marc stopped selling animals on his original website, but sells a LOT of stuff via Dartfrog. Some is WC and some is CB, and in my experience (from a few animals I have received (CB only) and a friend has ordered) the quality (in terms solely of the health and robustness of animals) varies quite considerably. I have had some healthy Hynobius from him in the past and my friend got some apparently healthy Cynops cyanurus, but a friend ended up with some Cynops ensicauda ensicauda morphs that were not even 2cm long, cost an arm and a leg and, being so tiny and spindly, did not do well at all.

The plants he sells are all very good specimens (I have never been disappointed) and are very reasonably priced.

 

[Azhael]

Well, in the past i´ve seen some S.salamandra subspecies , T.marmoratus, T.pygmaeus, etc, that were labeled as WC (and there´s no such thing as a legally captured marmoratus/pygmaeus, etc....). They even had WC Chioglossa....


PS: I know of people who have purchased animals from Dartfrog and have had them die very shortly after their arrival. Plus, as a personal commentary, some prices are absolutely ridiculous....

 

[uwe]

I agree that the prices are sky-high, but I suppose they want to make some extra money out of the animals.
I think you may get most of the animals they offer for a better price at breeders in the EU.

I was not aware of the new site by Marc, because I thought he stopped selling animals some years ago.

see you

Uwe


BTW is P.nebulosus really nebulosus?

 

[Azhael]

I agree that the prices are sky-high, but I suppose they want to make some extra money out of the animals.
I think you may get most of the animals they offer for a better price at breeders in the EU.

I was not aware of the new site by Marc, because I thought he stopped selling animals some years ago.

see you

Uwe


BTW is P.nebulosus really nebulosus?

I understand it´s a shop and they have to make money, but nevertheless some prices are simply unbelievable.
What really bugs me about Dartfrog (other than the huge amount of WC animals they sell, and their lack of ethics) is that they generally enjoy a great reputation amongst the hobbyists, specially beginners, and A LOT of people happily pay ridiculous prices or acquire ilegal wild caughts because they don´t know better and hey, it´s a shop, it´s professional, they must be legit, right? ¬¬


As for the P.nebulosus, as far as i know they are indeed nebulosus.

 

[uwe]

If the animals are WC its totally unreasonable to pay that prices, than its all for the money.
If Marc is behind Dartfrog (there is no name to be found on the web-site), I am not surprised.

Still it wonders me that, if these data is correct, authorities are not acting.

Unfortunately new hobbyist tend to buy on a short term basis, instead of waiting for brreder´s off-spring. So this discussion is interesting, but at the end of the day not fruitful.

In Europe often peole selling P.waltl as P.nebulosus as you don´t have to have papers for them.

See you
Uwe

 

[Azhael]

Well, the animal pictured is definitely not P.waltl. And since P.poireti is extremely rare as far as i know, they must indeed be nebulosus.

Some time ago there was a guy in a spanish forum showing pics of his newly acquired P.poireti, and there was a whole row about it because i, and other users, mantained they were P.waltl. It sickens me that people are tricking beginners by selling them ilegal newts as if they were something else, and legal....

 

[uwe]

"It sickens me that people are tricking beginners by selling them ilegal newts as if they were something else, and legal.... "

Especially it doesn´t make a difference for beginners to get P.waltl. They are easy and there CB-bred ones with legal status.

Uwe

 

[eljorgo]

I have the general opinion. Some times I just get shocked with new arrivals... Most WC acquired animals... Like Rodrigo said absolutly correct, they had even Chioglossa witch is a very very threaten species of salamander... Never breed before... So where did they came from? Portuguese and Spanish streams of course... shocks me so much to imagine a British car came to Spanish stream and start a massive collection of adult WC animals to earn money from... it is just so wrong... were is ethics for a near extinction animal?? For God sake..
I had a friend who ordered 5 M. a. alpestris. One of them didn't have a good maxillary (he couldn´t close his mouth). The fella just emailed "Mark" telling the story. Few days later "Mark" told him that when he shipped the animals they were all very healthy and feeding very well.
But by that time my friend had already gone to a vet that told him with no doubt that the animal had that problem since very young... even before metamorphosis... Well he was just shocked when got that email from "Mark" telling him that when shipped they were okei, so he emailed "Mark" telling what doctor said to him about the problem behing from very young origin and "Mark" never ever more answered to his emails... Months past and the restant 4 alpestris were more and more skinny trying to bite their limbs and tail... And one by one they all died.
Another friend (this one present in the forum) had bought a sexed pair of Cyanunrus but recieved a adult male and a small juvie that turn out to be another male... So definitely one of the most worst and non-ethics place to buy animals. Stay away from the mess people..

 

[benw]

Marc gets a good few of his animals from shows like Hamm in Germany, and as you say he is a business so the prices are going effected with a mark up, some of the Salamandra i have seen for sale in Germany were 200 euros for a pair of Galliaca which is preposterous.

 

[pollywog]

I can confirm that we are not nor have ever been connected with Marc Staniszewski in any way.

 

[John]

Thanks Andrew. I don't know anyone who has ever given you a bad testimonial, and I constantly hear good things about your practices.

Regarding Marc Staniszewski, he historically (and, from what I'm reading here, still) has a reputation for treating non-UK residents shoddily, but people in the UK itself always speak highly of him.

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

I have no reason to point the finger at Marc / Mark.

He knew the History of the jaw because it was a mutual friend, but nothing more. Yes, it was quite boring because it was the animal would have to be a problem to some time, and not just shipping. However, if it was a problem he had since the metamorphosis, why he not died in the breeder and only died at the arrive?
As for prices I do not see anything ridiculous. Yes, there are animals that can get cheaper through these breeders, but I see that the prices of he it is not bad.

Speaking of Chioglossa, I do not know. That is more worrying! However I think that capture ''is not'' the big problem ... Unfortunately, in Portugal they are almost extinct but due to habitat destruction, and now that is truly bad. Because in any case, there was always catches of other species and there has never been problems too pronounced.

As for Marc, I'm not for or against it, just try to see both sides of the situation.

Greetings