Utter failure

[hitower1575]

Well I have really jumped head first back into the old Caudata hobby. I must admit I have quite the collection. I have had some sad stories due to learning curves but really had worked things out. I bought 4 different species from 3 dealers, people I have dealt with before. I live by the ocean so my temperature is quite mild. So now I am down to 2 species even though all my others are doing great. I feel like I totally failed, the money part sucks; but I really take it personally when my animals die

 

[AngieD]

Don't beat yourself up so much, it happens to the best of us.

I have quite a sizeable collection, and we occasionally have little 'black cloud' times when a few animals die in a short space of time, apparently for no reason (although we thoroughly examine every situation to try and find out what went wrong)

Don't take it personally. All you can do if an animal dies is try to find out what happened, and then you'll know for next time.

 

[Azhael]

Happens to everybody :S
I will say, though, that if you are getting back into the hobby, it´s very important not just to take it easy and not accumulate lots of animals quickly, but also to know which species are suitable for you and your conditions. One of the most common mistakes most of us make at the beginning is to just go with our fancy, rather than evaluating wether the species is suitable for the conditions we can offer and to our level of experience.

 

[michael]

When working with animals they sometimes die. It is best to be slow and meticulous.
I recently found out about a friend of mine that lost a huge portion of his amphibian collection due to heat problems. He was busy getting ready to move and had not checked his animals for a couple days. A hose popped off his portable air conditioner and heat killed over ten thousand dollars worth of dart frogs. He is now thinking about installing temperature alarms in his new frog room.

On the old dart frog email list their was a fellow that lost a huge collection when he varnished some wood work in the room where the animals were.

At a local zoo they lost a tank of amphibians when they used a new water hose that was not food safe. The hose was probably treated with chemical release agents when it was made.

It is best to analyze what went wrong and come up with a better plan.