Josh's Frogs Podcast

Thinking about getting your first reptile? Lori, a reptile caretaker and breeder at Josh's Frogs, shares the best beginner reptiles, from leopard geckos and crested geckos to corn, milk and king snakes, and explains why bearded dragons and ball pythons aren't at the top of her list.Before you buy anything, Josh and Lori walk through the questions every new keeper should answer first: What's your budget? How much time and energy can you give? How long will this animal live? Lori shares how she researches a species' natural habitat, how to spot outdated care advice online, and what terms like basking spot, temperature gradient, crepuscular and fossorial actually mean for your setup.What was your first reptile? Tell us in the comments!CHAPTERS00:24 Meet Lori: reptile caretaker & breeder01:08 How Lori got into reptiles03:18 Before you buy: budget & commitment05:04 How to research a species09:47 What is a basking spot?11:05 Temperature gradients explained12:44 Diurnal, nocturnal & crepuscular14:13 Terrestrial, arboreal & fossorial15:55 The best beginner reptiles17:07 Why not bearded dragons & ball pythons?17:38 Is a leopard gecko right for you?18:31 Feeding insect-eating reptiles19:37 Feeding schedules, calcium & D321:19 Feeding snakes25:10 Crested geckos: fruit, bugs & diets26:55 Handling: which reptiles tolerate it?28:51 Building trust takes time30:09 Advice for first-time keepers31:58 Lightning roundJOSH'S FROGSWebsite: https://joshsfrogs.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/joshs_frogs/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoshsFrogs/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/@JoshsFrogs#reptiles #leopardgecko #beginnerreptiles

Tarantulas don't need much space, money or time, but they do need the right setup. Jayzun Boget, our Curator of Arachnids, helps walk you through everything a first-time keeper should know, from sizing an enclosure to what a bite would actually feel like.Jayzun was extremely arachnophobic when he started working at Preuss Pets in Lansing, until exposure turned that fear into fascination. Now, after 26 years with tarantulas, he's never been bitten. He also shares how much the hobby has changed: by his estimate, wild-caught tarantulas went from about 95% of the hobby 15 years ago to around 30% today.Chapters:00:24 Meet Jayzun, our Curator of Arachnids00:47 From arachnophobe to tarantula keeper01:57 How the tarantula hobby has changed05:32 Why tarantulas are great for beginners06:51 Step one: arboreal or terrestrial?08:49 How big should the enclosure be?10:19 How much space they really use12:04 Hides and substrate depth13:43 Bioactive substrate and springtails15:13 Moisture, humidity and field damp16:36 Live plants and isopods17:34 Making the enclosure a display piece19:44 Chaco Golden Knee: great first spider21:31 No vet visits, no shots, no spaying22:13 Are tarantula bites dangerous?23:53 Urticating hairs explained25:44 Lightning roundLearn more:Getting started with tarantulas: https://joshsfrogs.com/blog/Getting-Started-with-TarantulasArachnid BioBedding: https://joshsfrogs.com/c/habitat/substrates/joshs-frogs-biobeddings?query=arachnidTarantula Cribs enclosures: https://joshsfrogs.com/c/habitat/enclosures/tarantula-cribs-enclosuresShop tarantulas: https://joshsfrogs.com/c/live_insects/pet_insects/spiders/tarantulas#tarantula #tarantulacare #exoticpets

Dr. Tom Raffel and PhD student Sergio Bermudez of Oakland University explain why, and what a frog's skin bacteria might have to do with chytrid.Sergio's project is one of our 2026 Josh's Frogs Amphibian Conservation Grant winners. He's sequencing "day zero" skin swabs from an earlier chytrid experiment with African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) to find out whether the bacteria on a frog's skin before infection can predict how hard chytrid hits it later.In this episode:• How temperature and group living changed chytrid infections• Why the frogs' skin bacteria may change because of the infection, not the temperature itself• What temperature really does to chytrid, and how that lines up with the heat treatment we used in our own outbreak (full story in episode #68)• What this could mean for probiotic treatmentsLearn more:Sergio's project: https://joshsfrogs.com/blog/Sergio-Bermudez-Using-Skin-Microbiome-to-Predict-Chytrid-SeverityChytrid 101: https://joshsfrogs.com/blog/Chytrid-101Raffel Lab: https://sites.google.com/oakland.edu/raffel-lab#chytrid #frogs #amphibianconservation

Kevin Lux built Heket, an open-source AI tool that listens to his backyard pond all night and identifies frog and toad calls. His microphone is actually just a security camera aimed at the pond.Josh and Kevin get into how Heket learns to tell a bullfrog from an airplane, why BirdNET inspired it, his plan for one-click sharing of verified calls to iNaturalist, and what season-long listening could add to frog call surveys. Plus how to run one at home, Kevin's other TurtlePond.us projects, and more!This episode is part of our series featuring applicants to the Josh's Frogs Amphibian Conservation Grant.Heket: https://turtlepond.us/heket/Our conservation grants: https://joshsfrogs.com/conservation-initiatives

Mark and Crystal Mandica started the Amphibian Foundation ten years ago with one goal: keep the frosted flatwoods salamander from disappearing. This year their building was demolished, and they had to rebuild every lab at once across two new locations.Josh sits down with both co-founders to talk about what bringing a species back actually requires, why successful captive breeding is only the first step, and how a summer camp for kids ended up funding the early salamander work.Amphibian Foundation: https://www.amphibianfoundation.orgMaster Herpetologist Program: https://masterherper.amphibianfoundation.orgCritter Camp: https://www.critter-camp.orgShort Finned Mako: https://oceanconservancy.org/wildlife-library/shortfin-mako-shark/Josh's Frogs: https://www.joshsfrogs.com

Thinking about a frog as a first pet? Curator of Tree Frogs and Toads Austin Rea is back to walk through everything a brand new keeper needs to sort out before buying an animal, whether you're a parent whose kid just discovered amphibians or you're finally setting up that tank yourself.We get into the two household deal-breakers that should stop you cold, how much space a frog actually needs, what daily care looks like next to a dog or a cat, the wild caught vs. captive bred question, the diseases worth knowing about, and Austin's picks for the best beginner species. Plus a breeding update from the tree frog and toad room!Austin's advice if you only remember one thing: monitor your humidity.Mentioned in this episode:Find an amphibian vet through the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians: https://arav.orgMinimum tank size, care sheets, and setup guides on every animal page at https://www.joshsfrogs.comJosh's Frogs is a Healthy Trade Institute certified facility, and every animal we sell is captive bred.New episodes on YouTube and Spotify. If there's a species you want covered, tell us in the comments.

In late 2024, a single loaned-out pixie frog came back to our facility chytrid positive, and got loose in receiving. What followed: six months with no amphibian production, over 10,000 animals heat treated, thousands of swabs, $70,000+ in testing, roughly $1.25 million in lost revenue, and a phone call from the state suggesting we euthanize everything in the building.Josh sits down with Zach Brinks, VP of Live Operations (19 years at Josh's Frogs), and we get into exactly how the outbreak started, how effective heat treatment is, and what all of it means for you at home with one frog or a whole rack.

They're called viper geckos, they're roughly the size of your thumb, and they are not venomous in the slightest. Josh talks with Lori from the reptile department about one of the more underrated species we breed here! Lori covers the full setup, why these are a communal species,, what a proper enclosure looks like, basking and ambient temps, humidity, and where she lands on the ongoing UVB debate for nocturnal species. If you keep leopard geckos, a lot of this will feel familiar. Same region of the world, similar temperature needs, same tail-fat storage. The differences are the fun part: no eyelids, so they lick their eyeballs clean, and sticky toe pads that let them walk straight up glass.

Triangle tree frogs (Dendropsophus triangulum) used to be lumped in with clown tree frogs, and about half of them don't even have the triangle they're named for. Josh sits down with Austin, who oversees tree frog and toad production at Josh's Frogs, to break down what these frogs actually are and how to keep and breed them. Bioactive setups nearly identical to red eyes, sexing by body width and throat color, and a breeding process where eggs go onto submerged vegetation in an inch of water with clutches run around 700. The tadpoles are the smallest we work with, small enough to swim through a foam filter if you're not careful.

How big does the world's largest tarantula actually get? Josh sits down with Jayzun, the Curator of Arachnids at Josh's Frogs, to meet five giant tarantulas! Including a Goliath birdeater, (Theraphosa blondi), with a leg span pushing 10 inches.Jayzun has kept tarantulas for 26 years and has never once been bitten. In this episode he pulls the lids off some of the biggest spiders in the collection and explains what "giant" actually means, why leg span is a misleading way to rank them, and which giant species a first-time keeper should actually start with.Species featured:- Ornamental tarantula (Poecilotheria sp.) - an arboreal giant with medically significant venom and yellow warning colors- Colombian giant redleg / blood leg - dramatic, fast, and quick to kick urticating hairs- Brazilian blonde (Nhandu tripepii) - "Pinkie Pie," who does not like Jayzun- Brazilian salmon pink birdeater (Lasiodora parahybana) - Jayzun's pick for a first giant- Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi) - The largest spider species in the worldShop tarantulas, supplies, and feeders: https://www.joshsfrogs.com#Tarantula #GoliathBirdeater #JoshsFrogs