The Amphibian Foundation's Frog Blog

The first Friday in December each year, we have opened the doors of the Amphibian Foundation (which is generally closed tot he public), and invited our partners to help us celebrate the wonderful diversity of reptiles and amphibians — often overlooked groups of animals — both groups are in great conservation concern. The last couple of years hundreds of people have come help us celebrate! What a wonderful experience and we are so grateful the community has welcomed us, and wants to celebrate these animals with us. — All photos by Tess Yaney — In the lobby: Each year, we also open the annual Ribbit Exhibit , a fine art gallery featuring amphibians. Proceeds from the sale of the artwork benefits amphibian conservation in the southeast. AF Merchandise is for sale, as well as a membership drive We maintain a small Poison Frog exhibit in the lobby as well. Sarah Horsley, on of the artists featured in the Ribbit Exhibit poses in front of her salamander art. Partne...

We had a wonderful time celebrating the Grand Opening of our tropical frog rainchamber a week or so ago. Lots of people came out to help us celebrate, and we introduced the first 20 frogs into the enclosure. Here are some incredible photographs from the event by Tess Yaney , of Tess Yaney Photography . Among other things, Tess is the official AF Photographer. People arriving to the event, but were distracted by all the exhibits in the hallway: Mata Mata Turtle, Roti Island Snack-neck Turtle, and an African Lungfish. Also, a few small enclosures with Poison Frogs. To learn about the construction of the Rainchamber itself, click here . A close-up of the plants in the rainchamber. Many of these plants were nursed from trimmings and discarded plants from my time at Atlanta Botanical Garden. Available space for frogs in this Rainchamber is 6 x 6 x 3. Before the 'release' I gave a little tour of the Rainchamber and explained its form, function and utility for am...

Mike Novy (Rainforest Junkies), Jeremy Mott (JL Exotics), Ivan Lozano Ortega (Tesoros de Colombia), Andreas Zarling with Anthony and Crystal Mandica of the Amphibian Foundation in the Amphibious AF Meeting Room at AF. Joel Sartore's incredible photography in the background. A pre- American Frog Day welcome BBQ was held at the Foundation last night, organized by partners Jeremy Mott and John Wiseman. The food was generously donated by Fat Matt's in midtown, and it was a great, casual way to spend some time before the event starts later this morning. American Frog Day is a one-day amphibious expo, being held at the Hilton Perimeter Suites (6120 Peachtree Dunwoody Rd, Atlanta, GA 30328). Doors open at 10 am. Hope to see you there! For more information, see: http://www.americanfrogday.com/schedule.html

The Amphibian Foundation is celebrating our one year anniversary this month! It’s been a whirlwind of a year, and we want to thank you for your continued support. Read below to learn about our tremendous growth and key accomplishments, achieved with your help! Amphibian Foundation founders Mark and Crystal Mandica, standing outside the Blue Heron Nature Preserve shortly after incorporating one year ago. Building an Amphibious Presence in Atlanta If you’re a regular blog guest, then you know that the Amphibian Foundation was founded in 2016 as a nonprofit dedicated to protecting endangered amphibians and their habitats. But did you know that in one year, the Amphibian Foundation: Created an office and labs at the Blue Heron Nature Preserve in Atlanta. Formed a Board of Directors with 6 members. Built a team of 25 staff members and dedicated volunteers. Trained 5 interns, and expanded into an internationally recognized internship program. Cared for more th...

Lot’s of great people and enthusiasm and lots of first time snake and turtle handlers. That is really what #outreach is all about! Here is the beautiful Erica, holding Patty — one of our female outreach Ball Pythons (#Python regius). I don’t usually post people pictures on this feed but this one came out perfect! #GlobalFest is an incredible event @ Morehouse — celebrating different regions of the globe. Today was focused on Rwanda, West Africa and China, so we brought Ball Pythons, our 3’ Savannah Monitor (#Varanus exanthematicus), A Big-head Turtle (#Platysternon megacephalum) and 4 charming Fire-belly Toads (#Bombina orientalis) … We hope to be able to partner with Morehouse in the future — this was an incredible evening! #AmphibianFoundation #Morehouse #snake #snakes #snakesofinstagram Quote of the day: 'What's that thing with that baby?'