Explaining the issues of mixing to kids

[Girlwithafrogtattoo]

I was asked to repost this from DB. Hopefully this is the correct section!
My family and I visited Clyde Peelings Reptiland on Sunda the 10th.
The dart frog exibit we saw gave me a chance to explain why I personally feel and believe mixing frogs in bad.
Here are the pictures of the viv, housing Leucomelas, Azureus, Auratus, Mint terribilis (labeled as Golden poison frog, and Tincs.




We saw another enclosure with a viper, where there was a mint terribilis, auratus and leuc inside as well. I'm guessing they were to be the vipers meal?


Anyhow, it opened up a good opportunity for me to talk to them about the issues with mixing, and why I wont do it. I did feel bad for all those frogs though.

[Philsuma]

The Hobbyist in me, has a problem with this but we know that Zoos get a "pass" for many things due to space concerns and having only .8 seconds to grab a visitors attention with an animal.....so.....

Again...I'm very conflicted, seeing this.

[DKOOISTRA]

From a hobbyist perspective, it bothers me too. While it is an attention grabber, it gets an "F" for educating and informing.
While its good that zoos are trending towards larger more realistic setups, it seems the smaller critters get left out. We hit a zoo in Des Moines, while each dart had its own cage, and ill call it that, they were pathetically small and very sparsely planted. I know they gotta do what they gotta do etc...but, its disapointing. And, it leaves us to mop up the mess when somebody comes into the hobby after seeing this.

Derek

[Philsuma]

....And, it leaves us to mop up the mess when somebody comes into the hobby after seeing this.
Derek

Wow...that's just an excellent explanation of how it hurts the hobby / future hobbyist.

and...

Is the Hobby / Hobbyist as "valuable" as a zoological institutuion ? IMO - Absolutely !

[Girlwithafrogtattoo]

I think one idea my family and I have been throwing around is trying to get zoos to post signs. Maybe stating that the way the animals are housed there is not a suitble way for a hobbiest at home to house the animal, and that the offspring is either culled or what ever they do with them. It would be reassuring to those of us who do not want the offspring that may be produced getting out to the general public, as well as letting people see a variety of frogs. They'd also be educating them a bit on issues that can come from keeping so many different frogs in an enclosure.

[Philsuma]

At least teach the kids about Biotopic environs - Atlantic Coast, Costa Rica for instance. P. lugubris and maybe D. auratus ? I would think 2 different "coloured" species would be just about as "vibrant" as 4 and it would at least be somewhat accurate instead of crossing over 2 countries and thousands of miles and packing together species that would never even be close in the wild.

[frogfreak]

Having never mixed anything, the first two pics look just "weird" to me, for lack of a better word.

It just looks so unnatural...I think a colony of Mints would look way better and still get peoples attention.