AVS Q&A with… Andy Baker

The hits keep coming!  This week’s Q&A is with Andy Baker.  Andy’s love for poison frogs prompted him to start the Poison Dart Frog Hobbyist Facebook Group and the National Frog Fest in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Andy’s compassionate approach to the hobby is what attracted me to participate in his Facebook group and NFF.  I had shied away from all Facebook groups until I found Andy’s.  With almost 18K folks in the group, it is a wonderful resource for beginners and advanced keepers.  Let’s shine a light on Mr. Andy Baker!

If I remember correctly, you have a background in aquatics, right?  Tell us your origin story that led to you keeping and breeding poison frogs.  Have you always been interested in the natural world? 

First off, thank you for having me and thank you for all of your support and everything you do for the community, including this blog.

I have always been extremely curious and particularly so about the natural world. As a child I grew up largely in rural Michigan, and I was always in a creek, pond, lake or swamp wrecking my newest shoes and catching anything I could. 

At around 8, I received a pair of green anoles and the world expanded. Fast forward to my early 20s around 1990, and I discovered saltwater reefkeeping along with building a fairly substantial herp collection. With help from a coworker/mentor, I built a 55 gallon tank and stocked it with mostly soft corals and large-polyp stony corals (LPS). The reef hobby was in its infancy at the time.

Through the early 90s I bred bearded dragons, ball pythons, children's pythons, jungle carpet pythons and assorted colubrids, but I was always drawn to chameleons and geckos. I especially loved terrestrial geckos. I kept and bred pictus geckos, leopard geckos, fat-tailed geckos, and frog-eyed geckos. I was also very interested in naturalistic displays and built a number of vivariums that were decent but primitive by today's standards.

In 1999, I had broken off a long-term relationship and was looking for room to grow. I sold off my entire collection along with most everything else I owned and backpacked Australia for a year logging 99 dives (yes one short of 100) on the Great Barrier Reef. 

Upon returning home I didn't return to herps, but I almost immediately set up a reef tank. Then another and another. Within a couple years, I had an online coral store, I  developed and marketed acrylic frag racks for growing coral, and I began selling at shows around the country. This eventually became a brick and mortar store and a full time gig until 2020 when I got out of reefkeeping completely. During the pandemic, my kids were home and I wanted a project to have some fun and use as a teaching tool. We built a 100 gallon vivarium and acquired Dendrobates leucomelas. 

What poison frog species and locales do you keep?  Do you have a favorite?

I keep Fine Spot Dendrobates leucomelas and several Oophaga pumilio locales, including Spotted Eldorado, Pico de Chiriqui, Colon Drago and Bastimentos. I also allegedly have Ranitomeya sirensis ‘Orange’ though they rarely show themselves. My favorite are probably my Spotted Eldorado. They're very bold and beautiful little frogs, and I got them from a late friend and mentor Justin Adamek. 

I absolutely love your Facebook group!  I feel like I’ve found my home.  You run a tight ship, and it shows.  It’s a super friendly and approachable group, which is almost unheard of for a group that large.  How did it get started?  What are your future goals for the group?  

That's so rewarding to hear because that is the mission! Hobbies such as this one can develop a sort of gate keeping, and I saw that in some of the other groups. I think the Internet in general can bring out poor behaviors. I set out to create a different kind of atmosphere. A place of support and encouragement and ideally even more. I have been aided in my endeavors by the support of many veteran hobbyists without whom none of it could work. 

I don't dabble well. That is to say I have a tendency to do things full on. Whatever it is. I need to be building, learning and growing. I am at a point in my life where I have become far less focused on myself and more focused on my community both locally and in the frog world. Poison Dart Frog Hobbyist and by extension National Frog Fest allow me to focus on community building and not collection building. I have kept large collections of animals. I don't need to do that anymore. I'm more interested in encouraging and inspiring folks to be and to embrace their best selves.

Amber and I had so much fun at the National Frog Fest!  I’ve been to hundreds of herp-related shows over the last thirty years, and I have to say that NFF is up there with some of my faves.  We met so many like-minded frog and plant enthusiasts, and we are so excited to continue to be a part of it.  How did it get started?  What are your future goals?  Side note, Ann Arbor is such a beautiful college town.  It’s the perfect spot for NFF!

It is so completely rewarding to hear that people had a great experience! I could not have been more pleased with the outcome.

So, a couple of years ago Frog Day was canceled. I have been a vendor at countless reptile and coral shows over the years and one of my closest friends hosts coral shows across the Midwest. PDFH was at probably 8,000 members at that point. I saw an opportunity to apply my background and build something community based. People have really bought in and we had over 350 people in the room this year. We raised a substantial amount of money for the ACA and hopefully we educated some folks. I found the event to have an electric atmosphere and I am grateful to all those who contributed. I look forward to trying to recreate the magic on March 22nd, 2026.

Do you like working with tropical plants as much as frogs?

I like everything about building and maintaining enclosures. I find that overall it pushes a lot of my buttons. So yes!

Who are some of your influences who’ve had a positive impact on you over the years? 

My wife and kids! 

Philippe De Vosjoli, Julian Sprung, Martin Moe, Todd Cherry, Justin Adamek, Jenny Hackforth-Jones, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Joseph Campbell, Chuck Palaniuk, Herman Melville, Bill Hicks....countless others!

Finally, tell us how we can find you and give you some love online. 

I am readily available at the Poison Dart Frog Hobbyist Facebook group and messenger. 

@andybaker53 on Instagram 

andy@theblueglow.com email