AVS Q&A with… Troy Goldberg
I’ve worked with reptiles and amphibians in some capacity for almost four decades. I specialized in geckos, but the last several years I’ve pivoted into working with poison frogs, plants, and vivaria. When I searched for YouTube videos about Dendobatids, of course Troy’s videos were front and center. After going through all of his videos on YouTube, I stalked him on Instagram and listened to all of the podcasts he did. I got to meet him at Andy Baker’s National Frog Fest, and he was friendly, approachable, and more than willing to talk shop. With all of that said, I’m excited to have Troy as a guest on my Q&A.
Troy, thanks so much for doing my little Q&A. I know you’ve talked about your background numerous times on the many podcasts you’ve done, but I’d love it if you could share it here with the readers who’ve not heard your interviews.
So, I’d have to say that it started back when I was just a little kid running around the neighborhood looking for any body of water whether it be a creek, pond or lake. I loved catching frogs, crayfish, turtles and tadpoles. I also spent a lot of time from the ages of 6-14 fishing whenever I had the chance. Luckily, there were several ponds within riding distance with my little BMX bike. I also loved going to pet stores and aquariums/nature centers. I saw my first dart frogs at the Cleveland Zoo rainforest on a school field trip in the early 90s. I remember being completely enamored with them, and I guess without me even knowing it, I was already hooked. After that field trip, anytime I saw a book about dart frogs I read it (looked at the pictures), or even searched on the Encarta encyclopedia… dart frogs were always something I thought about often.
If I remember correctly, you got your first frogs in 1999. What species was it, and who had them? Give us the timeline of your poison frog journey from those first frogs to now.
Yes, that is correct. My pops brought home 3 tree frogs and a ten gallon aquarium, with all the fixins, to build a pretty shitty setup. The frogs were a Cuban tree frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis), a green tree frog (Bryophytes cinereous or Hyla cinerea), and a kassina frog or Senegal running frog (Kassina senegalensis), which is what the pet store called it. He actually got them from a mom and pop pet shop out in Mercer, PA… he was on a sales call, and sometimes interesting things are included in sales deals (haha). That was my first real introduction to keeping frogs. Roughly 6 months after that, I ended up buying my first red-eyed tree frogs (Agalychnis callidryas) and my first dart frog, which was Dendrobates auratus. I also got those from a mom and pop pet shop in Alliance, OH. About 2 years after that, my Dad, while on another sales call, met a guy who had dart frogs, and he gave my dad the name Aaron’s Frog Farm in Buffalo, NY. It wasn’t much longer after that I had my first Dendrobates tinctorius from Aaron, and then over the next 10 or so years, I had many D. tinctorius locales and some Phyllobates. I didn’t start keeping Oophaga until around 2010-2011. I did a trade with a friend, and he had some bastimentos. So, I gave them a shot, and like many others, I got the Oophaga bug pretty bad. A couple years after that, I decided to jump into large obligates, and I’ve been happily residing there for the last 13 years.
I know you used to purchase enclosures from other folks, then you started making your own. What were some of the issues you faced when constructing your first few enclosures?
Well, honestly not too many. I had some Euro-style tanks already, so I was able to use them as the reference for how I wanted to build my own, and I basically just made a more simplistic design with easy measurements. The biggest issue was learning how little silicone you actually needed to build one. My first tank used nearly an entire tube of silicone, and now I can build probably 6-8 enclosures off of one tube… haha! I’m someone who thinks and plans out accordingly for whatever project I’m doing, and then I just dive in. I’m not too cautious or scared to make mistakes. I’ve made several changes to the design since 2018, but really just to make the build process cleaner, messing around with vent sizes, substrate dam heights and certain things to make weak points in the enclosure more stable.
I think I remember you mentioning that you just want the hobby to pay for itself. I chuckled when you said that because that’s what I’ve always said over the years. In 35 years breeding herps, I don’t think it ever has. You?
Haha, yeah there are certain years that it has paid for itself, and then some years it’s close to even… and then there are also some years where I just buy buy buy buy… and I go way in the red. As a whole, I’m sure I’m still in the red unfortunately.
Your vivaria are works of art. Period. It is evident that you have an artistic background. The flow of your hardscape and plants pulls us through your builds in a pleasing manner. What aspects of your art background have you incorporated into your vivarium builds?
Hey buddy, I appreciate that! Well, I double majored in painting and ceramics/sculpting. I’m not sure I can say that either of those medias actually contribute to the creations I end up with, but in general I think it’s helped with a general understanding of design, composition and spatial recognition. Like I said earlier, not being afraid to make a mistake I feel has certainly helped me in this department too. Sometimes I just wing it, and it’s very much like sketching out ideas, but 3-dimensionally. I’m also often times thinking about how the frogs will utilize the hardscape, making sacrifices in the design that might not look the best artistically, but work out better for the animal. Also, visualizing how plants are going to grow into the hardscape is also something I try to be conscious of.
I know your love for plants has grown over the years. What are some of your favorite genera and species?
It’s changed several times. I used to only like smaller-leaved plants and vines like marcgravias, peperomias, and mini orchids. Then I went crazy with philodendrons and anthuriums. Now I feel like my enclosures live in a happy medium with a decent mix of it all. I still love Marcgravia umbellata ‘Red', Marcgravia sintenisii, Peperomia emarginella, and many of the pleurothallis and masdevallia orchid species (many other orchid species I love but I kill those). I really love epiphytic ferns as well, such as microgramma and microsorum. For bigger-leaved plants, I still use Philodendron verrucosum even though it goes a little too crazy. I also like Philodendron sp. ‘Lincoln Park Zoo’ and Anthurium forgetti. Most of the other large-leaved plants I love simply get too big, even in the 300+ gallon vivariums. Oh, I also like moss.
Zoopoxy. Let’s talk about it. How have you incorporated it in your builds?
I’ve only used it on my latest enclosure for Phyllomedusa bicolor. They’re big, heavy frogs, and they like to be up high on branches. So, I didn’t want to run the risk of the ghostwood or manzanita wood branches rotting out over time and wanted to build a more permanent branchy structure. I also decided to mess around and make some fake rocks with it. Its uses are kind of endless, and I think it’s something that any and every custom background maker/builder should have. It’s very easy to work with, and Brad’s Bioactive Builds on YouTube has a nice livestream on there where he shows how to mix it up and a brief general tutorial on how to apply it. Once you grasp that aspect of the media, it’s easy to see how the applications are literately endless.
Most of the folks I interview mention you as a big influence. Tell us some of your influences.
Well, I sort of have two main forms of inspiration. One form is the design and finished look of the vivarium. For that, I’ve always been inspired by the Dutch and Dutchrana in particular. A large part of how my tanks currently look is obviously derived from them. I also get inspiration from aquascapers and some of the vivarium YouTube channels from Korea and Indonesia. The other form is really just frog/husbandry/breeding influence. I think for this it’s great to have several friends that you’re able to bounce ideas off each other, inspiring and also being inspired at the same time. These are some of the names that have helped influence my keeping practices: Julio Rodriguez, Steve Reyes, Robert Nhan, Shawn Harrington, Lynn Rech, Andreas Zarling, Damian Rama, Mike Novy, Bobby Zahradnik, Walter Grysko, Trey Bell, Nick Zoppa, and Travis Stutchman.
Finally, how can we find you online?
Instagram: ooFROGa_hisTROYonica
YouTube: Troy Goldberg’s Tropical Garage