Those little suckers are faster than speeding bullets. I can relate to your panic, having had it happen to me when transferring my very first shipment of tiny auratus froglets to the nursery tank. I flung cats out the door while my foster son went after it bare-handed. Another time, an imitator leapt out and dove under an upright piano with about an inch of clearance. I managed to goose it out with a wet paper towel on a stick, along with years of accumulated dust and cat hair. One of my more exploratory galactonotus escaped three different times before I finally found how she was doing it by swimming across the aquarium section and climbing a power cord for the heater on the far corner, then squeezing under the plastic flap. The first time, I found her hopping around in the kitchen sink. The second time, she was leaping over the fruit fly containers, and the third time, I picked up what looked like a hair ball on the rug, and it was her, upside down. I would have sworn she was dead, but she recovered after a quick rinse under the faucet. (Untreated well water.) I finally watched carefully and caught her in the act on her fourth attempt, then taped that corner tightly. I'm amazed that your escaped frog lasted over night without turning into a mummy. They dehydrate so rapidly in the open.



I don't have specific tinctorius experience. The nearest thing to them I have is the azureus, which are considered a tinctorius by some. But I think you could continue to keep them together and monitor their behavior closely, or divide them into separate tanks 2 and 2.



You might try the trick one of the guys from Ed's Fly Meat showed me at the Arizona show some time ago using a deli-cup. Put the frog in it (lid in place, of course) and put the cup on its side. Then roll the cup so the frog's head is in the downward position, toward the floor. The males will lift their heads up from the center of gravity, and the females will duck their heads downward as you gradually roll the cup so the frogs are oriented head-down against the side. I'm not sure if this is totally reliable, but the demonstration he gave seemed to work. I've never tried it myself, and don't know how old they have to be before it works. Just a thought. If my explanation is confusing, I'll draw a picture.
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Patty

Pahsimeroi, Idaho



D. auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, galactonotus orange, galactonotus yellow, fantasticus, reticulatus, imitator, castaneoticus, azureus, pumilio Bastimentos. P. lugubris, vittatus, terribilis mint green, terribilis orange.

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