Until you have a lot of experience with each species, it's best not to mix them together.

I think the mixing question comes up more often than any other, and it is rather complicated, but maybe I can remember the major concerns many people have with this, other than it gooses a lot of people up into a rage against it vs a defense for it, every time it is mentioned.

1. The dart frog community of breeders and hobbyists in general attempts to avoid hybrids and interbreeding, trying to keep the off-spring of WC specimens as close to the original as we can. It's an ethical, perhaps even a conservational kind of concern, although the conservation question is also controversial. None of us wants to see "designer" frogs get into the hobby. We don't even tend to mix different color morph populations of the same species for this reason. The original species are endangered, even those not designated as such, and therefore, we somehow think we can preserve them in the hobby. The reasoning gets a bit odd from here. Reintroduction into the original habitats after they are destroyed, which is occurring at a rapid rate, would not be possible, of course, because the original habitats won't be there. But we all, at least most of us persevere with an attitude of saving them in our cages.

2. Any kind of mixing should only be done in a very large tank, with room for separate territories, with full knowledge of the various species habits, such as their requirements for territory, tendencies toward aggressive behavior, ability to "get along with others," which some species don't have.

3. Zoos and some individuals, especially in Europe, do mix successfully for "show and tell tanks." But they generally have more faculties and facilities to monitor this than most beginning hobbyists, more alternatives to move things around if the mixing is not working out.

I would simply start out with your original plan of one specie, then see what it does, learn some more, and go from there. These delightful, often entertaining, always colorful frogs are very addictive. Once you've kept your first pair or group of a single specie, you may see why most people don't even bother to mix them.


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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

Dendrobates: auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, tinctorius azureus, leucomelas. Phyllobates: vittatus, terribilis, lugubris. Epipedobates: anthonyi tricolor pasaje. Ranitomeya fantastica, imitator, reticulata. Adelphobates castaneoticus, galactonotus. Oophagia pumilio Bastimentos. (updated systematic nomenclature)

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