Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was looking at black jungle web site. They have those exo-terra open front terrariums. They are 12x12x12 or 12 x 12x18. would one of these be feasable for a trio of dart frogs? what kind are good for beginners? I like the bright colors. i do have other herps and ambhib so im not completely new to the scene. i would eventually like to breed these if possible so i guess i need a colorful and easy to breed dart frogs. can any one start me in the right direction? Thanks abunch guys

I REALLY like those cages, however there are a few modifications you need to make. There are a few spaces that fruit flies can use to leave the tank, and that means that you will be seeing them all over your house. So you would need to seal the air spaces that are big enough for fruit flies to escape. You also need to calculate how many gallons those sizes are, as the general rule of thumb is five gallons per frog.
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phflame
kingsnake.com host

If i only want three frogs? Is it ok to go for the large tank? Also would azureus be an ok frog to start with? how many male and female would i need is it the same with other frogs more females to males? Sorry for all the questions

Don't apologize for asking questions. That's what the forum is all about. Azureus are great frogs and are among the largest of the genus. They really do better in mated pairs rather than groups, as like others of this tinc. group, the females tend to do serious battle. They are still somewhat expensive for a beginning, especially mated adult pairs, but they are bold and beautiful.

Another great frog, but also somewhat more expensive for a beginning are the D. galactonotus. These get along great in groups and the pumpkin orange splash backs are the boldest, most curious and fun to watch frogs I have. Of course, the D. leucomelas are among the least expensive, and are also good in groups, as well as being colorful. I also like D. terribilis, either the mint green or golden. They also get along well in groups.

It's quite O.K. to go "too large," meaning more than 5 gallons per frog. 5 gallons is the arbitrary minimum recommended, not an upper limitation. Any of the bolder, larger frogs can and will utilize almost any appropriate space you can give them. With the smaller frogs like the pumilios and tiny thumbnails, really big tanks sometimes make them difficult to keep track of. I have one mated pair of pumilios in each of two 30 gallon tanks, and they use every inch of the space from top to bottom without problems in finding them. The little imitators also use a lot more than 5 gallons per frog if given the opportunity. I currently have a pair, plus a couple of new froglets in an 18 gallon high, and two females and a male in a 30 gallon hex,--plus some tads in bromes.

Here's my pair of D. azureus in a 20 gallon. It seems about right for the two of them, and three pumpkin galactonotus juveniles sitting in brome leaf axils in a 135 gallon paludarium. As 6 year old adults, they explore the entire paludarium, including sitting on the floating leaves in the aquarium section to compete with the fish for stray fruit flies. The other photo is of 4 Phylobates vittatus hunting in a 55 gallon corner bow tank.

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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus

for answering these complicated questions. I am not very experienced in keeping darts, as I only have two tanks. And i have never had them hatch any babies out. So I know the minimum, but not any of the more advanced stuff. Once again, thanks.
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phflame
kingsnake.com host

Im definately going to do a pair of D. Azurues ( did i spell that right) Im thinking in a tank 12 x 12 x 18. Is that big enough for them? But i would also like to do a group of another kind. I like the black and green ones but dont know the real name. What kind would you suggest? Do they eat anythign other than fruit flies? You guys are awesome when it comes to answering questions. Thank you again greatly

The green and black ones are probably dendrobatus auratus. They are a good beginner frog. You CAN feed tiny crickets to dart frogs, and springtails, and rice flour beetles. There are a lot of other insects that are good to use, but the fruit flies would be my first choice and a good staple. The other insects seem to be a special treat for the frogs. Remember that you need to dust your insects with a calcium and vitamin supplement regularly.
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sue

A 12X12X18 would keep a pair of azureus very well. When you get confused about spelling azureus, think of "azure" - like azure skies--a lovely shade of blue. The others you are thinking of are probably Dendrobates auratus, which come in black and green, blue and green and other shades. They will all survive well on fruit flies alone, but other foods are always welcome, and give some variety to their diets, as long as it is alive, moving and small enough for them to eat. Dendrobates azureus in the wild actually subsist on more springtails than other things. Springtails are very easy to culture, but are small compared to fruit flies. Pinhead crickets (the newborns between 6 days and a couple of weeks or so old) are also a nice source of food, and most darts love them. I have used rice flour beetle larvae on occasion, but find them a PITA to separate from the rice flour. Some people use small termites, but I have no experience with these, and others may use certain ants. In using ants you really need to be careful and know the various species, because some may be more dangerous to your frogs than the frogs are to them. The small so-called pavement ants and sugar ants may be a food source for darts.

If you have a garden that is free from pesticides or live in an area as I do, which is a rather large ranch where the pastures are never sprayed and no chemicals are used, with an organic garden, so called "field plankton" is a nice source of dart food in season. I run around in summer with an insect net and swoop up tiny critters from the grass, trees, etc. for the frogs. They love leaf hoppers, gnats, whatever is small enough to go into their mouths. They particularly like a fruit tree leaf full of aphids-- or any aphids you find on other plants that haven't been sprayed. You can just remove the leaf with the aphids and place it in the tank. And no, it is very unlikely the aphids with infect the live plants in your tank, for several reasons I won't elaborate on here. But they won't. Isopods, such as baby pill and sow bugs get eaten, and it is safe to put a few adults into a tank to see if they won't produce some frog food. In my experience, they don't prosper for long, however, and raising them in boxes is more effort than it's worth.

In any event, you can feed a lot of different live insects as long as they are pesticide free, but do need to keep basic cultures of fruit flies for the main diet, along with some springtails, perhaps-- expecially if you ever intend to feed newly morphed out tadpoles.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus