Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 20 gallon tank that is not being used. I've always liked the looks of D. castaneoticus. I know that hey are hard to find and harder to breed. I thought, however, I might give it a try. Some of you herpers have this frog, so any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Al
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Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein

I believe you can purchase D. castaneoticus from Saurian, which is where I got mine. I have been keeping them for several years, but they've never bred or laid eggs for me. I'm not a breeder, so don't worry about this or particularly encourage it. Compared to other species, my captive group is very shy and not particularly active, over all. They are in my experience, quite frankly, not very interesting, except I give visitors a gold star if they manage to spot one in their two separate vivariums. Other people have reported different experiences about their boldness however, so unless you are a rank beginner with dart frogs, I wouldn't discourage you from trying them if you like them.

There was some sort of fuss a while back about them being illegal, because a Brazilian Government zoo sold some to a zoo in the U.S. with the condition that they would not go into the hobby from this source. Apparently, this zoo did disperse some of their offspring into the hobby, so all such dispersals of these captive bred extra fellows that bred in the zoo, were then considered illegal. You can look up this whole discussion on frognet.com. in the archives. This came after I'd purchased mine from Saurian. I thought the entire reasoning was totally absurd. I wasn't particularly worried that someone from the Idaho Fish and Game Patrol, or some Fed agency was going to confiscate my frogs because they were rather dubiously "illegal." In the first place, they wouldn't have the faculties to identify them, even they even found me in the boonies from whatever clue they got that I had a few of them. If they did find me, they wouldn't be able to find the frogs in their separate habitats, because even I seldom see them, and if they did find them, what would they do with them? Squash them just to prove a point? On the off chance that they had the faculties and know how to keep them alive, where would they send them? Back to Brazil, where their original habitat is being burned for charcoal and short lived agriculture? Back to to zoo that originally dispersed them into the hobby because they bred so successfully there that they had too many?

I think this silly controversy is over, or at least they are available again from Saurian. Good luck, and if you find some, I hope they are more interesting to you than mine have been to me. Experiences do differ, and mine may not be the one to go by. I've read a few posts elsewhere from other people who find them both bold and entertaining.

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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
6 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
7 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
6 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
6 P. terribilis mint and organe
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus
2 P. lugubris

Thanks for the info.

On the latest update, Saurian shows castaneoticus as not being available. I'd like to try breeding galactonotus, but the care sheets say I would need a bigger tank. Maybe I'll try D. i. intermedius instead. They are colorful and are supposed to be fairly easy. Castaneoticus can wait until I have more experience.

So many frogs, so few enclosures (for now)!
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Sometimes I think that war is G-d's way of teaching us geography.
-Paul Rodriguez

The D. intermedius are a lot like D. imitators, which are one of my favorite thumbnails. They're a good choice. You'll really like them. Be sure to have a few bromeliads like the smaller Neoregalias for them, and they'll raise their own kids for you.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
6 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
7 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
6 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
6 P. terribilis mint and organe
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus
2 P. lugubris