Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if anyone could give me some good information on dart frogs. i dont know anything about them so i would appreciate it if someone could give me info on types, species, terrarium setups, how territorial they are, etc. i just want alot of information. Thank you.

--Trey

That's a really big order, Trey, but here's a start: See if your local library, or university science libraray has W. Schmidt and F.W. Henkel's Professional Breeders Series, POISON FROGS. It has the most concise information available in a relatively small book, as well as a lot of color photos. The book is also affordable if you want to buy it. You can find the web site at the link below.

You can also check out the various breeders' care sheets, such as Black Jungle.com and Saurian.net. There are others as well, but these are those I have personally dealt with.

But here is a general overview: Most hobbyists use naturally planted vivariums that become biologically rather balanced between the plants and the dart frogs, so that changing substrate and "cleaning the tank" is generally unnecessary, at least for years. Of course, the maintenance of plants by trimming, cleaning various fungi, deposits and debris off the glass, is almost a daily chore. The tanks can be either very simple, involving only a drainage layer of gravel under the substrate, or you can get much fanicer with them with "false bottoms" of water recycled over falls, streams or drip walls.

For Dart frogs, the humidity should be kept between 80 and 100%, and the temperatures between 65 at night and 80 during the day. The substrates can vary from organic compost to cocoanut fiber, sphagnum moss, leaf litter, or a combination of all. You can add hides of coconut husks, and epiphytic bromeliads on a back ground of cork bark or other material-- where some of the very tiny thumbnails and obligate egg layers will breed and raise their own babies. While some species are very territorial, need to be kept in pairs of one female to a male, or perhaps two males, others will get along even better in groups of 4 or more regardless of sex. The general rule is to have at least 5 gallons of space for each frog, but this is arbitrary, and some need more. Generally speaking, the females are the fighters among the territorial frogs.

Good groupy starter frogs are: Dendrobates leucomelas-- one of the best of all, because they are strikingly colored and not very expensive. Phylobates terribilis. The mint greens may seem to be just a boring green color, but in real life, they are incredibly lovely with a glow about them. There is also an orange form. In the wild, these are one of the most poisonous of the family, and were and perhaps still are, used for poisoning the darts of the Columbian Indians. But they are peaceful fellows and get along well together.

Dart frogs lose most of their toxicity in captivity, and nearly, if not all of it when captive bred. This has to do with the difference of food items and chemicals in the rain forests, vs. what they can be provided in captivity.

Plan to also raise fruit flies to feed them, starting this ahead of time so you don't run out of food for them. Culturing fruit flies is not difficult, once started, and one can purchase flightless, wingless, and various sorts that won't just fly away. Everyone has a different recipe for fly cultures, and many ways to do it. I rely on commercial media and set-ups, because I'm lazy. Most breeders carry the necessary stuff.

I hope this helps you, and do stick with us and let us know how you are doing, or ask any specific questions.
Chimaira Publications

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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

Do you have any pictures of your frogs? or the tanks they live in? I would love to see some.

Just go to the photo gallery on this site, then scroll down through the various category choices until you come to the bottom where you can choose "user name." Type in slaytonp, then click on search. It will bring up a variety of stuff I've stored there, not all of it particularly good photography, and not all of it recent. It's rather a mess, as a matter of fact. I sometimes stored stuff there that was pertinent at a time, long past, for a particular discussion. But you can browse through it.
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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