Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A little about these frogs. I will make it easy... just score each one (A,B,C,D,F) A being good and F being bad. I am interested in starting with arrow frogs and mantellas and want something with relative ease of care, an appetite, something that doesn't need a huge amount of room (preferably something the size of a 10 gallon aquarium or smaller) although I won't be using a fish aquarium unless it is recommended....
Here are the species that caught my eye...

D. pumilio
D. auratus
D. azureus
D. leucomelas
D. truncatus
P. terribilis (orange AND mint)
D. Imitator
And whatever this is... http://market.kingsnake.com/image/590919.jpg
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.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
.1 MO Locale Black Ratsnake "Molly" (Flogging Molly)

"You saved my life! I'm gonna get you so many lizards!"

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.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
.1 MO Locale Black Ratsnake "Molly" (Flogging Molly)

"You saved my life! I'm gonna get you so many lizards!"

D. pumilio--not a good frog for a beginner in the hobby. They are rather expensive and somewhat more difficult than most, also very territorial so need to be kept in mated pairs. They are pretty expensive.

D. auratus--very nice, easy frogs, although some color morphs, especially the blue, tend to be shy and hide a lot. Check out Saurian.net to read more about them. Prices are reasonable.

D. azureus--Easy, bold frogs, but territorial, so best kept in either mated pairs or two males. They are rather large as darts go, and may want more space than 10 gallons. They tend to be rather expensive although the price is coming down.

D. leucomelas--One of the easiest and boldest of the darts, these are groupies, get along well together regardless of sex. You could keep two in a 10 gallon. Prices are low.

D. truncatus--I have no personal experience with these.

P. terribilis--either mint or orange--Totally delightful, easy frogs, very bold and even "friendly" frogs, that get along in groups regarless of sex. Photos don't do justice to the irredescent color, especially the mints.

D. imitator--one of the best of the thumbnails for a beginner--Gregarious, active, will breed and raise their own tadpoles in bromeliad axils by feeding them unfertilized eggs.-They put on a very entertaining show. Females will fight, but don't seem to harm each other.

I could not bring up the URL you posted. You need to use the Image URL at the bottom of the page.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

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

Sorry, I clicked a wrong button before I was through. While the general rule is one dart frog for each 10 gallons of space, that's a minimum requirement. With any of these guys, the maximum is 2 per tank. It's also all right to keep a single frog alone. It's just not as much fun as having them interact.

Welcome to the hobby, and if there are any other questions we can help with, please ask.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

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

the pic is an auratus. i would 't get any pumilio's or thumbnails. they can be shy and are not for even beginner dart keepers, let alone beginner frog keepers. leucs, azeurus, or auratus would be your best bet. i have leucs and an auratus so if you have any specific questions i would be glad to help. i have mine in the same tank, you might want to do that. other species aren't good to keep in the same tank, but they stay about the same size and have pretty much the same requirements. here's some links on good dart info:

saurian.net
amphibiancare.com
dendroboard.com
dendroworld.com
frognet.org
brianstropicals.com
aaronsfrogfarm.com
rainforestcreations.net

Otis7-- I'm just a little confused. You said you had leucs and an auratus?? The second photo is an imitator, which is gorgeous, by the way. Nice tank.

The only problem with imitators for first frogs is their small size, which can be somewhat intimidating to a new owner. They are also faster than lightening and can "leap tall buildings in a single bound," right over the edge and under the upright piano in a flash. I recovered one that did this to me when I opened the hinged top, but not without great difficulty, spritzing along with water as I tried to carefully tease it out with a wet paper towel on a stick." (I do need to clean under my pianos more often.) I've never found them to be particularly shy, except perhaps when first introduced to a new mate, but then, I've never kept any alone. The intermedius are similar. Other thumbs however, I agree--one should have some experience first, and their prices are high, which makes any losses even more painful. I've found the D. reticulatus to be particularly fussy, and especially difficult as froglets. With D. fantasticus, one has to be very particular about escapes, as they can get through the least tiny crack in lid fitting that one would think would keep in even a fruit fly. They are both expensive and very, very small. Another tiny, hardy little frog is the Phyllobates lugubris. It looks similar to the P. vittatus, only much smaller and not quite as brightly marked. I have two in a ten gallon, although they are supposed to need even more territory than that.

I'm one of those who tend to think "the more space, the better," although this can indeed be overdone.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

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

yeah, i guess i should have clrified that, i just attached pics of any of the species he mentioned that i had pics of. still don't have any of the auratus.

you said they are shy when first introduced to a new mate, do you know when the become "unshy?" i have a pair and i see the female, but haven't seen the male in a while, should i bw worried?

i can't beleive it got on your paino, i can only imagine how freaked out you were. i only feed my thumbs when i see them in the lower half of their tank. i know what you mean, i've seen your 125 gallon pauldarium.

I think the imitators all have different personalities, but the only shyness I've witnessed was a new male I got for the old mother frog, who was very aggressive and "jumped his bones." Whether she was flirting or fighting was hard to tell, but she would not leave him alone. She'd always been the boss of everybody when she was in the group, ate the other females' eggs and the tads that grew up were all hers. I separated her with the new male to give the others a chance. The first group were all siblings, so I also wanted to introduce some new blood with a couple of new males from a different line. He hid for a couple of months, with her still after him all of the time, but eventually, they began breeding again.

That's one of the problems with heavily planted tanks with lots of hides like ours. You can't always find the little guys without disturbing it, and if they die, they disintegrate within days without leaving a recognizable corpse. On the other hand, I think they are eventually bolder in a heavily planted tank because they feel more secure.

Everyone seems to have differing experiences with boldness and shyness in various frogs, so there's probably no real rules that govern them all, only impressions.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

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

ok, that makes me feel better. i haven't seen the male in about two weeks, but have not looked for more than a few minutes because i don't want to disturb them. i only see the female every few days though. they're in a 10 vert and there's about a hundred different hiding spots.

i've never heard of a female that agressive, wo! i got the male for christmas and have probally seen him twice. my auratus did the same thing though, he hid in his fern for about three months, and now he's out almost 100% of the time.