Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I keep hearing a strange noise from across the room and I'm not sure where it's coming from, but seems to be from either the viv or the computer. It's a very faint, almost....I really don't know how to describe it. Doesn't sound like the frogs from the streams/ponds I've heard around here though.

While I've never heard my own auratus call because they are all females, most dart calls are more like a soft buzzing sound, as if a wire is shorting out somewhere, not at all like their louder cousins from the swamp. My ears aren't what they used to be, so I rarely hear any of my 50 darts call at all unless I virtually have my head in the tank while they're doing it. Even the loudest, (D. leucomelas, pumilio and P. vittatus) don't fill the house with song. I've rarely heard the D. imitators, although they breed a lot, and obviously must be calling for various reasons. At any rate, most of the calls are like a short burst of buzzing and perhaps a bit of twittering at the end. That certainly could be what you are hearing.

I think there are some sites on the internet that play frog calls, that might be worth exploring just for the fun of it.
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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

Thanks for your response Patty. I was afraid no one would answer I think I am hearing the male calling then. What does that mean? Do they need to breed? I have a male costa rican in with a female bronze so i'm not sure letting them breed would be a great idea, except for the experience. There is only a small water dish in the viv, so I guess I'd need a brom if they were to breed?

Unlike the imitators and other thumbnails that care for their tads by feeding them unfertilized eggs, auratus don't take care of their tadpoles at all after transporting them. After transporting them to a waterway, which could even be a brome axil, or any other shallow water, they simply leave them there, left on their own to feed on whatever algae or protozoans are available without further parental attention. Most breeders pull the fertile eggs and raise them separately for better production.

While hybrids and morph crosses are both eschewed by most everyone into the hobby, what you do on your own is your own business. Just don't sell them or give them away if you are lucky enough to get full blown off-spring from your pair. The ethics of this have not been defined as a dogmatic rule, but what most people into the conservation issue and keeping of them are concerned with is keeping the original lines and such as pure as possible. They don't want to get into "designer dart frogs," as one often sees in various snakes. Most dart frog hobbyists are more concerned with the decline of populations and perhaps preserving the original species and morphs, and many dart hobbyists are serious conservation activists with PhD's, or traipsing through rain forests to write up their dissertation or thesis. You won't find them working for Pet-Co.
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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

Hi, thanks again for the reply. I wasn;t fully aware of the ethics involved in df keeping but I did know mixing them would be generally frowned upon. I originally bought two froglets of each but due to unknown reasons these are the two I;m left with. The only standing water in the viv is their water bowl which i have to fill twice daily because of invading plant roots sucking it dry so they won't be able to reproduce. I may look for an adult female costa rican now tho Thanks for the help

Just enjoy them as they are, and keep them healthy. I wouldn't sweat the ethics of mixing two different morphs at this point, because it is moot. Later on, if the hobby really catches your interest, you will be building all kinds of tanks for every species your can afford to harbor. It's addictive, you know, like a first dose of heroin. We should have a warning label about this.
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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