Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got 2 mantellas and wondered what species they are. They were sold as beautiful, but don't recall their scientific name. Also, what is the difference between beautiful and painted mantellas?

How do I cool them off if my house gets to be in the high 80s during the hottest part of the day? No airconditioning... so that is not an option. I am a little reluctant to leave a fan blowing over their cage with a damp down on top, but if this is what I have to do, then it is what I have to do. Would a fogger help any?

I keep reading that when mantellas are settled into their new homes with a territory picked out, they start to call (well the males at least). How can they ever get settled if every week you have to clean their cage and remove them and everything in their cage? I don't understand this. I plan to use that light brown moss sphagum(??spelling) as the substrate. That means I need to take it out and swish it clean in water weekly. I have had a more natural tank in the past with a false bottom, but it just didn't work out well. Any suggestions or pictures of other peoples cage would be great.

More pictures in my photogallery.
My pictures

I believe my expresion here will be the same as every one else.
Did you not research them at all? It is important to be prepared with a basic knowledge of the frog as well their tank.

With that said, do you even have food? What are you feeding them?

What size tank do you have?

Any plants? Do you even know at what humidity their tanks need? If not i believe its suppose to be 75-85%

Im not familiar with mantellas, I am sure they can survive above 80 for a while, but prolonged exposure will surely be fatal over a few days/weeks. Iv heard of people putting ice some how ontop of fans to cool tanks. But if the fan runs all day the humidity will fall below 75% easily. Yes a humifier will help, but a digital timer is essintial to have for it. that will cost you $15 or more.

Do you have plants, if so what kind of lighting? As for cleaning, every one i know has a planted tank so it needs very little maintanice. I personally think its irresponsible to get the frogs then not have the correct supplies/knowledge to care for them.
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Click Here to see my vivarium and steps on how to make a basic vivarium UPDATED 7.18.03 Now complete! All that is needed are some New River Tincs!

kungfu28181: My god. You are insane. -Mon Jun 30 21:41:05

I have done some research but there is not much on specific species information. I have also owned them in the past. But some information was forgotten like temperature requirements. Since it has been alot of time since I last kept them, I wanted to see if there is new information about their care.

I bought them pinhead crickets. I am going to see if I can set up some fruit fly cultures and start breeding some crickets.

I have them set up in a 10-gallon tank with spaghum (Spelling??) moss on the bottom. A plastic saucer with shallow water (I know they can drown) is provided for extra humidity. I will be getting some nice hides and branches tommarow.

I had a bad time with naturalistic tanks in the past, but may try once more. I will use a 20-gallon tank, but wonder if it is too big for 2 mantellas.

I also have UV light on their cage and have set up a temporary system to keep them cooler.

No plants in their cage yet but I will go to the nursury to see what I can find that will be suitable.

Frankly, I don't care what you think of me having to do more research because you are presumptous. Get preachy to someone else if you don't care to help. If you don't with to provide information about how a mantella is supposed to establish territory in a tank when it is constantly cleaned every week (assuming it is not a naturalistic tank), then you are of no help to me.

well i think a 20 gallon will be okay. The only problem i could see is the first few weeks. They could have a problem finding the food but you can add a peice of fruit where the insects will collect and the frogs will learn where to go to eat.

If you decide to go with plants, if you get them from a local nursery chances are they used fertilizers or pesticids. You should wash them off theroughly (sp?) Or even better put it in pesticide free soil and grow it for a few weeks before introducing it into the tank. I just assumed no research was done due to the nature of most questions being asked. I did mention i didnt know much about mantellas, about them establishing their territory i cant honestly answer. I believe I have given a bit of info. But becuase i cant answer one question im no help? Okay.

aj
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Click Here to see my vivarium and steps on how to make a basic vivarium UPDATED 7.18.03 Now complete! All that is needed are some New River Tincs!

kungfu28181: My god. You are insane. -Mon Jun 30 21:41:05

I will wash the plants throughly. I do remember doing that. I will also remove all old soil and replant into safer substrate for the froggies sake but still good for the plants. I am hoping this time I don't have to demolish the naturalistic tank with waterfall and fogger for a nice look. I already have thermostats, timers, dimmers, and random items to use for whatever electrical needs I have.

well a humidifer system is safer then a fogger. People have said that they have had situations were the fogger overheated and killed their frogs. Humidifers are easy to set up, you can check my sig for pics of mine. Heres some links for mantellas (i think golden manetella care is the same not sure)
www.easyamphibians.co.uk/mantella/

picture of painted mantella - www.xmwallpapers.com/wallpaper/animals/frogs/imagepages/image2.htm

lots of info www.amphibian.co.uk/mantella.html

just sites i found in a few minutes

aj
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Click Here to see my vivarium and steps on how to make a basic vivarium UPDATED 7.18.03 Now complete! All that is needed are some New River Tincs!

kungfu28181: My god. You are insane. -Mon Jun 30 21:41:05

Thanks for the links. I will check them out. I have read about the use of humidifiers. I was going to rig the fogger externally to pump the fog up some tubes with the help of an air pump putting pressure on the other side. I seen it before on someones site. Either way, I do prefer to get a humidifier and with due time I will buy one. But for now the fogger will have to be set-up until I can check what humdifier I can buy that I can use pvc pipes to hook the fog directly into the frogs cage. And I need to afford it, so it might need to wait 2 weeks since I have a temporary functioning fogger. Thanks.

The mantellas that you pictured look more like Painted mantellas (Mantella madagaricansis -spelling?) I have a book so I'll double check. Mantellas definately like the cooler temps, the set up that you have now would be fine. Just keep the humidity up by spraying a couple times a day to keep the moss moist. In larger tanks they often have trouble finding food and don't gain as much weight because they work so hard to find food. The questions you asked were good, it is difficult to find accurate info on Mantellas since they are so uncommon. Right now the market is flooded with them so alot of people are trying them out.

The mantellas that you pictured look more like Painted mantellas (Mantella madagascarinsis -spelling?) I have a book so I'll double check. Mantellas definately like the cooler temps, the set up that you have now would be fine. Just keep the humidity up by spraying a couple times a day to keep the moss moist. In larger tanks they often have trouble finding food and don't gain as much weight because they work so hard to find food. The questions you asked were good, it is difficult to find accurate info on Mantellas since they are so uncommon. Right now the market is flooded with them so alot of people are trying them out.

Luckily you have M. Madagascariensis, or M. Baroni, it's too late at night for me to go through your pictures and look. Madagascariensis have red feet, and their irises are lighter. Anyway, the lucky part is that they can stand somewhat high temps, but you're going to have to find a way to lower the temps down into the 70s. Try putting the tanks on the floor and covering most of them with construction paper. A fogger may help, but I'd get your tank setup before worrying about the temps, they'll be fine for a week or so, but they are prone to HRMSS(Heat Related Muscle Spasm Syndrome).

They'll get settled, eventually they'll get used to it, but I would switch them to a moist paper towel substrate to regulate their feces, and then progress to a naturalistic vivarium.

I reccomend the book by Marc Staniszewski, Mantellas, it is a little expensive, but if you really care about the welfare of your mantellas, you'll be wise to invest in it.
Mantella Caresheet

Thanks for the advice. I will look at their feet in the morning as it is darker now and harder to see them. I forgot about the idea of putting them on paper towel (even though it doesn't look pretty) to make sure they are eating and deficating. I have gotten their temperature down to be acceptable right now. Their cage is on the floor under a shelf.

I saw that book you mentioned all about Mantellas. I have a book like that but for crested geckos. I will definately buy the Mantella book as soon as I can. What about the little "Mantella" book/booklet that sells for about $10? Is that any good? I am going to a reptile store tomarrow to pick some stuff up for my frogs so I will check if they have that, if not I could order from Amazon...

No, the little paperback book is essentially useless. Marc himself debunked most of the information as false and out of date. The new book is much, much better, especially if you want to breed your mantellas in the future.

Okay, thanks. I won't bother buying that little book then. I went ahead and ordered the Mantella book with free Golden Mantella Handbook, so now all I have to do is wait for it to arrive.

Hi,

I replied to most of your other questions over on the arrow frog forum but there was one question that you asked here that wasn't asked in your other post. If you choose to house the frogs in a simple setup (great to do for the first few months, especially if they are wild caught) it does need to be cleaned every few weeks. Adult mantella frogs are territorial and males will normally establish and deffend a small area in the tank like a burrow under a clump of moss or a large centerpiece of driftwood. As long as you replace all of the tank decor back into the cage in the same or close to the same spot after you clean it there really shouldn't be much of a problem. When you clean the tank you also don't have to scrub everything clean every time. Just dump the sphagnum moss and quickly wipe off feces from the cage decor. Good luck,
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Devin
devin@amphibiancare.com
www.amphibiancare.com
3.2 Dendrobates tinctorius 'Dwarf French Guiana'
1.1 Dendrobates tinctorius 'Powder Blue'
5.1 Mantella aurantiaca
1.1 Mantella crocea
1.0 Ceratophrys cranwelli
0.1 Hyla chrysoscelis or versicolor
1.0 Bufo americanus
0.0.1 Salamandra salamandra
1.0 Ambystoma tigrinum
0.1 Chamaeleo calyptratus
0.0.1 Chrysemys scripta
0.0.1 Chrysemys picta belli
1.0 Terrapene carolina triunguis