Beginner Dart Frog Guide
Author: AJ Comer (rc_racer_007 of Kingsnake.com)
Updated: Nov 17, 2003
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Chapter 1 - General Care, habitat needs, beginner frogs
A- Good Beginner frogs
B- Ease of care
C- Habitat needs
Chapter 2- Habitat Specifics
A- Tank Size
B- Humidity systems
C- Lighting
D- False bottom/Drainage System
E- Soil/Backgrounds
F- Plants
Chapter 3 – Food
A- Culturing Fruit Fly’s
B- Spring tails
C- Dusting the food
Chapter 4 – Miscellaneous Topics
A- Computer fans/Ventilation
B- Driftwood
C- Determining Sex
D- Mixing
E- Credits/Links
Chapter 1: General Care, habitat needs, beginner frogs
A - Good Beginner frogs
There are many types of dart frogs available out there from many different sources. It is always best to deal with a reputable dealer, especially if it is your first dart frog purchase. The “top rated” beginner dart frogs are: Dendrobates Azureus (also known as “blue dart frog”), D. Tinctorius morphs, D. Leucomelas, and D. Auratus.
D. Azureus is a pretty and bold dart frog. It is probably one of the most widely kept dart frog species. It is a little more expensive then the others listed also. It’s a great hardly and very bold frog but can be aggressive in groups. The females can become quit territorial after reaching 1 years old. The females tend to wrestle one another and “pin them” down. If you have a water area in your vivarium this could be fatal if a frog is pinned down in the water area. Its best to kept a ratio of 2 males to 1 female *if the tank size is appropriate*.
D. Tinctorius in many instances if nearly the same as D. azures. They share the same care as stated in the D. azureus paragraph, but D. Tinctorius comes in a wide range of colors. These different colors D. Tinctorius’ are known as different morphs. Their prices can range from $40-$150 . Also, not a very good group frog.
D. Leucomelas is a very bold and popular frog. They can be kept well in groups; given the cage is the appropriate size for the number of frogs living in it. They are probably best known for their call, it sounds almost like a bird.
D. Auratus is an attractive frog, and cheaper priced. They aren’t as bold though. Their tanks should be heavily planted to they have some where to hide. Which most of them spend their time hiding. I listed D. Auratus as a beginner frog because so many advocate it as being a beginner, but if it spends most of its time hiding, which may cause you to loose interest.
B- Ease of care
If all of the proper steps are taken (explained in Chapter 2) the frogs listed above are quit easy to care for. Their humidity had to be between 85%-100%. If its any lower they can possibly die. Remember these from come from parts of the rainforest where its very humid. Their temperature needs to stay from low 70s- high 70s during the day with at least a 5 degree temperature drop at night. They can be kept at 80 degrees or slightly above for a little while, but prolonged exposure to that temperature can possibly be fatal to them.
C- Habitat needs
Their habitat needs little light, the light is for the plants. It will need a drainage system, plants, places to hide, etc. All of this will be explain in the next chapter.
Chapter 2- Habitat Specifics
A- Tank Size
The tank size really depends on what frog you plant to keep; ill start with
D. Tinctorius and D. Azureus first. With a somewhat aggressive none group animal you will need a larger area to keep more frogs. You would need at least a 20 gallon long tank for a pair of D. Tinctorius or D. Azures dart frogs. Its better to have a longer tank then a tall tank to give them more land area.
With D. Leucomelas or D. Auratus you can keep at least 3 or 4 of either one (but not both) in a 10 gallon. I am not sure of the rule of thumb, but I believe 3 or 4 will do fine in a 10 gallon.
B- Humidity Systems
As stated above dart frogs need a humid environment of 85%-100% humidity at
all times. There are a few ways to achieve this humidity. The most simple and straightforward is to get a Misty Mate personal mister (some stores sell them as a cage mister for a high price. I do not know where else to get a Misty Mate. I got mine at auction years back). You can also get a hand sprayer or just any device that can deliver a nice mist. Just spray down the tank every day or so, so the humidity constant.
Another way is to buy a humidifier from K-mart, Wal-mart, etc. The important part of this is the humidifier HAS TO BE a ultrasonic cool mist humidifier. If you buy a hot or warm mist humidifier, it will more then likely kill the frogs. There are many ways to hook it up. I took a PVC end cap and siliconed it (100% clear silicon with NO mold inhibitors or anything) to the top of the humidifier where it spits out the mist. Drilled a large hole on the top of the end cap and forced a large tube into it. The tub feeds to the top of the vivarium where it connects to a pvc pipe. The pvc pipe is on top of the tank and it feeds the mist into the tank. This can be put on a timer to where it automatically kicks on and off. Some people run theirs for a 1 minute every 3 hours; I run mine 3 minutes every 3 hours. This is something you’ll have to play with and see how often it will need to be done.
C- Lighting
There are many different lighting options. But first off, the frogs don’t need much light, the light is for the plants. The plants will grow best with a fluorescent bulb rated at 5,000-10,000 Kelvin. And the higher the CRI of the bulb the better you can see the tank will be. There are many different options. You can use a shop light found at Lowes for example, compact fluorescent from www.ahsupply.com (compact fluorescents get hotter some say they are a bit louder, but put off much more light), or you could even get a aquarium light strip and mount it above the tank. There is a lot more to be said but David Doyles website will say it all.
doylesdartden.com/lighting.htm
D- False bottom/Drainage System
With humidity reaching 100% water will build up in the bottom of the tank rather
quickly. With no type of drainage water will build up in the tank and cause the plants to rot. There is a few different ways to set this up. You can add gravel to the bottom and have a way to siphon out extra way from the bottom. Or you can make a false bottom.
To make a false bottom you silicon some pvc spacers in place on the bottom so there is some area for the water to collect. Over top of that add eggcrate (eggcrate is used to diffuse fluorescent lights and can be found at any Lowes towards the back close to the house insulation isle, and the ceiling tile area) then add a sheet of fiberglass mesh to prevent any thing from falling through. Fiberglass mesh is the same stuff as the bug screens found on home windows. Add about a 1” layer of cheap gravel to help kept large stuff from falling through. Then add another sheet of fiberglass mesh on top of it, and then add soil and plants. To drain the water you can have the bottom drilled so the water can drip out into a bucket (or hook up a tube to feed the water into the bucket). Or add a small pvc pipe that reaches from the soil to the bottom where you can add a little tube and siphon out the extra water.
E- Soil/Backgrounds
You will not want to use normal potting soil, with this high humidity it will break
down and become a soggy mess. You can make your own soil for your tank or buy some premixed stuff. Personally, I am using T&C’s ( www.fantasticfrogs.com ) soil mix. Its premixed, and it was cheaper in my case then buy and mixing my own. ESU also sells a soil mix called Jungle Mix, I have never used it but have heard its good. But if you want to mix your own here are some recipes:
Recipe:
2 parts orchid bark
1 part coconut fiber that comes in the brick, like eco earth
I have used this mix in a few set ups and i think its great
NateW of Kingsnake
Recipe:
2 part coarse (1/2" sq.) coco husk chip
2 part small (1/4" sq.) coco husk chip
1 part activated charcoal (horticultural grade)
I buy the coco husk chip from rolanka.com for $7.25 per 1.5 cu. ft. (that's a bunch of chips), soak them and rinse the chips several (10-20) times before use to remove any salt and reduce the tannin content. Some herp companies are now starting to sell the coco husk chips, but they're far more expensive. This makes a very airy mix that retains moisture well without being soggy. Moss seems to grow well on it, as do all the terrestrial and epiphytic plants I grow in it. I actually got the idea from an orchid nursery.
Homer1 of Kingsnake
Recipe:
:Ok what does every one use for soil mix's I use the ABG mix witch is
:2 parts fine fir bark
:2 parts fine tree fern fiber
:2 parts milled sphagnum moss
:1 part fine charcoal
: Brian Ferriera Jr.
: Plympton,
Ferriera of Kingsnake
Now on to the background, there are many different options. The most popular seem to be tree fern panels and cark bark, which last years before needing to be replaced. To attach them to the back simply lay down some silicon and press it against the tank and let it set. Then you have a background.
D- Plants
There are many different plants out there. There are many websites that sell
plants, the most well known are Ken at www.peaceofthetropics.com , www.blackjungle.com , and T&C at www.fantasticfrogs.com .
The best plants have to be bromeliads, mosses, etc. A lot of this info can be found at the pages linked above.
Chapter 3
A – Culturing Fruit Flies
Fruit fly’s should be the staple in any dart frogs diet. There are 2 main kinds Drosophila melanogastor and Drosophila Hydei. D. Melanogastor is for smaller juvenile herps and treats for adults. They are very easy to culture and like about 15 days. D. Hydei is larger fruit fly that will take longer to reproduce but takes less fly’s to feed the frogs.
To culture them you make a media (or buy some media, but it’s a little pricey) mix it appropriately and add it to the bottom of a 32oz deli cup (other sizes and types can be used). Press some excelsior into it then sprinkle on some bakers yeast. The excelsior gives the fly’s more area it breed on increasing the amount of flies. Then add a piece of material that is thin, breathable, almost like a micro fine mesh material on top of the culture and then add the deli cup lid to hold it in place and keep the flies in. Melanogastor take about 2 weeks to reproduce enough flies to feed the herps. I like to make 3-4 new cultures every two weeks. But I would recommend starting 3-4 every week until you get a feel on how much the frogs eat, how fast the flys reproduce and all of those other factors. Its best to have at least one culture per every frog. The culture can produce flies for 2-5 weeks.
B- Springtails
Springtails are a good little treat of adults and a good snack food for juvenile
herps. They are very easy to culture; to culture them you put them in a plastic Rubbermaid shoe box with about ½” of water on the bottom and fill the rest the activated charcoal, then sprinkle some bakers yeast on top. Within 1-2 weeks there will be plenty of springtails to feed out. They produce best from 65-70 degrees.
C- Dusting Food
You need to dust the fruit flies with calcium and vitamin powders. The most
recommended seems to be Herptetive and RepCal. These powders stick to the food and the frogs ingest it, keeping them healthy. The best way to dust them seems to be to cut them bottom out of a deli cup and add a small mesh fabric so the powder falls through but flies don’t. Swirl them till the powder falls through then just dump the flies into the tank!
Chapter 4
A- Computer Fans
Computer fans are used to move some air around in the tank and to help defog the
glass when the water builds up on it. What you need to do is purchase a AC-DC converter (Catalog #: 273-1662 From radio shack). Then you can hook up at least 4 fans to it. Of course you will hook that up positive to positive, negative to negative. And its best to keep them on a timer. If you run the fan all day it will “dry out” the tank decreasing the humidity below the 85% level.
B- Driftwood
You can buy driftwood or collect it from a lake (given it isn’t full of chemicals,
toxins, and radioactive wastes). The best way to try and sterilize it for use in a vivarium is to bake it at 180 degrees for half and hour to and hour; or freeze it. This will try and kill off any nasty bugs that might be living on or in it. One method you do not want to use is bleach and water. Some people recommend a water/bleach method. I do not recommend this. There would be a chance the bleach stays in the wood then leaches out after a while into the tank where the frogs absorb it through there skin. Frogs absorb a lot through there skin. This is an unacceptable risk in my opinion.
C- Determining Sex
If you purchase froglets it will not be possible to determine their sex until they are
about one year old. Once they are one year old or better you can determine their sex. Males have a large toe pad where females do not and normally a bit larger. Also sometimes a vocal sack can be seen.
D- Mixing
Mixing is a highly controversial subject, a large number of hobbyist out there feel
Mixing should not be done. To make it short I am going to copy and paste a exert from Patrick Nabors site ( www.saurian.net )
I am frequently approached by beginning hobbyists, full of enthusiasm, who describe elaborate enclosures, which they have recently assembled. They are now looking for a group of frogs, two or three species, which they can buy and place in the tank.
Unfortunately this is a lot harder than it sounds. The first potential problem is that the only frogs consistently available for purchase in the market are small four to twelve week old froglets. These small frogs can really have problems acclimating to a large tank. See the care sheet on setting up baby frogs for a discussion of this problem.
The second problem is that dart frogs are territorial, and it is hard to set up a tank the size of a fifty-five gallon aquarium and have enough room for two animals which decide to duke it out. Two such animals are really not that common, but it is worth considering. But even in the absence of actual fighting, in most cases a group of frogs develops a pecking order, which results in frogs which are lower on the totem pole growing significantly slower than the others. These problems as well as others leave the frogs in this sort of tank much more vulnerable to diseases and other problems, especially during the first two or three months after the frogs are set up together.
In reality this approach is kind of the fantasy tank, and while these setups can be made to work, it is generally not the best way for a beginner to start in the hobby.
E- Credit/Links
Kyle1745 – www.kylesphotos.com/
SlaytonP
Ken (peaceofthetropics) – www.peaceofthetropics.com
rc_racer_007 – imageevent.com/rc_racer_007
yeagermeister111
dvknight
tpopovich
Mark W.
AudioTaylor – imageevent.com/audiomaster
Shopaholic
Homer1
www.blackjungle.com
www.qualitycaptives.com
www.fantasticfrogs.com
www.edsflymeatinc.com
http://www.saurian.net
I’m sure I missed some of you, but thanks for teaching me and I hope I accomplished the same 
aj
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