Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Martin and anyone else interested.

Just been incontact with a German lady who has bred these and she said that to raise teh tadpoles, they must be left in the same cage as the adults, as the female will actually lay unfertilsed eggs to feed them. Fascinating, I thought it was only some dart frogs that did this. Anyway, apparently just raising the humidity in a sheltered tank that has a large watr bowl initiates breeding, and the tadpoles should be taken out after a week to raise on fish food etc.

Hope this helps anyway, I'll be trying it very soon.
Rob

Rob,

WHAT? They actually lay infertile eggs? That's awesome! Is this woman sure about this? I mean the tadpoles that have already been established in treeholes are known to eat the eggs from other clutches- whether they be from the same parents or not. Is it like D. pumilio where only the female is present and lays these eggs due to a cue from the tadpoles? This is all very interesting. I hope my other unsexed individuals turn out to be females so I can witness all of this behavior firsthand. As always, thanks again Rob for sharing. Sounds simple enough...let me know how it turns out.
-----
Justin
stk18119@loki.stockton.edu

D.auratus
D.leucomelas
D.tinctorius (lorenzo, yellowback, citro, pb, oyopock,etc.)
D.azureus
D.ventrimaculatus (yellow/gold)
D.pumilio (blue jeans, solid red)
P.aurotaenia (narrow bands/green)
P.bicolor
E.tricolor (Santa Isabel)
H. leucophyllata
P. hypochondrialis azurea
P. resinfictrix
etc.......

I read your long thread below about breeding these guys with great interest. I first learned of them from the Reptiles mag. article a few years ago, but they were several hundred $ at the time. I've been keeping only snakes recently since I'm in college and only get home on weekends to feed them. However, I got a juvenile milk frog for my mom at a show yesterday and I was hoping to get some input from you guys since you obviously care for yours very well. I have it set up in a small (3 gallons?) plastic container with damp paper towels, a plastic plant and 2 plastic tubes in case it feels like hiding. I put 2 small crickets and some carrot pieces in last night while it was active, but it didn't eat. I wouldn't be too worried, but my mom will be watching it for the rest of this week and she doesn't have the experience with herps that I do. I'm only 30 minutes away, so I can call or come home if it's necessary, I'd just be more comfortable if I was here to keep an eye on it. I've left the crickets in since they have food/moisture and the frog stays above ground level most of the time. Do you have any suggestions? I wouldn't be too worried since it's only its second day here, but if you think there's anything I could do to encourage feeding, I'd be grateful for your input. I absolutely love the little thing and plan to get more at a later date.

Kevin,

Try adding a background onto the tank so that the frog can feel more secure. Also, keep the temp warm (low 80's) and humidity high (80-90%). In addition, take the crickets that are not eaten out becuase these can add tyo the stress of an animal that is trying to adjust to its new surroundings.

Good Luck!
-----
Justin
stk18119@loki.stockton.edu

D.auratus
D.leucomelas
D.tinctorius (lorenzo, yellowback, citro, pb, oyopock,etc.)
D.azureus
D.ventrimaculatus (yellow/gold)
D.pumilio (blue jeans, solid red)
P.aurotaenia (narrow bands/green)
P.bicolor
E.tricolor (Santa Isabel)
H. leucophyllata
P. hypochondrialis azurea
P. resinfictrix
etc.......

Thanks. I'm back at the dorm now, but I'm instructing mom on what to do. It seems healthy, so hopefully he'll be fine for the few days until he settles in and starts eating. Thanks for the tips.

>WHAT? They actually lay infertile eggs? That's awesome!

Yep, they do! JUNGFER & PROY did some experiments and wrote an VERY GOOD and informativ article about it:

JUNGFER, K.-H. & PROY, C. (1998): Phrynohyas resinifictrix (Goeldi,1907), der Frosch, der seine Frau bei Vollmond ruft: Geschichte und Fortpflanzungsverhalten im Terrarium. herpetofauna 20(116): 19-29.

all the best,
Martin

Hello Rob,

>Just been incontact with a German lady who has bred these and
>she said that to raise teh tadpoles, they must be left in the
>same cage as the adults, as the female will actually lay
>unfertilsed eggs to feed them. Fascinating, I thought it was
>only some dart frogs that did this.

There are other treefrogs which do this too. I think the most elaborated egg feeder is Anotheca spinosa. K-H. JUNGFER studied them (discovered this behavour and brought the evidence) and wrote some very interesting articles about Anotheca spinosa and also about some other egg feeders like Nyctimantis rugiceps, Osteocephalus oophagus, ...

all the best,
Martin

Thanks Martin, I couldn't work out why some of the papers on P. resinifictrix also included Osteocephalus. I found that fascinating, unfortunately I do not have access to these articles in they're full form, so would you be able to tell me how the female actually recognises pools with her eggs in, ie. olfactory, visual etc? I would be very interested to know except that the most interesting articles on this species seem to be doen by Europeans, and I therefore can't get my hands on them!

Thank you very much,
Rob

p.s., these frogs seem to not feed when they were kept in a cage that doesn't have enough cover in it, if you increase the amount of hides etc and plants your young one should feel secure enough to start feeding. Also the young require high humidity, and temps of around 85F (sorry, can't remember if you put this in your post), mine seemed to not feed when below 80F.
Hope this helps and good luck!

Thanks for all the info from everyone who posted. And thanks rob for bringing this topic up. I didn't know that P. resinifictrix did this, and this will help out when it comes time to breeding my little guys!

Kristen

Rob,

sorry, but I don't possess all of these articles and I also do not have the time to do the summaries, I'm too busy at the moment. Hope you understand.

all the best,
Martin

Of course I understand Martin, I never expected you to write them out for me! I believe I can get hold of them myself now so don't worry. Thank you anyway!
Rob

Rob,

If by someway you do get these articles please let me know. Maybe you can scan them or something...this way I can put it on my website or at least link it- for people to gain more access to it of course.

Thanks,
-----
Justin
stk18119@loki.stockton.edu

D.auratus (Costa Rican, Nicaraguan)
D.leucomelas
D.tinctorius (lorenzo, yellowback, citro, pb, oyopock,etc.)
D.azureus
D.ventrimaculatus (yellow/gold)
D.pumilio (blue jeans, solid red)
P.aurotaenia (narrow bands/green)
P.bicolor
E.tricolor (Santa Isabel)
H. leucophyllata
P. hypochondrialis azurea
P. resinifictrix
A. caladryas
etc.......