Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok I have always kept lots of frogs and salamnders and what not and really been reading up on darts in the past few weeks. First off Im thinking of getting 4 D. Galactonotus (red spalsh),
4 D. Leucomelas , 4 D. Auratus (green&black) and hope to get some pairs out of these. Im also going to buy a sexed pair of D.azureus all from Saurian Enterprises Inc. Also plan on getting a few dart frog starter kits from black jungle and houseing the d. azureus in a 10 gallon , the d. lecomelas in a 30 gallon and D. galactonotus in a 30 gallon as well. Im going to put the D.auratus in a 20 gallon. Im also thinking of getting compact fluresents(sp) for lighting. I got a good idea on tank setup as reading post see'ing pics and reading web pages. Also when they arrive im going to keep all them in there own plastice shoe box for a month tell there eatting good and doing well before i put them in there setup. I plan on buying a bunch of fruit fly cultures and rep cal/herptivte. Also going to get a rainmaker jr kit for these guys and keep every thing including my lights on timers. Now this is all going to cost a pretty penny and i happen to have the cash burning a hole in my pocket and feel this is a decent setup for me to start off on. Now im a newb to darts so if ther any thing im missing or any advice or opions you can give would be great. Also i might misspelled things as im not awake yet.

First, start culturing some fruit flies and be sure you can keep cultures going well enough to feed your frogs. Ordering cultures is not enough, you must be proficient at culturing them.

Second, do you know how many cultures you'll need for 14 frogs? Neither do we, because each persons culturing and frog feeding methods are different. This can only be determined through personal experience.

Third, reading up on husbandry requirements doesn't equate to experience. 14 frogs is alot to handle with no experience.

So, start with a couple frogs, get the basic husbandry skills down, learn to cultures flies and how many cultures you may need. After you're proficient with this, then move on to more frogs and breeding pairs.

Do yourself a favor and start slow. This way you won't be one of those posting "help" in big bold letters next month. I'd rather see you give a big Whooo-hooo about a year down the road and be hooked like the rest of us.

As usual, just my opinion --- like it or lump it.

Donn

np

Very valid points you pointed out. My problem is I got allot of time to invest in a good hobby. I also got a good pet store across the street who has tiny crikets for sale cheap , but 14 frogs is allot and that is probly way too much. I know a common problem with darts is food, but was are some of the other things people run into as far as problems and being new to this great hobby? stess is one i see allot in any animal being shipped and being put in a new place.

Other issues that beginners often face. Hmmm, off the top of my head here's a few:

Temp and Humidity - Set up your vivarium well in advance. Monitor these for awhile. Best to tinker with temp and humidity without the frogs to avoid undue stress.

Quarantine - You've already addressed this issue but it can't be stressed enough that frogs should be quarantined regardless of the source. It takes a bit of self control but as your collection grows a strict adherence to a quarantine regimine will pay off.

Supplements - Many times on this and other forums we've seen threads like this: "Help my frog is having seizures". Ensure you are supplementing your frogs diet properly. For some good info read Ed Kowalski's article on MBD in the Frognet FFAQ.

Back-up plan - I've seen some good froggers loose entire collections due to a power outage during a heat wave or a nasty cold spell. A little prior planning would have prevented this.

I'm sure others will weigh in with some other frog keeping stumbling blocks that I've left out.

Good luck and keep asking questions.

BTW, have you joined Frognet? If not, do it. The information you'll find there is invaluable.

Another long post - I must have "happy fingers" today.

Donn

1st off,im a newbie. B-)

like anything in life, things take time to perfect. books are great and you should read as many as you can, but dont jump into the deep end just yet.

i started keeping darts 1 mth ago ish, ive got 5 darts now 3 splashbacks and 2 tincs. take your time. i am.

Jonny
-----
0.0.3 Orange Splash Back Dart Frogs

England, UK
gjuk@ntlworld.com

This is in agreement with Edwardsatc(sorry if I got it wrong), and only a supplement. If you are jumping up and down for something to do and have the money, you could spend a lot of energy making wonderful, realistic, complex vivariums for your frogs. This is almost as much fun to me as watching my frogs in their tanks. Make one tank, get a couple of frogs, and then make more tanks....allowing yourself to get the hang of fruitflies and taking care of a couple of frogs. This way, if you decide darts aren't for you, or you make a big goof, you will only lose a few plants and a couple of frogs...hopefully not though.
Hope this helps
-----
Matt

Before spending about a thousand dollars on supplies and frogs before even knowing if you like to keep dart frogs slow down and do lots of research and get the hang of culturing fruitflies first, then when you have a hand on culturing fruitflies, get some d. leucomelas, maybe 4. and keep them in the setup described on patricks website, this setup works great. I like the d. leucomelas as begginer frogs because they are fairly large, they have bright colors, and they have a excellent call. Also why dont you try to set up your own tank instead of buying an expensive kit from black jungle, where you get assorted plants. Try and order some plants from ken at the peaceofthetropics.com or t and c terrariums at fantasticfrogs.com. That way you get to pick out the plants you want, and if money isn't a problem get the compacts from ahsupply.com they work great. and by the way good choice of supplier patrick is great and if everything goes good get some more and enjoy the hobby.
-----
As of 1/7/04
1.2.3 Leucomelas (the 3 juveniles are the brightest orange I've seen there almost red, there not from my trio)
1.1.14 Green and Bronze Auratus
0.0.2 Imitators
0.0.1 Vents (more soon)
0.0.2 Nicaraguan Green and Black Auratus
0.0.3 Citronella Tincs
0.0.2 Powder Blue Tincs
0.0.2 Yellow Back Tincs

That is way too many frogs, I am relatively new to the dart hobby, started about 2 and half years ago and I have moved too quickly. I started with 7 D. Auratus, and I amazed that they all lived, I was feeding them not as much as I should have been because of my failure at trying to culture flies, and you can tell it in my frogs to this day. And after getting the flies down sometimes flies will just crash as have mine for about the last 2 months and I lost a frog due to it. With a collection of now 13 frogs and not enough flies spending the "small amount" on crickets gets really expensive. Aslo, you can't trust frogs and reptiles to just a dog sitter when you go away, and with a collection that size it will be a problem. Start off with 1 group and build, after a year and half of my auratus I got some azureus and then mantella tadpoles and I belive I moved too fast. I have learned a lot, and a lot of it only came through experience. Keep cultures for a while before hand, I wish I had, plus set up as many other food sources as possible.
Mark Jemison
-----
Click here to See my frogs and Terrariums!
0.0.6 Green and Black Costa Rican D. Auratus
0.0.4 D. Azureus
0.0.2 Golden Mantellas

Don't spend your whole tax return on frogs...

I would get 2-4 of any that you listed to start, and then grow from that. You could build one large nice tank and then see how it goes.

Check out my links site below for a ton of good information.
-----
Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
Dart Links - still a work in progress
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
1.1.0 D. azureus
1.0.1 D. imitators

im still a newb in PDF and i definatly agree on the points made here bout wat the i usually face...
my food culture quickly dissapeared more then once so i had a panic attack every time....
and my temp and humidity are usually are off balance since i live in northern NJ and right not the temps are low as 9 degrees...
just a little warning

hi,
like everyone has said already "SLOW DOWN" take you money and spend it on vivarium materials, and fruit flie products. i had my cages set up and fruit fly cultures culturing 4 mths before i bought my first frog. you let a vivarium get set a month before you puy anything in it. it gives you time fix any possible mistakes or make changes if something doesn't work. you will have fruit fly cultures crash sometimes (it happens to the best of them) but, more so when you are just starting out. remember quanity is not always better. i currantly have 19 frogs and plans for 10 more by the end of may (not all at once mind you). i'm sure everyone can say the same thing "not even calgon can take me away"
just my 2 cents
thanks
troy