(I apologize for the length)
The question of mixing frogs comes up on this forum a lot. Generally it is met with a great deal of “don’t do it.” As someone else pointed out I have virtually never seen an account of success on this forum beyond a picture and a caption as to “its doing great.” So I am presenting a full account of my experiences developing a mixed tank, both success and failure, as food for thought for those that want to do it. Be sure and read it carefully if you are considering a mixed tank, as my main theme isn’t “do it.”
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I set my tank up just after returning from Belize three years ago this May. It is 135 gallons (If you want the details go to www.wildsky.net) and was originally built to house the majority of my orchid collection. While frogs of any type were not the original intent, I did consider them when building it.
At the time my roommate was breeding colubrids (sp) and trying to breed tree boas, so when the reptile show came to Raleigh in September he convinced me to go with him (just to see what they had). Well I got to talking with a dealer there and wound up purchasing a red-eyed-tree-frog and blue-webbed-gliding-tree-frog for the terrarium. The RETF I new a lot about as I had read a considerable amount of background information on them, but I had never heard of the BWGTF before then. (LESSON1: Don’t buy animals you know nothing about.) I was told that they would happily live together in a tank that size, as they both like the same conditions. We will never know because the BWGTF was dead the next day. We never came to a solid conclusion as to why the frog died; in general little information exists on them. But the RETF (Waldo) is still alive and kicking.
As time past Waldo became acclimated to my presence, and turned out to be a spectacular frog both in appearance and personality. I had heard stories of crickets injuring darts, so never considered them as a companion to Waldo even though they had interested me for some time. That is until we discovered Waldo could be hand fed. Which he seems to like or at least doesn’t mind.
After studying up on darts and making some minor adjustments to the terrarium to accommodate them (cover and temp adjustments in the bottom of tank), I started looking into getting some. The following September at the Raleigh show I went in search of another RETF and a pair of darts. I ended up with a RETF froglet and a pair of CB sub-adult Costa Rican D. auratus. The frogs were quarantined for a month before they were introduced into the terrarium, actually a little longer for the RETF because he need to become acclimated to hand feeding. I had absolutely no problems with this mix. The RETFs were never active at the same time as the auratus; they occupied completely different niches in the tank. The behavior of the auratus was similar to accounts I had read about, they were a good weight and showed no signs of stress.
The following spring I purchased a pair of P. bicolor and single Cobalt, all froglets. I figured with the success of the auratus I would try some different frogs. The new frogs were in quarantine for four months this time, as I wanted to insure they were of a size capable of competing with the auratus when they were introduced into the terrarium.
In August all three were introduced, following the addition of more cover in the bottom of the tank. There were no signs of “bullying” and all the frogs seemed to find their own little niches.
In late October the younger of the two RETF prolapsed and one week later out of nowhere the Cobalt died. I had not noticed any aggression towards it by the other frogs and it seemed to be eating well. I have read that tincs stress easily and I won’t rule that out as the cause of death. At this point all the frogs were taken to the University of Florida’s Small Animal Clinic where they were examined for any signs of stress and fecal samples were tested for parasites. The conclusion was calcium deficiency caused by a lack of D3. Until this point I never used a supplement containing D3 as the tank had full spectrum lighting and prior to the move to Florida it received about four hours of direct afternoon sun. Other then that the frogs were given a clean bill of heath.
At the Tampa show in November I purchased an azures and a luec, both froglets. The azures was kept in quarantine for two weeks, as he was a very robust and active frog which had shown noticeable growth in that short of time I decided to introduce him into the tank. He showed no problems what so ever then and hasn’t to this day. The luec on the other hand I completely screwed up with. As he seemed healthy, but a little timid I decided against better judgment to place him in the tank after only two and half weeks of quarantine and no time period to grow him up. Big mistake. After introduction I did not see him for four days. When I found out him, he stayed within about a ten inch radius of that spot (that spot being a bromeliad). I started feeding him there and he seemed to be doing ok, but I was keeping a constant watch on him. Well one of the other frogs climbed across the bromeliad one evening and started feeding, which completely stressed the luec. He stopped feeding and didn’t move for next three hours, at which point I removed him and put him in a quarantine tank. He was dead the next morning. (LESSON 2: Don’t rush. Take your time.)
As for keeping a mixed tank, if I had to do it all over again I don’t know if I would. I love my setup as it is now and generally consider it a success, but I can understand the benefits of a single species setup. Currently I only plan to replace the lost RETF, hopefully with a male. I feel that the dart population is near a maximum for that size tank with mixed species, but I may add another auratus. I am waiting to see how the azures pans out. He has and continues to do fine, but he is still young and gender unknown. If it turns out to be a male I can foresee no problems, but I worry that a female will fight with the auratus. The bicolors have done beyond perfectly with the auratus, before and after their introduction I have seen no change in behavior of either species. Except that as the bicolors have matured they have started to hunt in the evening just following the lights going out (I hear this is normal).
I believe both auratus to be female. However the slightly smaller of the twos front toe pads have begun to widen and take on a slight heart shape. This happened last spring as well, but they shrank some following the disruption of moving and some time out of the tank. From what I understand auratus can be seasonal breeders and the toe pads can follow a similar cycle (but I don’t know a great deal about this). We will see if anything happens.
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I’m not sure I would recommend mixing to most, in fact let’s just say I don’t. However, it can be done. I will say you won’t do it perfectly from the start; mistakes will be made no matter what. Generally these will come at the cost of a frog. Don’t expect to be able to house a dozen species together or that you can keep them in the same density as a single species setup. And don’t ever think the basic setup is going to be suitable. A little moss and a couple of plants will not cut it in a mixed tank. I strongly feel that one of the keys to any sort of success in keeping different species together is a great deal of structural diversity in the habitat. This will help limit competition between the frogs, helping to keep them from stressing out.
Anyway these have been my experiences and some general opinions, by no means am I an expert on these frogs. I am sure many of you may find flaws in my logic or take some offence to the idea of a mixed tank. So be it. This isn’t presented to start an argument, just as some added information to a topic regularly brought up.
