Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First I want to say this is a discussion please don't rip my head off if you don't agree

Since I started learning about keeping darts, in particular tinctorius' from Suriname, the recommended day temperature is 74-79 at the highest and shouldn't go over 80 (or not for very long) during the day; and a 2-4 degree temperature drop at night. I've heard only a few people to say its ok to keep them in the low 80s because that is closer to their actual habitat. So intrigued by this I did a few searches on the net about what the temperature in Suriname actually is.

This first bit of information I found was this at: http://www.torarica.com/aboutsuriname.html (and here is a excerpt from their site

"The climate is warm and humid; temperatures average about 27°C (81°F). Even at night, the temperature rarely drops below 24°C (75°F). At mid-day during the dry seasons the temperature may reach 36°C (96°F) in the shade. The constant trade winds bring some cooling relief.
September and October are the warmest months, and the coolest are January and February."

I also found this detailed chart: www.geographyiq.com/countries/ns/Suriname_climate_f.htm

Then I found the forecasted temperatures in Nickerie, Suriname for this week and this week the high is near 90 all week.
www.wunderground.com/global/stations/81202.html

It seems the temperatures vary a bit on the two sites but it seems the temperature at time during the year is above most of the hobbyist's recommended temperature range.

Now I don't have any darts yet, so once again if you don't agree or do agree please don't bash one another.
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Click Here to See My Dart Tank In The Making UPDATED 6.5.03 Tank Is Almost Complete

You have to look at the hole picture here. In the terrarium we control every thing in a small contained ecosystem. Yes it get hot their but most tinks are found near streams of running water. Also allot of tinks are found in mountains areas where its cooler. Another thing to consider is this is the rain forest where it does rain allot helping with some relief. In the terrarium if we keep it too dry and warm the frogs will shrivel.
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Brian Ferriera JR
Plympton, Ma

P. Terribilis (orange)
P.Bicolor (soon)
D. azureus
D. ventrimaculatus
E. hahneli
D. tinctorius (Oyapok )
D. Fantasticus
D. leucomelas
D. castaneoticus (soon)

I totally agree. It is always raining in tropical rain forests (I've been to the only one in The United State which is "El Yunque" in Puerto Rico. It is very true that the temps in a rainforest are much more cooler. Most of the time if not everyday it rains, and the elevation is higher in rainforests. I was actually in clouds walking through this rainforest. Constaly wet and if it does get too hot the animals will retreat under ground to get cool. We cannot replicate mother nature in small terrariums, but we do pretty damn good trying.
I keep mantellas, which are from madagascar and keeping them here in NJ where it gets really hot sometimes. These guys can't be over 80 for long periods of time, and I have to constanly adjust things to get their temps correct. I added leaf litter and loose soil.

Here is a test that I did on them. After adding the leaf litter, I misted for a week every day (just like a rainforest for sometimes an hour at a time.) Man where those guys singing!! Then after a week I stopped the rain. I left my window open and let it get hot for a while. The days where in the 90s! The temps in the tank where room temp. I was sweating me A** off but I wanted to see what the frogs would do. Out of Instinct the frogs went under the soil and stayed there until the temps came back to normal. The soil was a retreat being that the soil was pretty damn cool and I didnt even realize it until I put a probe down in there.

My ;ittle experiment porved to me that if conditions got too bad for the frogs that they would hide until the conditions became favorable for them. Just like when animals hibernate in the winter.

Maybe when you get your darts you can try experiments like mine. I would keep them at recommended temps. I think it is the safest way, and the best way to keep our animals healthy.

Just my thoughts,

Lu

My tanks stay about 68-75, and my frogs are doing great. I am still new to PDFs, but most of my reading has pointed me to mid 70's. I have read that some breed better when kept in the low 70's as comapred to upper 70's. FFs also do better in the lower 70's.

I have only read that a couple of speceices like to be over 80, and that would only be a daytime high, and not all day.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
D. leucomelas
D. azureus

Hi,
Last summer it got pretty warm here in Iowa.I have my Costa Rican auratus tank in the basement.I put a fan on it knowing it was going to get to 85 that day and I came home from work and my son had the fan blowing on himself and I went down and saw the temp in the tank was 86.I was so scared but they didn't seem to mind the heat one bit.They are still doing fine and are breeding like crazy at this moment.I didn't mean for it to happen but just wanted to say they can handle.I try to keep their tank below 80 if possible. I'm talking about the auratus here,not familiar with tincs.
Later,
Mark W.