Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been admiring these little beauties for some time and am thinking I want to get some next year..I have a few questions.
First I would really like to get the whole enclosure done before getting the frogs so I have a year to start working on this. What is best, a glass tank? Or some other type? I want this to be an eyecatching addition to my livingroom, like a living picture. Another question is can you actually see the frogs or do they all hide during the day and all I will see is a bunch of plants? I expect them to hide sometimes but would like to see some activity occasionally..
Another question is there any good books that tell how to set up the enclosure with good plants and what kind of frogs can be housed together,humidity etc..?
Thanks for any help...-Sila

A standard glass aquarium usually works fine. There are a wide range of aquariums availible, they don't just come in your average rectangle anymore, so you can usually find something that will work for your situation. If not, you can always have a company like www.glasscages.com build something for you or even build one yourself.

Some species of dart frogs are very bold and are almost always visible in the terrarium while others are shy and only come out when food is availible. I would suggest a larger species for a display terrarium. You might want to look into D. tinctorius, azureus, galactonotus or P. terribilis or bicolor because they all grow to a large size and have a reputation for being bold. The humidity in the terrarium will also have a large effect on how shy the frogs are. If you can keep the humidity up around 90-100% even the shyest species will pop out a few times a day.

There are a few books about dart frogs and within those there are chapters about creating a terrarium but, as far as I know, there isn't a book dedicated only to building a display terrarium. Most of the dart frog books are either out-dated or just not thorough enough. The best, or at least most up-to-date, information about these little gems is right here on the internet. Here are some websites to help you out:

http://www.doylesdartden.com/
http://www.blackjungle.com/basics.htm
http://www.tropical-experience.nl/
http://home.earthlink.net/%7Ekenuy/vivarpage.htm
http://www.rygepetersen.dk/terrarium.htm
http://www.frognet.org/gallery/
http://www.thebdg.org/
http://www.amphibiancare.com/frogs/caresheets/poisondartfrog.html
http://www.amphibiancare.com/frogs/articles/tropicalterrarium.html

Good luck,

-----
Devin
devin@amphibiancare.com
www.amphibiancare.com
0.0.4 Dendrobates galactonotus 'Red'
4.1 Dendrobates tinctorius 'Dwarf French Guiana'
1.1 Dendrobates tinctorius 'Powder Blue'
5.1 Mantella aurantiaca
2.1 Mantella crocea
0.1.4 Mantella madagascariensis
1.0 Ceratophrys cranwelli
1.0 Bufo americanus
0.0.1 Salamandra salamandra
1.0 Ambystoma tigrinum
0.1 Chamaeleo calyptratus
0.1 Phelsuma dubia
1.1 Uroplatus ebenaui
0.0.1 Chrysemys picta belli
1.0 Terrapene carolina triunguis

These questions are better asked in the arrow frog forum on this website. Another great source other than the ones listed is the online mailing list FrogNet (FrogNet.org) which has members from beginners to advanced, as well as a good FAQs page for beginners (URL given in the introductory email). Just another source to check out.