Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok, I have noticed that many of you keep almost always more than one frog in a tank, my questions is: what do you do with your tads when the frogs breed, and can anyone tell me what species are safe to live together without cross-breeding or fighting

also, for those with false bottoms, if you have a submersible pump or/and filter down there, how would you change it if it broke?

also, in your personal opinion, what frogs do think exibit the best personality or are the best to keep?

thanks a lot!

Most people preffer to remove eggs before they turn into tadpoles (with the exception of "egg-feeders" like D. pumilio) and then rear the eggs and tadpoles outside of the terrarium. I raise my tadpoles together with other tadpoles from the same clutch in shoe box size plastic containers. Other people raise the tadpoles in individual cups or containers.

Mixing species from different genera has potential to work but it's safest to start off housing species individually. There are a number of problems that can occur when different species are housed together that normally wouldn't and someone with little or no experience keeping dart frogs might not catch them.

It's an absolute pain to service pumps that are under false-bottoms. Everytime I've tried it I just end up getting sick of fixing the pump or replacing it and end up giving up after a year or two. Right now I have two terrariums with false-bottoms that have broken or clogged power heads sitting underneath them because I'm hesitant to tear apart part of the tank to access them. To make access to the pump easier a section of egg crate can be cut out above the pump and placed on its own individual spacers to create an access door but you still have to dig everything up around it in order to get to the door.

Start with a species that is bold, hardy and large. There are a number of species that fit that description but D. azureus, D. tinctorius and P. terribilis are three that come to mind. All species are a pleasure to keep, even shy dull species/color varients are a pleasure to care for. If I was going to start all over again I'd go with D. azureus because their colors are stunning and they are extremely bold but everyone I wouldn't say it's my favorite or "the best" frog. Good luck with your dart frog ventures,
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Devin Edmonds
devin@amphibiancare.com
www.amphibiancare.com

that's good info, but what do you do with your tads after they turn into frogs? You surely can't keep them all, and how often do your frogs lay eggs? thanks

I raise the frogs to a large enough size and then trade them or sell them to other hobbyists. The only dart frogs that are breeding for me now are my tinctorius. This spring my female was laying eggs almost twice a week but now she has slowed down to every 6-12 days. My other type of tinctorius only occasionally lay eggs, once every other month or so. Good luck,
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Devin Edmonds
devin@amphibiancare.com
www.amphibiancare.com

thanks a lot, I appreciate the information.

Although D. leucomelas were not my first frogs, they are among my two favorites for boldness and character. They also get along together in a fairly large mixed group. I like the D. imitator too. They can give a great show, especially when making love, fighting and breeding in a group. While they breed better in pairs, they still get along entertaininly in groups. Galacts are fun. The blue morph of D. auratus is pretty, really hardy, but so shy you have to take special pains in designing their habitat so they'll feel brave enough to come out of wherever in the hell they manage to hide until you are ready to take the tank apart to see if they're still alive. They are pretty, but rather boring. I have all females, so haven't seen any action of interest. They don't fight. They will occasionally lay infertile eggs, though. I should buy them a boyfriend or two,except I really don't want more of them.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leukomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis (new froglets)