Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am starting a Dart frog terrarium and I am new to frogs, Most of my experience has come from lizards and snakes so I could use some suggestions. For Starters, what kind of base should I use? I read that soil will start smelling foul because of the high humidity. Another question I have is about water sources. I am making a fairly large terrarium so I will have a misting volcano in 1 corner and a small waterfall peice in the other corner, and I was wondering if I should put a small pool in the middle. (all water will be bottld of course). How much climbing do these guys do? I cant seem to find a good answer to this. My last quesion is how many frogs can I fit into a tank without packing them in? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
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Me fail english? That's unpossible

Some soils will start to rot or foul in very moist conditions. Avoid using potting soil or top soil from your local garden center. Instead use a soil that consists mostly of coconut husk fiber because it holds up well when wet. I use a mixture of coconut husk fiber, fir bark, milled sphagnum moss and leaf litter. Soil mixtures should be placed on top of a drainage substrate to allow excess water to drain out of the soil. Other substrate options are to use pea gravel as the substrate or using pea gravel as the substrate followed by a layer of sphagnum moss and then live moss. These other two options will limit the types of plants you'll be able to grow directly in the substrate.

It's up to you if you want to create a water area, the frogs won't use it often. Occasionally one might fall in but I've only heard of infrequent situations where dart frogs go for a swim.

The amount of climbing a frog does depends largely on the species. Most species will climb to the top of your average terrarium regularily. Some species might hang out at the top the majority of the day while others might climb the glass only occasionally to chase a fruit fly. Even the more terrestrial species like D. tinctorius and P. terribilis don't hesitate to scale the sides of a cage every now and then.

The general rule for stocking a tank is one adult frog to every five gallons of space. You can sometimes push this but then, as you put it, you're really packing them in. Good luck,
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Devin Edmonds
devin@amphibiancare.com
www.amphibiancare.com

Devin pretty much answered all your questions. I might add that while darts don't deliberately go swimming, a lot of them do appreciate shallow waterways to splash around in and hunt, pools filled with smooth rocks, as well as waterfalls to climb. Designing and building these is an entirely different subject, and I think a search here will bring up some websites and information. They can be high tech or very simple. Keep in mind that the secret to preventing rot is good drainage of whatever substrate you decide to use. Your terrarium should either have a false bottom, (if you build waterways and falls,) or a layer of sharp rock and gravel with a barrier between this and the substrate, from which drainage water can be siphoned off. (Mechanically or simply with a small aquarium airline tube.) The barrier between your substrate and drainage area can be as simple as some cocoanut fiber matting (Welcome mat grade), perforated plastic garden weed control sheets, or discoveries of your own.

You might also consider that most darts will use all layers of a terrarium, from top to bottom, depending upon how it's designed. We're talking only a couple of feet here between terrestrial and arboreal, while in a rainforest, the difference is many meters. I was surprised to find that my pumilios spend a lot of time on the very bottom of the tank, and that my leucomelas sit in the highest part of theirs in bromeliad leaves when they're resting.

At any rate, I hope this gives you a bit of a start for some great fun with some delightful frogs.

For instance, these Dendrobates galactonotus are not supposed to be way up there in the bromeliad leaves, because they are ground dwellers. Someone forgot to tell them this.

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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus