Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got my first pair of dart frogs, Azureus's. The guy I got them from said they were adults and a pair. He gave me a fruitfly culture with them but I was wondering if they would be able to eat pinhead crickets? I was also wondering if they truly are a pair and I do belive them to be full grown when should I watch for them to breed? Are they spring breeders or year round?
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Thanks Dawn
1.1 Veiled (Moe and Isis)
0.1 Helmeted Iguana (Louie)
0.1 Southern Toad (Tiny)
1.1 Bearded Dragon (Joker and Jewel)
1.0 Rescued Adult Iguana (Gomez)
0.0.1 Water Dragon (Igor)
0.0.2 Crested Gecko (Lollipop and Bubblegum)
1.0 Boxer mix (Tucker the reptile guard dog)
3.1 Cats (Buffy, Spike, London, and Lilly)

I do not have Azueus, so this is all secondhand...

I have heard they like smaller prey (even prefering springtails). They are definitely of size to pinheads and probably will. Fruit flies are better IMO because they are easier to culture and don't have as much chitin.

Some have had breeding within days of getting a pair. Dart Frogs are seasonal breeders, but you can change the seasons pretty quickly by cutting down misting for a couple of weeks and then misting heavily for a week or two. I have heard that Azuerus will only breed with running water in the tank.

Good Luck!
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Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com

If you do a search here, you may find a past thread that discussed sexing azureus. I'm not sure how long ago this was, but it had some photos comparing the toe pads, the males being larger, I believe. I'm just getting my first azureus later this spring, so have yet to have experience with them.

I order pinheads about twice a year just for variety, since I've never had much success breeding crickets. All of my larger frogs love them. But as Josh says, the fruit flies are the easiest and are probably the best mainstain diet. Schmidt and Henkel's POISON FROGS (professional breeders series) states that analysis of stomach contents in wild azureus are mostly springtails. These are easy to culture, but are too small to dust with calcium and vitamins properly. I don't have information on the normal calcium content of home-grown springtails, so to be safe, I plan to alternate between flies and spingtails. All of my frogs except the P. terribilis will go for springtails.
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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

Springtails (and other soil anthropods) are high in calcium. Actually in Europe many use springtails as the staple of their frogs diet. I think they add calcium to the soil that the springtails live in.

Fruit flies are easier than crickets, but springtails are by far way easier than flies!!!!
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Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com