Reptile & Amphibian Forums

thanks to everyone so far with your help! i really appreciate it! ok so i have continued studying these guys, and i think i like the reticulatus the best. however, noting what you and others have said, i believe i am going to start with a pair of d. imitator intermedius, or the normal imitators. hopefully, i can get a male/female pair. these are also apparently easy to breed. a couple more questions:

-if they do breed, the babies cannot be kept with the parents once they are able to leave the water, correct?

-i really like carnivorous plants, and i was wanting to have one or two in the tank amonst my other plants. my question is whether it is safe to keep thumbnails with pitcher plants. if they decide to go inside of the pitcher, will they be able to escape? if it is going to be a close call, i have no problem with not keeping the plant.

-i have not come across a lifespan for dart frogs, and thumbnails nonetheless. how long on average do most dart frogs live? thumbnails?

i am going to be setting the tank up in the next couple of weeks and i am getting very excited. thank you everyone for your help! it is very encouraging to me to have much more experienced hobbyists looking out for me. thanks again!

-andy

Andy--I have kept newly morphed imitators in with the parents. They may get chased off when the parents are breeding and laying eggs, etc., but they don't seem to get persecuted to any extent. They will remain "second class citizens," however. So if you want to breed them, they should have a tank and mate of their own, unless of course, your tank is very large and they can establish their own territory. I have kept one of the babies, a female, in with its parents for about two years now. It's perfectly healthy and active, but pretty much stays out of their way.

Retics are great. I just moved some eggs into a Petri dish. Mine had laid a couple of batches previously. One batch was infertile and another got trampled by a competitor before I was able to remove it. A batch of four eggs had been laid on a bromeliad leaf just above the axil, and I decided to leave it for a few days. Then one morning, I saw one of the frogs (I can't tell these guys apart!) stomping the eggs down into the axil and mushing them all up. While female imitators will mess up and eat each other's eggs, the mother and male usually guard them rather closely, so at least they have a chance. You won't get as many live tads from a mixed group by letting them raise their own, but it's more fun to watch.
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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

I didn't answer your carnivorous plant question, but understand that a lot of people raise them in dart vivariums with no problems. I've tried, but haven't been able to keep the carnivorous plants alive for any length of time in my particular set-ups, so have no first hand experience with 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