Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all, another question for you guys/gals. I am getting closer to start thinking about what I want to reside in my 55gallon Paludarium. To give a brief outline of the tank, it's a false bottom set at 7" high, with waterfall, and all typical substrate(coconut husk), plants, etc. I do plan on putting fish also in the bottom(probably archers). Now, what can I safely mix "upstairs?" I am leaning towards poison dart frogs. Can those be "mixed" with any other herps?? I was thinking along the line of maybe crested or satanic leaf tail geckos, or some red eye tree frogs. Also, I hear you shouldn't mix different species of dart frogs due to cross-breeding, is this ENTIRELY true?? PLEASE HELP!!

I'm by no means an expert, but I'd recommend against mixing poison darts with geckos. Young dart frogs are TINY. Adult crickets are bigger than them! :O So they might wind up as lunch for a bigger animal. I'd be nervous about having a larger frog in there too. Even a little red-eyed tree frog looks gargantuan next to a dart.

Dart frogs need super high humidity as well, close to 100% - other tropical reps/amphs seem to average around 70-80%, so it might be hard to keep everyone happy.

I have heard members of the dart forum talk about cross-breeding. This seems to be an "ethical" problem more than anything else - I personally do not see what the big deal is. The bigger concern is aggression between different species. Hop on over to the dart frog forum, if you haven't already - its a common discussion so there should be info on compatibility there.
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~ Vamppire
Queens, New York City

thanks!! I have since decided against mixing in this tank other than maybe some peacock geckos. As far as humidity, I will have 7" of water(about 22 gallons) under the false bottom, with a continuous waterfall, so I am not worried much about humidity.

I have a false bottom with running water too, though only a 10 gal. so it is only about 3 inches. I had to almost completely cover my screen tank cover with plastic to keep the humidity high enough for the darts!

Good luck with whatever you go with =)
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~ Vamppire
Queens, New York City