Reptile & Amphibian Forums

While clearing out the vendors for a reptiel show, I nearly stepped on a little red frog(with blue legs). I managed to get it back home and looked it up. I was amazed that it was probably the most expensive frog for it's size that I could have found.

So, it was the excuse I've always looked for to set up my own little dart frog tank. Took about 20 minutes.

Now, I've got this pretty, moss covered, bromiliad laden cage, with one little red frog.

I found out they were egg feeders, and I really want to breed them now. I've always want to try those.

First problem, is sexing them. Anyway besides hearing them call? Is there a discoloration in the males throat, anything? How would I stimulate it to call should it be a male? I've had it about a month, and it hasn't made a sound.

Also, is there any relaiable way of obtaining a definite male or female? Say it is a female, I want a male - will i have to just buy a bunch of babies and hope one is a male? Or do I have to get in the D.pumilio inner circle and find someone who's got a spare male?

Dart frogs would be perfect for me to keep. I've always needed something to breed fruit flies for. everytime a chameleon hatches, I've got to scramble for flies...

Ok, like... you have in your possession one of the most coveted frogs and it just fell into your lap! Blessings from frog heaven-Sigh! Go quickly to Frognet.org for more info. The blue leg ones are my favorites and I have been waiting to get my experience with thumbnails up to begin thinking about setting up a habitat for the pumilio. Hey, just a heads up...you know how you found it just hopping around? Thumbnails are nortorious for squeezing out of tiny places. Make sure that as you are gathering info on the little gem to check your habitat and make sure it is fruitfly proof. That is a good rule of thumb that if ff can't get out then neither can your thumbnail and the converse is true that if ff can get out then so can your ruby beauty. Congrats! IF you get a mate for it, and mating happens, you're gonna have the ride of your life. My Imitators(also thumbnails) are so prolific and I get to see the mating to the egg laying, to the tadpole transport on dad's back, to the daily feeding of each tad, to perfect little froglettes smaller then houseflies eating their first springtails. And if you already knew all that-great! I just didn't want you to loose the little guy like his last keeper and like so many first time thumbnail keepers experience. Your gonna have so much fun.

The frog that you have in your possession is most likely a pumilio Almirante. those are one of the latest imports these days. you can feed him pin heads from time to time just to mix up his diet alittle bit. have fun...

Pretty funny, huh? I even walked around, asking the remainng vendors if it was theirs. I didn't think he was going to be so expensive...

Too bad, I had hoped to get some cheaper ones, so I could get a bunch!

This'll do, though. I had entertained the thought of trading it, but the chance of such a thing happening was so slim, I wouldn't give him up.

I found a cup for him, moistened some paper towels, and brought him back to the hotel. I cleaned out an arizona bottle(the only one I could find that had a big label to hide him with) and stuck him in there with a little water and papar towel. I had to do this to get him on the plane - airline wouldn't allow even such a tiny frog.

I shouldn't have a hard time keeping him alive - I've been breeding chameleons for over a decade, and most people are scared to even TRY them... Of course, frogs can dry out...

Pumilio are not thumbnails, they are obligate eggfeeders.

For Heavensake post a picture of this treasure! How lucky for both of you that you found it before it turned into dust or someone stepped on it. That's a BINGO.

They are hard to sex other than calling, although my pumilio Bastimentos males have a lighter throat and vocal sac--it's still not a reliable tool for sexing. The males may be slimmer, but mine are as portly as the females. There's a "Blue Jeans" form in the trade, that sounds somewhat like yours, but these are hard to get. If it's a male, it may take some settling in before it calls. The calls are very soft, and I hear them only if my head is next to the tank with the lid open. (This may say more about my hearing ability than calling, however.)

They will also take springtails, along with the staple of melanogaster fruit flies and pinhead crickets. Good luck with a definite identification and matching it up with more of the same.
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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

Here's a pic I took of him a week or so ago. I have not seen the thing eat, but he hasn't died yet, and it's been over a month, so he must be eating. It's a big cage for a little frog(30 gallon long), but it's crawling with woodlice, fruit flies and now springtails.

BEAUTIFUL picture
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5.2 Fowlers Toads (Biggums, Randy, Shane, Mooky, Bella)
1.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Damon, Angelina, Scarlett)
5.1 Spring Peepers
0.2 African Dwarf Frogs (Memry, Kei)
1.0.1 Southern Cricket Frogs
0.0.1 Chubby Frog (Chubby Chub Chubs)
0.0.1 Cuban Tree Frog
0.0.1 Barking Tree Frog
0.0.2 Slimy Salamanders (Star)
0.0.2 Green Tree Frogs
1.0.1 Gray Tree Frogs
0.0.3 SC Tadpoles
1.0 Blue Parakeet (Remy)

Here is a picture of my setup a few weeks ago. It took me about 20 minutes to put together. Not too bad, considering this is the first itme I've done something like this.

I had th elittle frog in a plastic cube for a week. the nI got frustrated at my day gecko - he'd been staying hidden for months. So, I pulled his tank off the stand, and found this old 30 gallon, rinsed it out, scraped the hard water stains off, and set it on the stand. I then filled it about a third with peat moss, soaked it, then wen toutside and pulled up a few square feet of moss from the backyard. I sloped the peat moss to the front(so there's more surface visible)and placed the moss in nice, smooth mounds. Grabbed some bark from the back, threw in some grape vine that hadn't been used in a while, and planted some little things I picked up at home deopot.

Fun.

Since then, I've added a few bromeliad "pups" and some air plants. I was surprised how quickly everything started to take. the moss is growing, the bromeliads are opening up(and they've been in the peat moss for less than a week), and the other little plants are sprouting like crazy.

I do need to get some more misting nozzles. I had 3 from barrs, but when I got this little group of CB meller's chameleons, I ha dto pull the frog's nozzle and mist him manually.

I forgot to resize the last bunch of pics I put on the website.

The pictures are indeed huge-- I nearly missed the frog in the first one. The first pass was all out of focus stuff, until I went over to right to scan it again and found the frog. It is a pumilio, possibly what they call Blue Jeans. The blue part didn't come through very well. In any event, you have a treasure.
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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

Sorry to burst your bubble but it isn't a Blue Jeans from Costa Rica. It is a variety being imported from Panama, it is the "Man Creek" population. They cost about $50. I know it isn't a blue jeans due to the coloration, and the fact that they are so rare in the hobby due to minimal captive breeding no one would bring any to a reptile show, most blue jeans are traded for other rare species between hobbyists. I am kinda dissappointed at the lack of knowledge on this board. I suggest visiting www.dendroboard.com, there are over a thousand members, and alot of knowledgeable people to help with any of your questions.

Is it the color, or the color pattern? Because his legs are very blue - they look gray because I used a flash up close.

Personally, I'd rather him be a $50 frong than a $100 frog. I won't be spending $100 on a mate any time soon. $50 is eaiser to hide from my wife - just kidding.

Eric--I still think it's a great looking frog. I should have kept my suggestion of what it might be to myself, because I really don't know much about the different morphs. You did take the words away from me--It will certainly be easier to find a mate, if it is what the gecko-man said, and cheaper. Good luck with this, and keep us posted on how it turns out.
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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

It isn't so much the color, but the fact that huge numbers of "Man Creek" pumilio have been imported in the past year, and no Blue Jeans have been imported for a few years, and if you did happen to find some Blue Jeans for sale they would command a price of about $300, and you can be sure nobody would be careless enough to accidentaly release one in a reptile show. There is also a size diff. and the color is different, but without a picture true to the color of the frog it would be hard to tell. Regardless whether you found a blue jeans or man creek, it was a good find, and a beautifal frog. Good luck with your new frog. A bonus for it being a man creek is it will be easy to find a mate for it, I recommend contacting Will Soldel at www.thefrogfarm.net he should be able to help you find a mate, he may be more expensive than Strictly or other importers, but Will genuinely cares for his frogs and you can be assured he will supply you with top notch frogs.