Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i am interested in creating a large vivarium with mainly tree frogs.the main species i am interested in is phylomedusa bicolor(giant monkey tree frog)but id also like to add more colorful species of tree frog,like redeyes,blackeyes,clown,milkey cave frogs,ect. id also like to add dart frogs for their color but i am concerned that ,since they are quite a bit smaller than the tree frogs,they may get eaten.anyone housing redeyes with darts?.im assuming(unless you guys tell me otherwise)that darts with larger tree frogs,are out of the question.so are there any other tree frog species that i dont know about?? id like colorful species that can take the place of the dart frogs for color.right now all i know about are phylomedusa species,redeyes,black eyes,clowns,and whites.im not going to add any whites cause im sure they would eat everything thats not their size.anyone keep phylomedusa bicolors??are they large enough to take hopper mice?? would they eat redeyes?? if so i may have to house them alone.not something i was wamting to do if i could find suitable display annimals.

Bicolors can get pretty large. I'd treat them the same as a whites as far as keeping them by themselves. I assume you know that you are treading on thin ice talking about mixing species. Haha. That debate can get pretty heated. My personal opinion is, I dont recommend it, but with careful research and meticulous husbandry practices it can be done. I would not recommend it to beginners at all.

It is absolutely IMPERATIVE that you have each animal quatantined and given a clean bill of health by a certified herp specialist (fecal, skin swab, etc). The animals also need to be in a relatively large enclosure, have simliar habitat requirements, and should occupy different niches in the enclosure (i.e., one is diurnal and terrestrial, the other is nocturnal and aboreal to prevent competition). However, even if all these requirements are followed, don't be surprised if you lose some animals. You still run the risk of introducing foreign pathogens to the frogs. Alot of previously stressed animals can't handle it.

There were some lengthy dicussions on some other sites about the keeping of darts with clowns treefrogs. The guy that was for it was the head keep at the reptile house in the philadelphia zoo. I think that red eyes could potentially eat some dart frog species, and I know alot of dart frog people say not to house darts with red eyes, ( or with any other species, for that matter).

As for the argument over mixing species, google it. You'll find extensive and strong opinions on both sides. I'm sure we'll see some of those opinions soon. haha, Good Luck

Definitely no dart frogs! They will be an easy snack for any tree frog.
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1.0 Baby Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Dexter

I kept Phylomedusa tomopturna with darts for a long time with no problems; I don't think they were even aware of each other. All mine were CB, so no disease problems, and the tompoturna are pretty small so I wasn't worried about them eating darts.