Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im considering getting dart frogs and i was wondering are they poisonous by touch or if predators eat them????????[IMPORTANT]

In the wild (to my understanding), the answer is yes to both. In captivity, you would have to eat them or lick them to see any effect.
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Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com

Captive bred dart frogs would be no danger to you or your pets. Your pets might be a danger to them, however. They lose their toxins in captivity, so simply handling them with your hands, which you shouldn't be doing anyway for the frog's sake, not yours, isn't going to poison you. There have been anectodal reports of people handling captive bred darts, then licking their fingers or whatever after this, and going on some kind of "trip." I wouldn't know personally, because in all the years I've raised them, I haven't handled any with bare hands, except for one escapee auratus that I just grabbed and returned to its tank, then washed my hands.

One of the best general sources regarding dart toxins is currently POISON FROGS, Professional Breeders Series, W. Schmidt, F.W. Henkel. It's worth an investment for limited, but good general information, as well. Check the link.
Link

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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
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus

i was watching this thing on Animal Planet they said that they get the poison from the ants they eat. But i don't know.

Apparently certain tropical ants do carry the precursors necessary for some darts to manufacture some of their toxins, but there are many other factors that may be involved, because there are several different toxins various darts exude in the rainforests, but not as captive bred animals. There are ongoing studies on dart frog toxins that have mostly complicated the source rather than simplified it to simply some tropical ant diet.

I was interested recently in a study of the stomach contents of wild caught D. azureus. 80% of their diet is tropical springtails, and they apparently don't eat ants to any extent, if at all. Yet in the wild, they are still toxic, but lose this in captive breeding, as other darts do. The toxins of several poison darts have been pretty well identified and documented by research, but the source still remains somewhat speculative--a mystery.

What many people don't understand completely is that the frog does not directly inbibe and utilize something like the toxins from ants directly. They utilize the precursor chemicals, perhaps provided by the ants or other insects in their natural environment, via various plants and the soil these insects feed upon, then "manufacture" (for lack of a better word) their own distinct toxins. When we raise them on cultured insects, even adding our own temperate zone field plankton, they no longer have the same precursor chemicals to manufacture their specific toxins.

I always have to think of another thing: "In a captive environment, they no longer 'need' to be toxic." This is a very unscientific thought, but it intrigues me, none-the-less. Is there something in this idea no one has explored yet, just because it is so scientifically stupid? Is there another adaptive mechinism at work that has eluded us?
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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
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus