Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have set up a 10 gallon terrarium and plan to put a pair of D. Azureus in it. The tank consists of coconut fiber for the substrate, lots of driftwood, two aquarium decorations that are basically just rocks carved to look like wood and gnarled roots, a few fake plants, and a fluorescent light. As soon as I can get to a pet store, I'm gonna buy a waterbowl (I live in rural Alabama, so the nearest pet store is about an hour and a half away). First of all, is this a suitable setup? Also, my main question, I need a walkthrough of breeding. I have researched keeping dart frogs for a couple months now, but so far have not been able to find a breeding walkthrough. BTW, if anyone wants pics of the tank, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to post some...I'm not exactly a computer whiz though.

I would recommend a drainage area of gravel under the substrate and live plants for dart frogs for several reasons: 1. You will need to mist them daily and water will accumulate. The live plants will help to take this up and the drainage layer will help to keep the substrate from becoming soggy. 2. Live plants will recycle frog wastes so you will not need to ever disturb the frogs to change the substrate. 3. The living systems help to maintain the proper humidity. You can still use the coconut fiber, but I would add some other type of organic compost to this, and or brown sphagnum moss.

I think that 10 gallons is a bit small for a breeding pair of azureus. They really do seem to need more room than the 5 gallons per frog that is commonly recommended.

That said, the azureus will tend to lay their eggs (about 4) on the flat surface of a leaf. I like to leave these in place for 3 to 4 days to make sure they have been fertilized. Then scrape them off VERY carefully into a Sterilite container, or cut the section of leaf off and place the section with the eggs in the container. I rinse them gently a couple of times with a small amount of spring water with a drop of two of methylene blue in it. Leave just enough water to barely touch, but not cover the eggs. As the eggs develop, watch them closely, and remove any that turn white or fail to develop. Be sure the eggs are oriented in the same manner as they were laid, i.e. not upside down. I keep a jug of spring water laced with about a tablespoon of "Black water extract or Instant Amazon." Some people may use water made from soaking oak leaves to make "tadpole tea." The tannins from this do help to keep the eggs and tads healthy.

As the eggs develop and you can see the tadpoles inside, gradually begin to add more and more water. By the time they are wriggling, you can begin to cover the eggs, and as they emerge from the gel, you can give them 1 to 2 inches of water. (Some people keep this deeper.) This is when I separate each tad into it's own container. I use the 3X4 Sterilite containers, one for each frog. I then add a hunk of java moss and begin feeding them with a sprinkling of chlorella and spirulina algae, plus occasional "Tadpole bites" on a daily basis. (Check out Saurian for the dried algae mix.)

While the azureus don't seem to be cannibalistic, they develop much better when separated. They exude some sort of hormone that inhibits growth, so if you don't separate them, one will grow much faster than the others--I've found that there may even be two to three weeks difference in their maturity rate and the smallest ones are more likely to die.

I use a turkey baster to siphon off wastes and replace any water removed daily from the jug of black water solution, kept at the same temperature. Alternatively, may people may keep them in deeper water and do partial water changes less frequently, and feed more less frequently. I'm just outlining what has worked well for me.

When the tads develop both legs and arms and begin to absorb the tail, tilt the container so they are able to climb out of the water onto the java moss. I put the container into the rearing tank at that time with the lid open. They will often climb out by themselves, or when you are sure they are totally terrestrial, you can help them.

They may not eat at first, but offer them springtails at this time. The rearing tank can be "seeded" with a lot of springtails well ahead of time. Begin offering them the smallest dusted fruit flies as soon as they will take them--the wingless are great for new froglets, and they will need the calcium/D3 dusting for strong development.

The mated pair will breed on their own time, and seem to do it in spurts of activity, with eggs every couple of weeks, and then longer rest periods in between.

I hope this helps. It is certainly not the "last word," but I had a lot of failures before hatching the eggs and raising tads began to work for me.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

D. auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, galactonotus orange, galactonotus yellow, fantasticus, reticulatus, imitator, castaneoticus, azureus, pumilio Bastimentos. P. lugubris, vittatus, terribilis mint green, terribilis orange.

Ok, thanks. I'm gonna print yor reply out, and since a 10 gallon is a little small, I'll probably do leucomelas or tincs. If I can't keep an animal right, I'd rather not keep it at all. But thanks a lot for your info. Is this the breeding process for all commonly kept darts? Or is this just for azureus? I'll definitely replace the fake plants with live. I've been debating that for a while, and that convinced me. Thanks man.

Oops. I guess what I meant was thanks WOman. Sory about that.

I'm sorry I missed your question about it being a good process for all darts. I don't have a lot of breeding experience, but I think this will do for most any of them except of course for the obligate egg feeders such as pumilios. I've always let all of my egg feeders such as the thumbnail imitators, reticulatus, fantasticus, raise their own tads, although I have raised a couple of imitators separately when their parents failed to care for them as transported tadpoles, but kept on breeding instead. It works for leucomelas, galactonotus, auratus, terribilis and tinctorius, as well as some of the thumbnails that are not obligate egg feeders. There may be some, such as the Epipediobates that you can keep in community containers without compromising development, but I have no experience at all with these.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

D. auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, galactonotus orange, galactonotus yellow, fantasticus, reticulatus, imitator, castaneoticus, azureus, pumilio Bastimentos. P. lugubris, vittatus, terribilis mint green, terribilis orange.

Ah, that's ok. Thanks for the info. I found out earlier today that I might also have access to a 29 gallon tank. I might eventually use this for a pair of azureus, butI doubt it. It will probably go towards hognose snakes.