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Thumb nail help

Amphiman Oct 11, 2007 09:41 PM

Hey guys... I need your help, as I've posted earlier I keep some Nicaraguan darts and they are great, I love them to death but, now I think im going to try my hand with some sort of thumb nail species(amazonicus,fantasticus, reticulatus, imitator,pumilio).The requirements are:Frog needs to be terrestrial(will be kept in a 15 gallon) It needs to be cheap (100$ and under) and relatively bold,and It has to be stunning(only the best for me lol)

All links to good breeders would be much appreciated as well as some sites to look into,names of species would do well too.

Thanks for your help

Replies (1)

Slaytonp Oct 12, 2007 12:05 AM

The boldest and most fun would be a group of imitators, 4 or 5 unsexed, to be figured out by them later, in a 30 gallon high vivarium with lots of bromeliads on the background. None of the frogs you mentioned are terrestrial by rain forest definition, but in a smaller vivarium, this is only a matter of having some places for them to climb and some space in the upper reaches of either a background of cork bark and bromeliads, or a central wood feature with a bromeliad and some small vines. While so called terrestrial darts, such as the tincorius like a broader base to hunt from, all of them will use every level of a small vivarium. You cannot really translate many meters of up and down in a rain forest into a space of a few square feet.

The imitators are bold and put on a great show if you have a group of 4 or 5 of them in something like a 30 gallon tall tank with bromeliads like Neoregelia that hold water in the axils. Imitators are long-lived and hardy. While the females do fight, they are athletic and never seem to harm, or even intimidate each other. Their fights can be awsome to observe. When defending tadpoles against another female trying to feed the tadpoles, in response to the male's call, the real mother will chase, head-butt, wrestle and bull-dog. They will eat and mess up each other's eggs, while the male just seems to stand off and watch. He does carry the tads just out of the egg and deposit them, then guard them and call a female when they need an egg to eat, but he isn't very particular about which lady arrives first. So although these can be considered "territorial" frogs, they really are more like residents of an ethnic ghetto. Over-all, they cooperate and get along.

The others you mentioned are more difficult to keep and understand. The reticulatus are short-lived compared to imitators, (I have a couple of imitators going on 10 years old now) and their froglets are difficult and delicate to raise. Fantasticus are hard to get and expensive. Pumilios are definitely territorial and you need a mated pair to begin with, or have the resources to buy a few of them and mate them up yourself, which takes several separate tanks, listening to calling and guessing which to try together, trial and error.

There are many sources for the frogs. You can check with Black Jungle, or contact Patrick Nabors for a start.
Saurian

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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.

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