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    Imitating Dart Frog, Ranitomeya imitator / Dendrobates imitator (Schulte, 1986) - Care and Breeding 

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    John
    Published on July 30th, 2011 04:04 AM     Number of Views: 11512 
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    Imitating Dart Frog - Ranitomeya imitator - Care and Breeding
    by John Clare

    General Information
    The Imitating Dart Frog is a native of northern and north-eastern Peru, in the provinces of Loreto and San Martín, from the foothills of the Andes Mountains eastwards. These frogs generally inhabit lowland rainforest, but some populations can be found at higher elevations, even in excess of 900 meters (~3000 feet). First described to science by Rainer Schulte in 1986 as Dendrobates imitator, in 2006 Grant et al. reclassified the species as Ranitomeya imitator, separating all Amazonian thumbnail poison frogs into the genus Ranitomeya, whose members are characterized by the first finger being shorter in length than the second. "Thumbnail" gives a good impression of just how small these frogs truly are, because even a large female Imitating Dart Frog is less than 2.5 cm (1 inch) from snout to vent. However, what they lack in size is more than made up for by their brilliant colors and generally bold personality.





    Captive Care
    This species has been shown to be naturally monogamous, so the most naturalistic number of frogs to keep in a terrarium should be a male and female pair.     ...
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