Thumbnail dartfrog & feeding questions

[flybyferns]

I've kept tincs & auratus years ago and I want to get back into dart frogs again. I've seriously been considering D. t. 'regina', or terriblis. On the other hand Thumbnails are incredible for their size. but I have no experience with them. I understand I'd feed primarily fruitflies and springtails. I'd keep bwtween 2-4 thumbnails. I havent choosen a particular species yet. It's hard to choose just one but I dont have a large budget to get started with. Any insight on the care of these lil jewels would be greatly appreciated.

How often do you feed them, daily, every other day?
How long does a culture of fruit flies last ?
How many cultures would you go thru in a month?

Hi,
I love my Rannitomeya imitator "Varadero" . When you're ready for the frogs get in touch frog forum founder ( John Clare). 'john'. You could - likely- purchase from him; plus talking to him is like a live instructional seminar You might be able to organize a pick-up at a Hamburg PA show. Might?

http://www.frogforum.net/content/imi...-breeding-128/

http://www.frogforum.net/content/rai...anitomeya-129/

It's hard for me to estimate how many cultures you would need monthly, as I feed a bunch of darts. They can eat I have been culturing 3 species of fruit flies ---turkish gliders, melanogaster, and hydei. I make cultures every 7-10 days or so. I make 4 or 5 at a time. If you were to look at my row of culture containers you would see all stages. Plus, they all take a different amount of time to culture. The melo culture very quickly,then the TG's, and the hydei take the longest and need the most media. If you don't use enough media in the hydei cultures - they will crash-for sure. They take twice as long to cycle to adult, as the melos! The melo is ready in about 7-10 day if kept at ie 80-82 degrees. Some instruction say 75-78- ? don't know. Mine are warmer and kept on top of the dart enclosures. I have had NO dreaded mites ( knock wood) - so I don't dare move them; maybe a little higher temp is the mite trick?

my guess for you:
To ensure enough fruit flies , at least two new cultures EVERY WEEK - Pick a day of the week and stick to it. It's terrible to run out I'm sure you remember that it is crucial to start your cultures BEFORE you get your frogs ! You will be able to pick up turkish gliders at a Hamburg Show. Head for Michael Novy's table the minute you walk in !

Michael's site:
http://rainforestjunkys.com/

alternate TG supplier:
http://www.alphaprobreeders.com/prod...-Cultures.html

I needed the melo and the TG's in the very beginning :
1- needed to be sure the imitators had the right size fly ( not the imitators-but the owner )
2- my newly acquired leucs were really tiny

The TG's are very easy to culture. The imitators will take a heydi. However, I think the turkish glider is a perfect size for them, and a less annoying fly then the melo

I feed and dust 6 days a week w/ three different supplements ( John Clare's recommendation) to mix things up. I do not feed on Saturday, Don Lisk's- really great idea-- that's clean up day--- so they can all grab what's leftover.

As for the springtails and isopods- they will be on their own once the tank cycles. Recall however, this takes a while ( especially the isopods) I do see the imitators often on the bottom feeding on the springtails. I have replenished the isopods ( ongoing) and still keep cultures of both ?

Heads-up---- they use the entire enclosure. I went with 24" high. Busy bees

I hope this helps to get you off to a good re-start!
Welcome back.
It's hard to shake the bug-RIGHT!
Lynn