New member from London with Golden Mantella

[RibbitUK]

Hello and welcome to FF! Vivarium pic looks very nice, any of frogs ?

Thanks Carlos, Sorry didn't have any good ones at the time...

Here is one with two in view, best I can do for now until they get settled and are a little more bold:



Cheers

[Mentat]

Thanks, frogs looks nice and healthy !

[dbizal]

Hey mate,

Your Viv looks great!

Where did you get your plants from? (I assume they are real?), seeing as you are also from the UK would be great to find out when you get your stock
Thanks in advance,

Danny.

[Geo]

Welcome! We have a few folks on the forum who are mantella caretakers including myself. Feel free to ask us whatever you are curious about to ensure those little critters get the best care. Great start to your habitat. I would point out that unlike some poison frogs mantellas love the presence of leaf litter in their habitats. It gives them a place to hide to feel secure, to get coverage if the light / heat is bothering them, somewhere to forage for fruitflies and pin head critters that went into hiding, and they are most likely going to be prone to laying their legs in damp leaf litter than anywhere else (although some owners have had success with coconut huts setups. They are not as arboreal (tree climging) as some poison frog species are so ground coverage (horizontal) space is more important. It allows the males to stake out a small territory that they defend for mating purposes and offers them a degree of security. Keep the habitat's temps lower then you would most other PDF. They generally can't comfortably tolerate anything above 80 (although captive bred mantellas seem to have a bit more stamina for heat then wild caught). Humidity ideally should be in the 70-80 range although that is a matter of whether or not you are intending to cycle the habitat for a wet/dry season to breed etc. They require a small water setup according to experts as supposedly they can drown. I have not found this to be true with my own Brown Mantella colony as I have a lagoon type setup with about 2 inches of filtered water that I have seen them in soooooo trial and error there I guess. I hope you have a thriving mantella colony.