My Mantella Collection.

[MantellaGuy]

Exciting !
Keep us posted !

Merry Christmas to you as well, Josh

Best , Lynn

Haha shall do, I must admit I am buzzing because these are offspring from a unrelated bloodline which always makes me happy!

I have some more to upload, but it would be too nice of me to post them all up in one go lol

I hope you have a lovely Holiday!

Kind regards,

Josh

[MantellaGuy]

Hi all,

Time for yet again, another update If you have been following my Racking System build then you would of seen this here (Click the Hyperlink) and the past week I have playing around with a few of my 400x400x400mm False Bottom Terrariums.

I have in total 7 Mantella species (9 when I finally my M.cowanni and M.milotympanum and with each of the species I have many groups of unrelated bloodlines which I keep separate, so when you see my exhibits below these will be for a single bloodline.

So now, without further ado here they are, not happy with one of them but shall replant it when I get my new Plants delivered;


^ ^ - 2 out 9 species have been made brand new enclosures! Left exhibit will house 1 of my 4 bloodlines of Mantella viridis and Right exhibit will house 1 of my 2 bloodlines of Mantella betsileo.


^ ^ - 1.1.0 Mantella betsileo exhibit, I have made it more crowded with many places to hide as they are, due to be less Aposematic, less bold than some of the genus.


^ ^ - Close up of the 1.1.0 Mantella betsileo exhibit.


^ ^ - 1.2.0 Mantella viridis exhibit, I am not that happy with this and kind of had to make do with some of the spare plants I had from previous builds. More open than the M.betsileo exhibit as I found the species to be very bold, nearly as bold as Mantella aurantiaca. Will be refurnishing this with more Fittonia species and like all my Terrariums, I will be painting on Moss Spores when I receive them.


^ ^ - Close up of the 1.2.0 Mantella viridis exhibit. The Peperomia clusiifolia I doubt will be able to stay in there but as a temporary thing I am sure it will be fine, it will go into my Scaphiophyrne gottlebei exhibit though as I know it prefers drier substrates.

Anyway, hope you like the Terrariums but they will need a lot of work, I will be putting the individuals in the Terrariums on Christmas eve/day though, the Aquarium Grade Sealant would have stopped smelling by then (I know that it is Solvent free but no harm leaving it the last couple of days! lol).

Merry Christmas,

Josh

[flybyferns]

Hi Josh,

Very nice !

How are you attaching the coco coir panels?
I like that as well -- nice and thin.
I have seen so many different suggestions.

Have you ever seen it available in large rolls without the possibility of any chemicals or additives?
I have purchased small rolls made by 'All living Things'
I saw a enclosure once (? forget where ) that had 2 thin layers on the back wall.
Pockets were made in the top layer for roots and cuttings! It was beautiful.

[Mentat]

Congrats Josh; your enclosures look great. Looking forward to seeing the plants mature and mosses cover the sides. Happy holidays !

[MantellaGuy]

Hi Josh,

Very nice !

How are you attaching the coco coir panels?
I like that as well -- nice and thin.
I have seen so many different suggestions.

Have you ever seen it available in large rolls without the possibility of any chemicals or additives?
I have purchased small rolls made by 'All living Things'
I saw a enclosure once (? forget where ) that had 2 thin layers on the back wall.
Pockets were made in the top layer for roots and cuttings! It was beautiful.

Hi Lynn

Thank you very much, the panels are simply attached with an Aquarium Grade Silicone Sealant I like to use called "Aqua-Mate" which is premium quality. Been using the stuff for years and never had a issue, it's solvent free, high modulus and Fungicide free!

The panels are made by Lucky Reptile called "Lucky Reptile Coco Background",I originally thought the panels were quite think when I got them but I opened the packet and realised the separate into 3 thinner panels which must obviously be for people to choose what they want. I thought I would have to buy £90 worth but I spent £30 and still have 2 panels left over and offcuts!!

These panels are detailed as the following;

"Lucky Reptile Coco Backgrounds are 100% natural backgrounds made from coco fibres. They are free of chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers. Natural rubber is used as glue which is completely save for the animals. The material can be cut easily and quickly adapted to any terrarium size.
Our Coco Backgrounds are also an excellent subsoil for plants. Tillandsias, vines and tendril plants can be planted on the background and quickly adhere to the coco fibres. With our Coco Backgrounds you can easily create an attractive surrounding in your terrarium."

From what I have found they are actually really good and perfect for use I would highly recommend them to anyone! They are almost self-adhesive too, you can stick an other panel on top and it will stick together like Velcro! You can buy them for £14 on eBay I suggest you try one out Lynn!

Congrats Josh; your enclosures look great. Looking forward to seeing the plants mature and mosses cover the sides. Happy holidays !

Thank you Carlos!! I can't wait either and I am dying to get the animals in too, do you reckon it would be safe now?

[MantellaGuy]

Hi all again,

So I decided that it was about time that the Mantella viridis and Mantella betsileo groups were placed in their exhibits, and that is exactly what I have done today!


^ ^ - Female M.viridis out of 1 of my 4 bloodlines for this species.


^ ^ - Another Female M.viridis out of the 1.2.0 group.


^ ^ - Female M.viridis individual seen in the first picture. Love this photograph, didn't even know I took it!


^ ^ - Male individual, very brightly coloured and incredibly bold!


^ ^ - M.betsileo individual out of the 1.1.0 group, I must admit I have never seen this species this active before I have actually been able to watch them!


^ ^ - M.betsileo individual jumping, yet again another photograph I didn't realise I caught, not great but interesting! lol


^ ^ - M.betsileo whom is incredibly active!!

Anyway hope you like the photographs, I shall be doing the Mantella aurantiaca big build next! Check out my Racking System Thread

Merry Christmas all, have a great day!!

Josh

[Geo]

Very nice collection and set of habitats. I am curious as to how you care for the M. Betsileo. Can you share what foods you feed, feed schedule, habitat, lighting etc. I would like to compare against what I have been doing for my colony. To date I am only aware of you, me and Bill (deranged chipmunk) having lengthy experience with them.

[MantellaGuy]

Very nice collection and set of habitats. I am curious as to how you care for the M. Betsileo. Can you share what foods you feed, feed schedule, habitat, lighting etc. I would like to compare against what I have been doing for my colony. To date I am only aware of you, me and Bill (deranged chipmunk) having lengthy experience with them.

Thank you very much George Well I feed a range of foods such as Acyrthosiphon pisum (occasionally), Folsomia candida (Constant supply as they are in the substrate), Drosophila melanogaster, Trichorina tomentosa (Constant supply as they are in the substrate) and Gut-loaded Gryllus bimaculatus (Micro/Hatchlings). They are fed thrice weekly (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) with every feed being a different food item.
They are sprayed for 11 months of the year with intermittent amounts of precipitation quantity For Example;

• Monday = 3 Sprays (1st for 7 seconds, 2nd for 5 seconds and 3rd for 10 seconds)
• Tuesday = 2 sprays (1st for 10 seconds and 2nd for 10 seconds)
• Wednesday = 4 Sprays (1st for 8 Seconds, 2nd for 5 seconds, 3rd for 5 seconds and 4th for 10 seconds)
• Thursday = 1 Spray (7 seconds)
• Friday = 2 Sprays (1st for 6 seconds and 2nd for 6 seconds)
• Saturday = 0 Sprays
• Sunday = 2 sprays (1st for 7 seconds and 2nd for 6 seconds)

And I will follow that routine closely for most of the year (Yes, I really am that much of a pain lol) which is all documented in their Journal that I keep for the species.
Substrate is slightly Sandy with a 20/80% Ratio (Sand/Soil) and have a bit of a rocky setting with lots of leaf litter.
Lighting is kept on for 10-12 hours so they are given about 12-12.

Temperature is maintained at/between 20-26'c and no higher than 26'c however I rarely go as high as that, they seem to prefer 24'c.

Live plants are more of a challenge, they are definitely less bold as other species within the genus due to being less Aposematic but, I went for Fittonia, Devil's Ivy, Pothos and various other Foliage species. They are quite arboreal which you wouldn't have thought so I try to utilise the tanks height as much as possible

Hope this helps!