I heard that dart frogs are not actually poisonous

[abacabb]

I heard that dart frogs are not actually poisonous, instead what makes them poisonous is the food that they eat. Is this true? If yes, does this mean that in captivity they are not poisonous as long as they don't eat whatever kind if food that makes their skin toxic?

[Paul Rust]

I heard that dart frogs are not actually poisonous, instead what makes them poisonous is the food that they eat. Is this true? If yes, does this mean that in captivity they are not poisonous as long as they don't eat whatever kind if food that makes their skin toxic?

This is true. Captive Bred darts are not deadly and Wild Caught ones lose their toxicity over time. That doesn't mean that they don't have toxins in their skin. Like most amphibians, I would consider them a hands-off pet.

Edit: I am not an expert with Mantellas but I read somewhere that they produce their own toxins, I am not sure though. Maybe someone can add more to this.

[abacabb]

Got it. But what are the foods that make them toxic? And what is the best diet for them in captivity.

[Paul Rust]

The best diet is a staple of flightless fruit flies along with springtails.

[John]

Firstly, most "poison dart frogs" are actually not very poisonous, even in the wild. There are only a few that could be considered deadly, and those are mainly confined to the genus Phyllobates. Captive bred specimens are not truly poisonous, but I wouldn't advise eating one - you would, at the very least, experience vomiting, some foaming at the mouth and probably some numbness too.

The toxins that make these frogs so poisonous in the wild supposedly come from their food, but the exact origins of the toxins are not known with certainty. There has been recent evidence that some toxins may come from small beetles, which in turn get the toxins from plants, but in the past there have been theories that the toxins came from ants and other insects. What we know with some certainty is that these frogs are part of huge, poorly understood ecosystems, and the poisons likely originate from a number of sources, which in turn are likely dependent on their own foods for the toxins or the precursors to the toxins.

[JimO]

I've read that at least some of the toxins come from bacteria that infect the insects they eat. There have been studies that took captive bred non-toxic specimens and began feeding them from native leaf litter. They developed toxins over time. So, it appears clear that it's from their food and that they cannot synthesize it themselves.

There are also a variety of very different toxins found in dart frogs. Only about four species, I believe, are used to tip blow gun darts and are very toxic indeed. It is said that the golden dart frog has enough neurotoxin to kill ten adults.

Where exactly the toxic is synthesized is the million (or billion) dollar question. One of the toxins has promise as a painkiller more potent than opiate derivatives and without the side effects.