Dominance When Feeding

[delfiend]

So it's become apparent over the last month that among my three P. terribilis dart frogs, my one Apollo is excessively greedy. He is much rounder and more well-fed than my other frogs Ash and Christopher. I tried to solve the issue by spacing out where I placed the fruit flies so that there were three distinct areas where each frog dwells on their own and could eat there. However, after a few months of doing this, I caught Christopher attempting to eat near Apollo and Apollo "attacked" him and chased him away. That, and Apollo goes everywhere to eat; he won't stay in one spot, he has to munch on every group of flies.
I recently decided to drastically increase the number of flies I was feeding, thinking Apollo would eventually fill up and leave plenty for the other two. Instead, I found Apollo excessively fat and the other two still rather streamline and hungry.
Today, I fed all my frogs a huge sum of flies, and then later in the day I did so again but removed Apollo and placed him in a quarantine bin. However, Christopher and Ash are still very timid about eating. Christopher has begun eating but without any vigor, and Ash has yet to appear and eat.

Any suggestions or comments about what I've been doing? I don't wish to have to keep removing Apollo for fear of stressing him too much, but I also don't have the space or means to separate the group. Has anyone else dealt with intraspecies aggression when feeding and found some way to diffuse the situation? Also, are my frogs in danger of not growing properly if they're not plump, but rather streamline (i.e. their stomach is flat with their sides and doesn't pudge out)?

All non-hateful, helpful comments are appreciated.

[Vivariums In The Mist]

What size is your vivarium?

[delfiend]

The viv is an Exo Terra 18" x 18" x 24"H and has lots of plants as visual barriers and little nooks everywhere to find privacy. My frogs are all about 1.5 long and still have black bellies, so they're fairly young. I bought them back in August.


It looks crowded in the pic, but there's lots of ground space and most of the plants take up mostly air space.

[flybyferns]

Terribilis typically do fine in a small group.
Your enclosure is lg enough for three.
I agree; I would not move one of them for feeding.
It is very unusually for them to ever hide?

The are very bold and typically not afraid of anything.

They are usually seen sitting right out in the open for hours.... even as froglets.

Just keep an eye on them to be sure they are growing and gaining.

The next time you feed watch to be sure the shy one is able to actually catch his fr flies without missing.

This species likes to have open space on the substrate or even a few flat stones.
You might consider removing one or two of the plants in the front.
Give them a shallow dish w/ distilled water. ie a glass petri dish or an upside-down coco hut.
May I respectively suggest removing the sputum moss. Let them roam on the soil substrate/ or live moss

They would actually enjoy climbing a little.. they would climb on the wood if they had clear access to it.


some photos

http://www.frogforum.net/members/der...-gedc0606.html

http://www.frogforum.net/members/fly...ilis-mint.html

[Vivariums In The Mist]

I would also recommend giving them a little more open space. They are usually great group frogs and I have never personally had an issue with this species. I would also remove that moss, possibly add more substrate, and add some more leaf litter.