Dart frogs for a beginner

[JimO]

I've kept and bred azureus for a number of years. As Paul indicated, if you get the enclosure and conditions right, dart frogs are really easy to keep and relatively easy to breed. You can keep a solitary frog. I have a lone male adult azureus who has been in his own viv for months. I have some sub-adults from another bloodline and I'm just waiting for a female to mature enough to put in with him.

I got my first Leucs as tadpoles, so I don't have any personal experience with them since I only have one froglet morphed out. I will say this, though, he's in a grow out tank with three auratus froglets and although he is a bit smaller, he the boldest of them all. When I open the top to feed, he's always out and just sits waiting for his food. The auratus froglets scamper into the leaf litter.

Although my azureus climb, they spend the vast majority of their time on the ground, as do my auratus. I think Leucs are similar.

Azureus females with fight even more aggressively than the males. Some folks successfully keep trios, but I've heard that it's usually a group that has grown up together. If the trio is one male and two females, the females will often eat one another's eggs.

The 12x12x18 is best suited for arboreal species in that there is more vertical space that horizontal space. It certainly would be adequate for one frog. A 20-gal long would quite a bit more floor space to work with and I can typically get a tank and glass lid for much less than one of the commercial terrariums. There is plenty of info on making an aquarium into a vivarium. Even with the Exo or Zoo-Med terrariums, you have to do some modifications for dart frogs. For example, most of the screened top has be be covered with glass or plastic to keep the humidity up and you have to be pretty diligent about plugging small openings if you want it to be fruit-fly escape proof. I have one Exo terrarium and even small crickets manage to escape.

All in all, dart frogs aren't really any more difficult than any other type of frog. I'd say go for it, but then again, I'm biased.