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Thread: Thumbnails for begginers

  1. #1
    PeaR
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    Default Thumbnails for begginers

    Hello my friends,

    The dendrobatids are a group of animals that have come to captivate my attention since many years ago, but I've never felt prepared before to mantain some by many reasons: difficulty in finding food, difficulty in recreate a tropical climate into the terrarium and lack of knowledge.

    For a couple of weeks I've been searching, reading and learning more about dendrobates, and this aroused on me a great desire to keep these animals.
    I have to say that my experience in keeping any type of amphibians is absolutely none!
    On the other hand, I've been keeping reptiles (snakes) and arthropods for many years, some of them tropicals (Corallus hortulanus, Centruroides margaritatus, Babycurus jacksoni), and that gave me experience to deal with temperatures, humidity, ventilation and the basic parameters that are necessary for the proper establishment of a microclimate in a terrarium.

    I took to myself that if I entered the amazing world of Dendrobates species would have to be with that I really liked, and so all would have to be a well-defined project with a plan for captive propagation respecting absolutely the genetic lineages found in the wild.

    The species I really like belong to the genus Ranitomeya, and here start the problems. All the online literature that I've read (already completely devoured this fantastic article about imitators http://www.frogforum.net/dart-frog-m...-breeding.html) says that this genus is composed by very very tiny frogs that you experts call by thumbnails and because of that are not suitable for a begginer!

    Well, the question is: Can I start with species belonging to the genus Ranitomeya (imitator, one of my favourite) without having necessarily to pass through Dendrobates sp. to gain experience?

    I consider myself a responsible person, I allways read ton's of articles and collect opinions for more experienced persons before even thinking about buying any animal.

    Sorry about that big text but I think that is necessary to you understant my situation!

    Best regards
    Pedro

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  3. #2
    100+ Post Member JimO's Avatar
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    Default Re: Thumbnails for begginers

    Quote Originally Posted by PeaR View Post
    Well, the question is: Can I start with species belonging to the genus Ranitomeya (imitator, one of my favourite) without having necessarily to pass through Dendrobates sp. to gain experience?

    I consider myself a responsible person, I allways read ton's of articles and collect opinions for more experienced persons before even thinking about buying any animal.

    Sorry about that big text but I think that is necessary to you understant my situation!

    Best regards
    Pedro
    Absolutely, you can start with imitators. The difficulty comes in breeding them because the froglets are tiny and need springtails or other small prey. But, you can also let the parents rear their own young if you're not in a hurry to start caring for tadpoles. If you let the parents rear them, the most important feature of the tank is the substrate/soil. The latest techonology in soil for darts is clay-based soil. There are many articles and threads on this forum and others regarding clay-based soil. Some claim that it allows for denser populations of springtails, isopods and other microfauna. You'll also need a couple of inches of leaf litter and then seed the tank from cultured springtails and isopods.

    If you pull the eggs and rear the tads yourself, you need to culture springtails to feed them until they're large enough to eat fruit flies.

    I have four Imitator intermedius and they are fantastic frogs.

    The vivarium should have plenty of vertical space and lots of bromeliads.

    I started with larger terrestrial species and see no reason why you'd have to keep larger darts first. Just do your research, buy from a reputable breeder, and go for it.
    I used to think that I had to understand in order to believe, then I realized that I must believe in order to understand - Augustine

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  5. #3
    PeaR
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    Default Re: Thumbnails for begginers

    Hello,

    JimO, thank you for your comment!

    So, you think there's no problem to start with Ranitomeya? I like the imitators, but I'm open to sugestions. Any more species do you think that whould be appropriate for a beginner?

    About breeding into terrarium, why whould I prefer to grow the tadpoles myself instead of the parents?

    I've also read about the substract. My goal is to create a very densely planted vivarium, so I whill have to necessarily use that kind of setup.

    The major problem that is crossinh in my mind is, in fact, the cultures of live food. Sorry for the noob questions but, one fruit fly culture is capable to provide food for how many time? Onde day? One week?
    For that type of animals, the feeding must undergo on a everyday schedule?

    Thanks for your time losses,

    Best regards,
    Pedro

  6. #4
    Paul Rust
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    Default Re: Thumbnails for begginers

    Hello Pedro. Please select your national colors in your profile.
    A fruit fly culture is good for about one month on average but the hatching cycle in the culture will ebb and flood. In other words you want more than one culture going at a time so that when one is low on flies and waiting for another big hatch you can use the other one. Springtails (woodlice) are extremely easy to culture and relatively maintenance free to keep.

    Good luck and welcome to FrogForum

  7. #5
    100+ Post Member JimO's Avatar
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    Default Re: Thumbnails for begginers

    My Intermedius haven't bred yet, so I can't comment from experience, but the person I bought them from said that they often lay larger clutches and are as diligent about feeding the tads as pumilio are. Also, unlike pumilios, you can rear healthy tads with dried foods high in protein. For serious breeders, it is my understanding that the success rate and yield are both higher when the eggs are pulled. A pair won't lay another clutch if it is caring for tads.

    But, don't take my word on the subject since I'm relatively new to thumbnails. There are many thumbnails specialists who know a whole lot more than I do.

    Good luck.
    I used to think that I had to understand in order to believe, then I realized that I must believe in order to understand - Augustine

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