Is a Dart Frog Right for Me?

[MarshallsMom]

Last week, during an unfortnuate series of freak, unrelated events, I lost both my White's tree frogs and my Uromastyx.
I am thinking about not replacing them, and starting with dart frogs instead.

I have had ACFs, FBTs, and White's Tree Frogs. Do I have enough experience to dart frog?
I got rid of the White's tanks and the Uro tank, but I have two spare 10 gallons I found in my basement. Could I house a/some darts comfortably there?
What are habitat requirements?
What do they eat?
Temperature requirements?
How long do they live?

Thanks so much!
Hannah

[bshmerlie]

What happened to Petunia? You got him at the end of July right? He looked like he was doing well.

[Ebony]

Im so sorry Hannah.

[JimO]

As long as you don't start out with a very difficult species, then you have plenty of experience to keep dart frogs. In some ways, dart frogs are easier to keep than other reptiles and amphibians as long as you don't mind culturing fruit flies and you can keep the vivarium temperature between about 70F and 76F. People without AC have the most difficult time, because there are plenty of ways to heat an enclosure when the surroundings are cold, but few (and expensive) ways to cool it. To me, that's the biggest limitation.

I'd recommend starting with one of the many Dendrobates tinctorius morphs, which includes the Blue dart frog D. tinctorius azureus (they used to be classified as a separate species but have been found to be a Tinc morph). My avatar is a picture of my oldest pair of azureus.

I have to run for the moment, but there are many step-by-step instructions for everything from setting up the viv, to breeding and raising tadpoles. Black Jungle put together a video series covering all you need to know to care for the frogs and breed them. They can be found on eHow.com. There are many viv designs for darts, from simple to very complex.

You can also read John's Imitating Dart Frog Care article (link in the column to the left) to get an idea regarding care of smaller (thumbnail) species.

[MarshallsMom]

Thank you guys for your condolences. It's been a bad week.

Jim,
Can they eat anything other than fruit flies? How many could live in a ten?

[JimO]

The larger species can eat very small meal worms and true pinhead crickets. They prefer small prey. But flightless (bred with a flight defect) fruit flies are the mainstay of the dart frog's diet. They love termites too, but it's like candy and should only be fed those a couple times a month in any quantity. Termites are high in fat and can make them chubby, but they are a good treat and give them some variety.

Smaller species, especially their froglets need tiny food - mostly one of the very prolific species of springtails. They are cultured as well, but it's easy. Josh's Frogs has a great video on making a springtail culture http://www.joshsfrogs.com/product/51...mbella-culture. You only have to stick a couple of mushroom caps or fish food in there every week or so to keep 'em producing.

Fruit fly cultures are pretty simple to set up and with a couple of frogs, you'd only have to start one every 10 days to 2 weeks. It's a lot easier than those bread yeast cultures (aka: Amish bread, friendship bread, sour dough, etc.) that people pass around.

A 10-gallon is a bit small for a pair of the larger species, which are mostly ground dwellers and need more floor space. However, if you orient it vertically (there are kits available at Jungle Box called vert conversion kits http://www.junglebox.net/category/VIV.html), it's perfect for a pair of thumbnails. John's care sheet refers to an awesome step-by-step instruction sheet on making a 10-gal vertical tank. In fact, the R. imitator that is the subject of his care sheet is a pretty easy thumbnail and, unless you are serious about breeding frogs, it's a pretty easy frog to care for (it's a little more tricky caring for their tadpoles).

If you want to have a pair of Tincs, D. Leucomelas (bumble bee dart frog), or D. auratus (green & black dart frog - plus many other morphs), I'd recommend at least a 20 gallon. Petco has a sale for aquariums at $1 per gallon (in fact tomorrow is the last day), so you could get a 20-gal for $20. I house most of my larger breeding pairs in a 29-gal.

I hope this helps.

Jim

Thank you guys for your condolences. It's been a bad week.

Jim,
Can they eat anything other than fruit flies? How many could live in a ten?