Help!

[Pandapu]

This morning I checked I checked on my Auratus and my leucomelas and they appeared fine. I went back to check and my Auratus was upside down not moving with the leucomelas standing infront of him. I nudged the Auratus but he had no movement, holding him in my hand I noticed he was breathing but not much. I placed him in a quarantine container with moss and heavily moistened it. He still has no signs of movement and I can't tell if he's breathing or not. I've had them both for a month and the aurautus is smaller then the leuc. Anything I can do to bring him back? I'm not sure what happend my guess is that they fought. I dnt know what sex they are I got them as froglets. Please help. I dont want to loose this little guy.

[Paul Rust]

The likely cause of your D.auratus having this problem is stress. Poison Dart Frogs are notoriously territorial and can stress tankmates to the point of death. Keep the auratus by itself and see if it comes around and don't mix species again. Without knowing the exact conditions in the enclosure such as temp, humidity, furnishings, supplements and all the other details we need to know, I'm afraid that this is the best I can do for now. Good luck with the poor little guy.

[Pandapu]

I was told it was fine to house these two together. I also told the breeder I bought them from they would be housed together and he didn't mention it was a bad idea. Thank u for ur help. I keep the temp at 75 to 77 during day and 69 to 72 at night. I have them in a sweaterbox with sphagnum moss a coco hut and leafs. I was going to move them to 10 gallon tank which has been set up and running for over 2 months now. I did my research I have started culturing my own fruit flys and I use reptical mineral suppliments and flunkers calcium powder. To dust the flys.

[Paul Rust]

Yeah, about that. I've been dealing with Dart breeders for a very long time. Most will not tell you anything unless you ask directly, and then I would be skeptical. I doubt that very many people that have experience with Darts would tell you to house different species together. The rest of the setup sounds fine.

[rcteem]

I was told it was fine to house these two together. I also told the breeder I bought them from they would be housed together and he didn't mention it was a bad idea. Thank u for ur help. I keep the temp at 75 to 77 during day and 69 to 72 at night. I have them in a sweaterbox with sphagnum moss a coco hut and leafs. I was going to move them to 10 gallon tank which has been set up and running for over 2 months now. I did my research I have started culturing my own fruit flys and I use reptical mineral suppliments and flunkers calcium powder. To dust the flys.

wow...this is really sad he told you that...Im sorry to hear that your auratus together with the leuc. I would never recommend mixing darts and definately two different sizes. Always house darts close to the same size to avoid agressive behavor as a safe rule. definately need more space as well....given rule is 10 gallons per dart though some will argue that. The more room the better

[Paul Rust]

given rule is 10 gallons per dart though some will argue that. The more room the better

I agree completely!!! Thanks for mentioning this Chris.

Also, if you have more than one sharing an enclosure it is a good idea to use lots of plants, logs, coco huts and other physical barriers to break up the line of sight across the enclosure. This helps them find hidden places and less likely to be intimidated by a more agressive frog.

[JBear]

Did the Auratus recover??? Best of luck!

JBear

[Pandapu]

wow...this is really sad he told you that...Im sorry to hear that your auratus together with the leuc. I would never recommend mixing darts and definately two different sizes. Always house darts close to the same size to avoid agressive behavor as a safe rule. definately need more space as well....given rule is 10 gallons per dart though some will argue that. The more room the better

Most of the info that I received was obtained from saurian enterprises. On his frog dirscriptions it was stated that both Auratus and leuc do well with other spieces or darts. I am a beginner and these are my first darts so I wanted to start out small, and most of what I read said 5 gal per dart was fine. I'd say my main flaw was keeping them in the sweater box together. Would it be okay to mix if I had a larger tank? Say 20 gal instead of the 10? The 10 gal I have set up now is heavily planted with 3 coco huts. I plan on buying a large juvenile leuc to place with the leuc I already have in the 10 gal.
And I am sad to say that my Auratus did not make it

[rcteem]

Most of the info that I received was obtained from saurian enterprises. On his frog dirscriptions it was stated that both Auratus and leuc do well with other spieces or darts. I am a beginner and these are my first darts so I wanted to start out small, and most of what I read said 5 gal per dart was fine. I'd say my main flaw was keeping them in the sweater box together. Would it be okay to mix if I had a larger tank? Say 20 gal instead of the 10? The 10 gal I have set up now is heavily planted with 3 coco huts. I plan on buying a large juvenile leuc to place with the leuc I already have in the 10 gal.
And I am sad to say that my Auratus did not make it

I really hate to hear that he didnt make it and you got bad info from the start. Darts should never be mixed!!! There are a lot of reasons why not to but accidental hybrids is the main reason. The 5 gallon rule used to be the old rule but has now been replaced. Auratus can be stressed very easily and I try to give my frogs as much space as possible.

Here is a quote about mixing that I like by nathan on DB
"As keepers of these magnificent creatures of the wild it is our responsibility to maintain them in habitats that are as close to nature as we can provide.... They have evolved over millions of years to live in their little niches of the world. Why would you want to force, and I say force because they have no choice, them to live together in captivity?"

I hope this helps and feel free to pm me if you have more questions or keep posting here

[Pandapu]

Thanks for all the info guys I really appreciate it. These frogs really are amazing that's why I made the venture into this hobby. Thanks for your help. When budgets permit I will get a larger enclosure.

[rcteem]

Can we get an update on this? How are they doing?

[Pandapu]

the original auratus unfortunatly didnt make it...
the luec is doing awesome he is healthy and great. i got a second luec and i have both in a 30 gal tank.