Mantellas

[tjtreefrog]

I see a lot of people talking about dart frogs, but not many people discussing mantellas. I've been interested in getting some for a while, partially because they seem to be less expensive than darts and partially because so few people seem to be working with them. How similar is their care to that of darts?

Thanks,
Thomas

[tgampper]

Mantellas are really cool frogs! I have not kept them personally, but cared for hundreds of them at the local zoo I worked at. We were breeding them for our Madagascar exhibit. Although, you would probably want to keep them in a nicely decorated vivarium, at the zoo they were kept in very simple plastic containers with a pile of moss, a bark hiding area and a small pool of water. We fed them pinhead crickets and fruit flies on alternating days (dusted with calcium and minerals). They thrived very well in such spartan enclosures. Check out this web site for info:

Marc Staniszewski's Mantella FAQ

Marc also wrote a great book on Mantellas, and a must for any keeper!

[tjtreefrog]

Thanks Terry, I'll have to find that book. I like things that thrive in spartan enclosures, that means it's harder for me to mess it up. If they are pretty hardy, I'm going to have to give them a try. I see the Painted Mantella (Mantella baroni) for sale at $20 all the time. Darts get so expensive, I can't spend $60-$120 a frog, plus whatever shipping is because here in southwest Missouri, nobody sells darts or mantellas.