The Basic & Advanced Husbandry of Mantella Species - By Joshua Ralph

[DigitalPunk]

Josh,

I would like to get a discussion going around prepping a group to breed. When is the right time, what are the best practices, caring for eggs, raising tadpoles, raising froglets, and when froglets are ready to be sold or traded.


As I have said before I have a small (5) group of Ebenaui (thanks for the proper id!!!) and originally purchased them with the hopes of breeding them in captivity and start trying to develope a strong healthy line of CB Mantella in the US. I do plan to add more species to my collection as time and availability permit.

Thanks

Paul

[MantellaGuy]

I would like to get a discussion going around prepping a group to breed. When is the right time, what are the best practices, caring for eggs, raising tadpoles, raising froglets, and when froglets are ready to be sold or traded.

As I have said before I have a small (5) group of Ebenaui (thanks for the proper id!!!) and originally purchased them with the hopes of breeding them in captivity and start trying to develope a strong healthy line of CB Mantella in the US. I do plan to add more species to my collection as time and availability permit.

Thanks

Paul

Well Paul, I breed annually around about the same time every year, from March till around about the middle of September, after which I slowly start to ease off the main triggers for breeding including Feeding and Precipitation.
Unfortunately, there is no set method of breeding the members of the genus and will require slight differences in regards to temperature, preciptation and dietary in take. The way I do this in regards to the Brown Mantella group species (M.ebenaui and M.betsileo) is like so;

WARNING
Please ensure that all individuals are fully prepared for this preparation, as this can be stressful for the animals
(I add this to everything I advise people, as it is an incredibly risky process.)

Humidifying – Winter (Mid/Late October/November - Late Janurary/February time).
In regards to what the humidity should remain at, the optimum amount should be about 70-75% which should be provided in the form of a light spray every other day (once on the spray days. This will provide the required triggers to mimic the build up to their summer period of plentiful precipitation, and the spraying that is provided, of course, prevents the specimens from drying out completely.

Temperature – Winter (Mid/Late October/November - Late January/February time).
In regards to temperature, 18˚C - 21˚C is thought to be the best and highly recommended temperature requirements for the species; however it can rise to approximately 22˚C during their winter period.

Feeding – Winter (Mid/Late October/November - Late Janurary/February time).
The dietary schedule should be altered completely for this breeding preparation, to mimic the lack of food that would be available for the individuals during their “rest” period. Lower not only the quantity you feed them but also how often you feed them, which can be twice a week if needed. (Please heed warning above, do not attempt this if the specimens are not fully prepared prior.)
Feeding can be provided, 3 times a week at the beginning of the process (Late September) and towards November I get to about 2 times with the one off 3rd feeding. When it gets to late December time I normally get them down to 2 feedings only carry this on till the end of January then slowly build up again.

When the time is right, you can slowly bring an end to the winter period and start to build an increase in all the previously lowered habitat stimuli.

Humidifying – Summer.
In regards to what the humidity should remain at and built up to, the optimum amount should be about 80-90% which should be provided in the form of a medium/heavy spray every day for 3 times day.

Temperature – Summer.
In regards to temperature, the temperature can be slowly risen back to 22˚C - 25˚C to show the difference, yet again, in climate and season. This should be done gradually, not immediately due to the shock and stress this could provide to the individuals.

Feeding – Summer.
The dietary schedule should be altered and resumed as normal with the increased amounts of dietary items and variation, but with a gradual increase over the course of a week.

I have breed a lot using the above method for this species in particular and have about 39+ tadpoles from them in total.
When it comes to the Spawn, Tadpoles and Froglets, this is the norm for me;

Spawn.
The spawn can normally be found in secluded areas of the Terrarium and most of all, at night time in the gaps between the leaves of Dracaena plants where water collects (Like bromeliads), you can replicate this by providing camera film canisters and filling them up with a small amount of water. With my E.N.T style terrariums, spawn has been found on the gravel in the water trench, where there are mounds coming out of the water.
If you find spawn within the first few weeks and the Ovum of the egg is a Yellow colouration, then it is more than likely freshly laid. However, do not remove straight away and leave up to 3 days before removing it, due to the possibility that a male has yet to fertilise the spawn. If, after a few days (up to a week) the Ovum starts to turn a Brown/Tan colour, they have not been fertilised and must be removed immediately.

Tadpoles.
For up to 4-5 days, the Tadpoles will not need to be fed at all, and more than likely will not feed if dietary items were provided. The specimens can be housed together and normally seem to prefer being housed communally, as cannibalism is not a great threat with the species.

Water Changes.
Care must be taken to make sure Water Quality is not lowered and cleaning must be provided regularly in the form of a minor water change, every other day. Water filters can be provided, however the strong currents produced by these devices can actually cause many health problems and even fatalities, especially during the first couple of weeks after the Tadpole has hatched.



Water Temperature.
Water temperature must be controlled and monitored closely, and should remain within the 22°C to 25°C temperature mark. However, make sure that it doesn’t fluctuate too much and remains at a constant ideal temperature.

Feeding Tadpoles.
You can use such feeding products similarly used with Tropical Fish and Aquariums, such as “Tetra Pro Algae” and “Tetra Min – Baby”, which can be mixed together into a pulp and made into smaller pellets. However, other foods can be used though, such as Bloodworm, Daphnia and Shrimp pellets which can be fed every day or every other day.


Tadpole Growth Rate.
Regardless of being from the same clutch, Tadpoles can actually morph at many different rates. At about the 6-7 week mark, the first of the offspring will begin to grow their front legs and hind legs and slowly start to take their first steps out of the water. Once this begins, they should be moved over to a separate rearing enclosure that has either a very low water depth of less than a inch or perhaps a container placed on a tilt which has a water section (shallow one of less than a inch) and a land section. This will allow the individuals to choose when the time is right to finally leave the water. Please ensure that a lid is now provided for the container to prevent the offspring from escaping.

As for selling the Froglets, I normally wait till they are about 20mm in size at least, just so I know that they are well established and not going to die on their new owner

Kind regards,

Joshua

[DigitalPunk]

Excellent Thank you Joshua! I plan on putting my group through a winter cycle this year. I will follow this guide and let you know who it turns out for me.

I have also been wondering if the current tank is setup correctly or should be modified some. It is a Paludarium and has an open water feature in the front right corner of the tank. The rest is pretty standard. It is heavily planted and has a piece of driftwood that runs at an angle across the land section (under this wood is where all the mantella have dug out homes in the moss).

I have considered removing the wood and forcing them to use more of the tank to find a home, but if it is working for them I don't want to upset the tank.

I have also considered converting the tank to a traditional false bottom and eliminating the water feature all together, but my hesitation comes in from not wanting to take the whole tank apart... It is growing quite nicely.

So for now in my waffling I have all but decided to leave the tank as is for now and see how the breeding goes next year. May end of needing to change things just to make it easier to find spawn.