Help sexing my dart frogs

[JimO]

I like those names. That's an hysterical play on words. I didn't mean to sound at all negative in my earlier posts and others are right that even the most experienced Tinc breedes out there can end up scratching their head over a specimen with a medium sized body and medium toe pads. I bought a sexed female azureus from a very experienced azureus breeder. But, when I put "her" in with a lone male, they did some serious MMA fighting. On closure inspection, the toepads on the "female" were somewhat in between. What cinched it for me is when I put him/her in with a young female, they have been getting along great ever since. She's a few months from being ready to lay, but they are inseparable and exhibit lots of breeding behaviors.

So, there are certainly no guarantees, but even if they are both males, they can co-exist peacefully if there is enough room and sufficient plant growth or strategically placed rocks to reduce the line of sight between them when they need some alone time.

Some folks have great luck with a 2.1 trio, so you might want to keep a look out for a sexed female. If yours are both males and they get along, the introduction of a female will cause far more excitement than conflict.

The frustrating thing about Tincs is that their voice is so quiet, you generally can't hear it unless you open the lid and stick your ear inside.

You might try this little trick. Get a recording of a male Patricia calling and play it into the viv. Sometimes that will get the males calling. But, concentrate more on their throats expanding rather than listening for a sound. If one or both call, then that would confirm that they are males. The converse isn't true unfortunately. If you get no calling, that doesn't help much in sexing them. I've gotten many clutches out of my azureus breeding pair (that developed into tads), so I knew I had a pair, but I've never heard the male call and only caught a glimpse of him calling once in three years.

By the way, your frogs are beautiful. Unless you have a burning desire to breed dart frogs, just enjoy them. My original female stopped laying eggs about a year ago, which is why I wanted another sexed female. So, I was able to put the new male with one of the original pair's offspring. As soon as I put the old female back in, it was like finding a long lost friend. They hang out together most of the time and even sleep in the same little cave. So, even if I never get another egg out of her, I just enjoy them.

Good luck to you.

Jim

Heh, I realise that, but everyone here is more experienced than me, so I'll go with the majority!

To be honest, if they get on fine then I'm happy. I'm attached to them now, and wouldn't be happy swapping one for a female.

I'm thinking of calling them Buddha and Pest, Buddha the fatter one and Pest the active one that seems to climb up on the walls to poo :|
I realise that the spelling is wrong, but it seems to suit them