Dart Den
Serving the Dart Frog Community Since 2004...
Dart Den

Serving the Dart Frog Community Since 2004...

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Hello :) (Just an introduction)
#1
Hi everyone Smile Figured the Newbie area would be best to just post on and say hello and introduce myself.
I am a current college student up in Boston, MA I'm majoring in Electronics Engineering and have loved reptiles since I was little Smile
As per my sig you can see that I own a number of animals (some at my house in NY and others with me at my apt. in Boston) so it's pretty muchly a zoo here but I love them all!

I have attended a few NY and NH reptile expos in the past years and have always loved looking at the unique vivariums and the frogs themselves that were on display (usually from www.blackjungle.com). I was under the impression that they were VERY difficult to care for, but upon doing some research found that they are for the "average" hobbiest and not just an expert. I am currently doing some research into possibly starting a vivarium and then seeing how that goes then purchasing one or 2 frogs....

I have a couple basic questions that I could not find a definate answer on the web (also does someone know of any basic caresheets on specific species of frog?):

-can you mix species within the same viv? ie. one of one species and one of another? assuming they are both male would they fight? I was amazed to hear that you should not keep 2 females but can keep 2 males in a tank! (Exact opposite of ALL the reptile species I own! lol)

- are there specific needs per each subclass of dart frog species? ie. does the Tinctorus have a different humidity/temp needs than a Epipedobates tricolor?

- i saw that they should have a varied diet some of which to include was fruit flies, small crickets, and wax worms, i know from experience that some reptiles can get addicted to wax worms and it is not good for them b/c it is mostly fat... should they be fed wax worms at all? also, could i feed them small mealworms, silk worms, phoenix worms, and or butterworms?

Sorry for the long post, any help would be greatly appreciated Smile
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#2
I'm pretty new to dart frogs too, but here's some info that I've learned since I've been researching. I'm sure some of the more experienced people will chime in with more info too.

Dart frogs can eat quite a few small insects, but fruit flies are the food of choice mostly because they are simple to culture, powder, and feed. Every 2-3 weeks you can just make up a new culture and dump in 50-100 Fruit flies from your current culture, and they will begin producing more flies. Other foods they can eat are pinhead crickets, springtails, termites, rice flour beetles, phoenix worms, small spiders, and quite a few other small insects.

Mixing the species is generally a bad idea until you are very experienced with dart frogs and even then it's risky. Mixed tanks are susceptible to more diseases and there's a high possibility of stressing the animals out, which can and does lead to deaths. Another problem with mixing species is they may breed and creating hybrids is usually frowned upon, even more so if you wish to sell/trade the froglets as everyone seems to want "pedigrees".

Generally, these frogs like 80-100% humidity and temps inbetween 70-80F degrees. Most of them are pretty durable, so 65 or 85 won't harm them, but they do best in the 70-80 range.
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#3
Thanks for the info, thats what I thought about housing seperate species, I would have gotten 2 males so they wouldnt mate, but its fine to get just one Smile When/if I do they them I dont want to mate them, i would just like to have one or 2 in the "medium" exo-terra tank.... would this be big enough for 2 males of the same species, or just one? I have not found specific space requirements for pdfs.....
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#4
Most people agree that each dart frog needs atleast 5 gallons of space. I don't know the dimensions of the medium exo-terra. Also, depending on the species of dart frog, you might be able to put 2 males together. Most species have problems with females fighting, not so much with the males.
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#5
lol i know, its very odd... b/c with literally every other one of my herps you CANNOT put 2 males in a tank together.... lol. This is going to take some getting used to... lol
But hey... i see u live in CT and I was wondering if there were any places besides blackforest (in Western MA) where I could drive to to get a pdf? I know the shows are coming up soon so I think I will wait until then but any suggestions on a place to go to just to see how everything is set up and talk to someone knowledgable?

I plan on going to the NY reptile show in july.. maybe a trip out to blackforest before then to get everything or I will just orderonline seeing as gas is SO expensive! lol

heres the link for anyone interested:
http://www.reptileexpo.com/ny_main.htm
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#6
StikyPaws312 Wrote:lol i know, its very odd... b/c with literally every other one of my herps you CANNOT put 2 males in a tank together.... lol. This is going to take some getting used to... lol
But hey... i see u live in CT and I was wondering if there were any places besides blackforest (in Western MA) where I could drive to to get a pdf? I know the shows are coming up soon so I think I will wait until then but any suggestions on a place to go to just to see how everything is set up and talk to someone knowledgable?

I plan on going to the NY reptile show in july.. maybe a trip out to blackforest before then to get everything or I will just orderonline seeing as gas is SO expensive! lol

heres the link for anyone interested:
http://www.reptileexpo.com/ny_main.htm


Blackforest? U mean blackjungle, right?
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#7
There are some situations where males will not get along, for example pumilio, some tincs.

I wouldn't be too concerned about breeding if you should end up with a pair. If they should lay, unless you have an adequate water source, there is no place to deposit the tadpoles.

Mixing species is not recommend for reasons that have been mentioned.
Leucomelas, auratus, galactonotus, truncatus, most of the phyllobates, are all morphs that will do well in groups, and are easily maintained by novice keepers.

Most keepers primarily feed their frogs on fruit flys, and will supplement with other food items when available such as, termites, wax worms, aphids, silkworms. You want to be careful about feeding crickets, they can cause problems. Meal worms have a hard ecto-skeleton and the frogs will not accept them. If you choose to supplement their basic diet with some of the other items, be sure they are appropriate size, if they are too large, the frogs will have no interest in them. It would be better to offer a food item that is too small rather than too large, afterall, these frogs will sit there and pick at fruit flys and springtails. Hard to get much smaller than that!
Be sure you are using a good quality calcium and multivitamin.

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#8
Black Jungle seems to be the largest in the area, I agree with you though. I've been biding my time waiting for a good time to make the haul up there. I'm going to the NY Reptile Show in July too. I'm setting up vivs now so that when I pick up some frogs at the show they'll have a home all set up and waiting for them after they get out of quarantine.
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#9
Jesse Wrote:Blackforest? U mean blackjungle, right?

lol yes, i knew that "Sounded" wrong when i was writing it! woops, lol.

Other than that.... thanx for the info on not feeding them mealies, I can easily get tiny crickets and flightless fruit flies as well as small butterworms and silkies (do you think they will eat Phoenix worms? My hatchling leo's and all my cresties LOVE them). And I have PLENTY of the correct supplements, lol, i tend to stock up when they go on sale.... Smile

I think I will take a trip to black jungle next weekend, or even this weekend... the weather is crappy tho!! (This rain needs to go away!) I might just go next weekend because I definitely need to do more research on exactly what I want... before I start to order viv supplies online. Oh yeah... and convince my bf I can fit another tank in the reptile room... lol


And another question.... the frog that is my favorite is the Dendrobates Azureus, its the frog that I have always wanted... but... I had read that these are not one of the suggested "beginner" frogs.... is there a specific reason? Are they more susceptible to disease? Do they hide all the time?

I would love any of the tincs, would anyone suggest a "starter" morph of tinc if I can't / don't decide to get the azureus?
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#10
I think Azureus are fine for a first dart. Its what drew me and quite alot of other people to this species of frog too. In my opinion, people generally don't recommend them because they aren't very friendly. Most of them are bold and will stay in plain view, but they aren't social, even with their own kind. Most beginners want to put many frogs in a small enclosure and some species can handle it, but this definitely isn't one of them. Two Azureus can fit in a 10gallon tank, but they'd be much happier in a 20gallon tank, whereas for example, you could comfortably fit four Leucs in that same 20gallon tank.
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#11
would azureus do better in a more arboreal (tall) tank or a terrestrial (reg. or wide) tank?

And I almost forgot to ask the biggest and most perplexing question.. how on earth do you clean out the tanks?!?!
When it comes to my other reptiles I spot clean throughout the month and on a sunday I take all the tanks and totally clean them out, taking everything out and washing them with novilisan (dont remember if thats how u spell it...) as well as all the tank furniture and such. And of course cleaning out all the water bowls once every other day. But this is all easily done because I dont have any potted plants, soil, sand, etc, its is all papertowel and tiles....

So my question is how/how often do you actually need to clean the vivariums? how is this accomplished and how do you not kill the plants and upset/stress out the frogs?
Has anyone ever had a problem with mold?
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#12
StickyPaws,
azureus are more of a terrestrial species.

If your vivarium is set up correctly in the beginning, you should not need to do a total "tear down" cleaning. Depending on the number of frogs and the size of the enclosure, you will probably need to throughly rinse the tank once a week or so. This can be done with a hand sprayer, basically what you want to do is rinse any matter off of the plant leaves, rocks, wood, etc. This will be rinsed into the substrate where it will be utilized by the plants as fertilizer.
You will also want to wipe the glass clean, and trim plants as neccessary. If you have any standing water in the tank, you will need to change it every couple of days or so.

Mold is a very common occurence in newly set up vivariums. It is nothing to worry about, and will eventually cycle itself out.
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