Caught some Poison Dart Frogs - Hawaii

[Modest_Man]

Howdy, today I caught two Dendrobates auratus outside on my patio, and am thinking of trying to house them long term. For today, they are in a 5 gallon bucket with a shallow bowl of water, and deitrus and plants from the yard. I saw plenty of ants in the dirt when I was scooping it up, so they won't starve tonight. I have them on the back deck, out of direct sunlight.

Couple questions.

I live in Hawaii, and the frogs were introduced here and do fine in the "wild".

What would a good number of frogs me for a group? Are males aggressive toward the female, or vice versa?

What size enclosure should I make for said group? It's going to made of mesh and 1x1's I believe...

Keeping the cage outside would not be an issue, would it? As that is where I caught them...

Plants and soil. Is it an issue to use the tropical plants found outside along with the dirt and detritus? We don't spray for pesticides or anything...and it is where they came from (we have a jungle in the backyard...)

How about hydration? Misting? shallow bowl? Damp moss?

Feeding-pinhead crickets (fortified, of course), insects caught around the house, mainly, ants?


I'm not a TOTAL idiot as I've worked in a pet store for a year and have kept "generic" frogs in WA before. But seeing as this is my first time with poison dart frogs, I'd like to do it right.

Some pics~


What is that outside?


Holy cow, a poison dart frog! Don't hop away!


Gotcha suckah. All those fish nets around the house finally came in handy...


My makeshift terrarium


Have fun widdle buddy.


I don't think he likes it. :angry:

Thanks, Jamie

[nhbirdsnest]

Jamie,

Caught them outdoors on your patio??? :o You're posting this just to upset all us folks who see nothing but chilly birds outdoors for half of the year aren't you? :x haha joking, some of us are obviously going to be jealous that you can find dart frogs hoping around your gardens.

The answers to almost every question you ask are here already. I would recommend searching the forum site or browsing around. I'm sure folks would be happy to answer here again but you'll find answers to these and many other questions have already been covered. I've certainly learned a wealth of information since I found this site. If I knew about this site before I started I may have done things a little different, but sounds like you are off and running just from a walk in the garden!

Daryl

[Travisf50]

I hate you for finding them outside, I hate you for living in Hawaii, and I hate you for being able to surf when you want.

[Max Power]

You are one lucky guy, must be nice to find that in your back yard!

As for the surfing... I can go surfing anytime too, but I have to wear a winter suit... which is no fun (originally from halifax canada). Keep rubbin it in :lol:

[Avarax]

hey I am visiting Oahu next week any chance you'd let me come over and catch a few of my own? Might be willing to pay for the privilege or maybe share lunch and talk frog talk?

[Philsuma]

Cool....just found this thread, just now....

Dusted it off. I remember talking with Jamie quite a bit on the other forum.