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

Serving the Dart Frog Community Since 2004...

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Frogs hiding -when to worry ?
#1
Tried to do a search for this but haven't had much luck. I put my three byh tinc froglets in their new viv last week and they seem to be doing well, nice and fat. I realized I was probably overfeeding them when I saw a decent amount of uneaten fruit flies so I put a piece of banana in to attract them to one area for the guys. Their tank is also loaded with sprintails as evidenced by the insane jumping of white tiny things when the leaf litter gets disturbed so I'm betting they are eating those too...

My concern is I don't always see all three of them everyday. Now I think this may have to do with my over feeding and they are young and still skitish. The little fatties get all the fruit flies they can stuff themselves with everyday dumped in front of their noses and they have no reason to come out and explore. I'm hoping cutting back on food will encourage more hunting/foraging behavior. But I still don't see all three of them everyday, I see at least one of them a day though and I can tell them apart by back marking so I know who I am looking at. My question is how long do you wait before you go poking around to find one that hasn't show his little froggy face? I don't want to spaz them out by poking through their tank every other day trying to do a head count but I also don't want a sick/hungry frog to escape my notice...and as little as these guys are I worry they will go down hill fast if something does go wrong.
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#2
Month or more....

Sometimes it takes a month or even longer for some frogs to become acclimated and feel secure.

Can you post a pic of the enclosure ? Pics would allow us to make recommendations and comments.

I would resist the urge to poke around. I remember my first frogs - auratus many years ago and freaking out when I didn't see them. We all go thru it.
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"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana".
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#3
I have 3 Auratus el copes that I got about 3 weeks ago. They were all hopping around for the first week or so, then started to "disappear". Two of them seem to spend most of their time sitting up at the top of their tank in a dark little corner. I was very worried about them too and started to panic a bit. However, last week I found a clutch of 7 eggs under one of the cocohuts, so looks like they're happier than I thought they were! I'm new to this too, but would suggest that so long as you see them each eating at least every other day or so, give them time and see what happens. I understand the worry though! We just want our frogs to be happy and healthy!
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#4
It may see counter intuitive, but the MORE hiding places -leaf litter especially along with heavy plantings = the more you will actually see the frogs !

When they have a lot of places to hide, they actually feel more secure and come out more. If your viv is a little on the 'bare' side...try it.
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"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana".
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#5
Hey all,

Thanks for the responses. Sorry it took me a bit to get back to you. My viv is posted under the member vivs section of the forum but i'll throw up a picture of mine on here anyway. Philsuma you are probably right it was just weird that when I first put them in there they were all out and visible and after about a week they sort of went into hiding, but they may just be hunting under the leaf litter and that's why I don't see them. I still see one or two of them everyday so until I don't see one for a couple weeks at a time I will not worry and retrain myself from poking at them lol. There is a cocohut and a heavy layer of leaf litter in the viv and a decent amount of plants. I'm hesitant of planting more as I wanted to make sure they had enough ground space to move around when they where larger and I know the plants will fill in.
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#6
isn't that the same tank you had for the BYH? If so what happened to them? Outside of the leaf litter there isn't much hiding spots. a couple of large leaf vining plants (not pothos) will create a canopy for the frogs to hang under

And this is just me but I never put frogs in a tank that once housed other frogs. I strip it down, throw everything out, bleach it, and start over
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#7
That viv is bare....not as in 'bad'....just, new and not grown-in. That's the reason that you don't see them now. They have found some hiding spots and are now reluctant to frequently emerge when they suspect someone is near the viv.

Not at all a problem though, so relax ! It's just going to take quite a bit of time for the plantings to grow in and the frogs to acclimate and get used to a human presence. No biggie. Could take quite a few weeks or even months so be prepared.

I Never worry about 'over planting'....that's what shears are for !
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"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana".
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#8
Froglets should acclimate quickly (a month is quickly) but like Phil said, sometimes it just takes much longer. There are a lot of factors and sometimes it's just hard to figure out why. I have some pepperi that I got as froglets and the only reason I knew there were any frogs in there was because I still kept seeing poop. Then one day, about a year into it, the whole dynamic flipped overnight and now I can always spot a couple of them sitting out in the open.

So don't panic, occasionally it takes many months. At only one week in, I would still expect them to be in "head for higher ground" mode and hiding in the upper corners of the tanks.

Just FYI, this holds true with froglets, but IME even more so with adults. I had a trio of leucs that were crazy-bold and crazy-prolific. I finally moved them to what I thought was an optimum setup. By then they were well into adulthood. They stopped producing and completely disappeared. Only now (two years later) are they beginning to produce tadpoles and come out for feedings.
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#9
thanks for the replies, the tank does need to do some growing in as far as plants go so I won't worry about them, although if you all don't think it will be over planted I will add some pothos to it. I do like those.

Jeffr,

This is the viv for the byh tincs and they are the ones currently in hiding. Like I said though I see at least one every day out hunting so I know they are coming out. I see Two-Spot the most, probably my boldest of the trio. He/she will actually come towards me if I come up to the tank. It's hit or miss if I see the other two (Ratchet and 26) on any given day. They have gotten noticeably bigger though so I know they are eating and growing Smile

EDIT: okay you said not pothos? what is wrong with pothos?
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#10
sorry about that. I read the Auratus post thinking it was you.
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#11
no problem! I'm very attached to my little guys
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#12
Pothos is ok to use.... especially in a pinch, for temp tanks or when you are new. There's nothing bad about pothos. It's viewed as a very common plant and it's from the side of the world opposite of where dart frogs live but hey...I've used it before.
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"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana".
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#13
yay! After three weeks of absence I was walking through my kitchen and happened to glance in the tank. Who should I see but my little fellow 26 perching on a leaf happy as can be. He looks fine so I guess he really was just hiding and only coming out when I wasn't looking. I know you guys said not to worry but I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when I saw him/her out and about. I put an order in for more plants. Several species of vines, a begonia of some sort, and an earthstar because I really liked them. They should be in soon. How should I plant them? Should I just lay them on the leaf litter and let them root themselves or dig a hole for them? Thanks guys!
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#14
The earth starts are no problem -you can lay them on the substrate, easy. The begs, you are going to have to decide a place that's appropriate - no too wet and then just use a shallow hole.
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"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana".
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#15
Thanks Philsuma, I'll do that, hopefully I can find a dry enough spot for the begonia, I ordered from black jungle and picked from their category for dart frog terrariums so hopefully it likes it a little damp at least. Here's hoping my little guys will come out more with more plants being in there!
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