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

Serving the Dart Frog Community Since 2004...

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New member, new frogs
#1
Yo everybody, been lurking for a couple of months and figured I should finally introduce myself.
Name is matt I live in the eureka ca area and I just got my first frogs yesterday, a trio of azureus, soooooo excited.
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I built a 10g as my first viv that these guys are gunna go in. It's been growing in for about two months now an has a solid springtail population established.
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Along with these little guys I have an awesome lab boxer mutt and a few newts and a salamander.
Ill try to put up a few build pics of there tank as well as a build log for their future tank, prob a 40g I'm hopefully gunna go get at petco tomorrow..... Heard a rumor the dollar a gallon sale is starting back up, WOOHOO.
Anyway any comments or criticism is much appreciated.
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#2
Welcome to Dart Den Matt !

And...welcome to the wonderful world of dart frog keeping.

It's looks like you are off to a very good start. You have selected an excellent species, that works very well with a new hobbyist. Bold and easy to keep. Your viv looks good, and you even recognize that they will need a larger enclosure soon, as they grow larger. Very nice.

Only 2 issues that I would quickly address...well, maybe one -combined.

There is an apparent size difference, with one frog looking like it is almost 50% larger than the others. While it is good/best practice to introduce the frogs all together at a young age, you still want to keep a close eye on this size disparity. You do not want the larger frog to bully or suppress one or both -usually just one (the odd frog out, of the three). Look for signs of aggressive feeding by all three frogs and try to account for all of them moving about the viv and making sure one is not constantly hiding. A good yardstick will be if the larger one just keeps getting really big and one or both of the smaller ones, seem to grow so slowly that the size difference becomes even more disparate. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, as a larger frog will naturally grow 'larger' and 'quicker' than younger and smaller tankmates, but dominance and suppression absolutely play a role here, in growth. That is why, a small enclosure often compounds potential issues due to it's restrictive living space and the chance of multiple stressors being magnified.

That paragraph may sound scary, but really, just keep an eye out for good feeding by all three and good growth. I would also add an additional 6-8 large sized magnolia leaves in piles in a few areas. The frogs and assorted microfauna enjoy the refuge and safety between the 'pringle potato chip' stacks of leaves. This will greatly help with potential stress in the 10 gallon viv. When frogs don't see each other, the stress goes away. 'Out of sight = frog was never there" as far as a frog brain is concerned.

Great start and we look forward to your progress and hearing about your frogs.

~Phil
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"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana".
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#3
Hi Matt, welcome!
Nice looking viv and beautiful frogs! I have 4 azureus, they were one of my first frogs, and I adore them! Out of the 8 species I keep, the azureus are definitely the most bold, out and about all the time, and I sit and watch them, even open their viv and take pics, and they are not at all shy.
Good luck, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Word of warning--feed them plenty, they are really piggies!
Diane
PS: Dontcha love the dollar a gallon sales? Awesome.
PPS: I agree with Phil, you should add some leaf litter. Also a cocohut.
P. Terribilis orange, R. Imitator Cainarachi Valley, D. Leucomelas, D. Auratus, D. Azureus, P. vittatus, D. cobalts, D.Oyapok, Bombina Orientalis
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#4
Thanks guy they are awesome I can't stop watching them.... Uh oh....
I do have a bunch more leaf litter that I will add also got a couple coco huts with the frogs so those will go in too.
Phil thanks for the heads up on the size difference, that absolutely makes sense and I will keep a close eye on all three of them. I can say they were all gobbling down flys this morning (which is super fun to watch....)
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#5
Got all three of them in their viv and they all seem pretty stoked
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Everybody seems to have their own hiding spots picked out, but they all come out to eat when I drop flies in and I will usually see a different one out hunting for springtails most times I walk by the tank. Got more leaf litter and I put some nut pods in as hides.[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
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#6
Wow that's impressive. You really did your homework and have some nice results to show! Is there other members around your area for you to chill and talk frogs with? Did you end up picking up a 40 to start new construction?
Josh
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#7
Thanks a lot jay I did put in quite a bit of time studying up for this thing, I haven't come across any local frogger other than one of the guys at the lps that has a few darts. I did grab a 40g at petco the other day that I am going to start planning out as soon as I finish a 25g I'm building for some newts. I'll post some pics as soon as I get started on it.
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#8
Followgravity Wrote:Thanks a lot jay I did put in quite a bit of time studying up for this thing, I haven't come across any local frogger other than one of the guys at the lps that has a few darts. I did grab a 40g at petco the other day that I am going to start planning out as soon as I finish a 25g I'm building for some newts. I'll post some pics as soon as I get started on it.

If you are planning to move them from the current viv, now would be an absolute great time to get fecals and have your frogs tested , before you put them into the next nice new tank and potentially contaminate it.
Quarantine is very, very important . I often wonder why few people point it out when new comers post frogs being place right into a new viv without proper quarantine.
Darts with parasites are analogous to mixed tanks, there are no known benefits to the frogs with either.


If tone is more important to you than content, you are at the wrong place.

My new email address is: rich.frye@icloud.com and new phone number is 773 577 3476
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#9
Thanks for the heads up the more advice the better as far as I'm concerned :-) I had planned to get some fecals done and really only put them in the ten gallon so quick because I have better control of the temps. If the fecals come back positive I have no problem breaking this tank down and sterilizing everything after I treat the frogs.
On a side note I haven't searched it yet put if somebody could point me in the direction of a vet I could mail fecals to it would be much appreciated.
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#10
So I figured I'd put up some frog pics after the nasty bug pics I put up the other day....
All three of these little ones are getting bigger by the day it's pretty cool to watch, I can only imagine how awesome it is to watch them morph out and grow from tads.
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