Poison Dart Frogs

[ArowanaLover]

Setting up a 30 gallon vivarium soon. I was just wondering if anyone else here had any experience and advice for me. For anyone who does not know, PDF's are not poisonous in captivity, they get their poison from the insects in their diet. BTW a fun fact: there are 175+ species of poison dart frog, but only 4 were ever used for making actual darts.

 

[MandaExotics]

What species are you thinking of?

Dendrobates are pretty cool, I just don't own any

 

[ArowanaLover]

dendrobates tinctorius, i've heard these are a great starter (also a LOT cheaper, i can get 3 for $50, or one expensive one for $250). I was hopping to eventually breed them, though i won't be selling them because these will probably be a mix of a few color morphs of DTs.

 

[Chihuahua]

I have always admired poison dart frogs! They're so beautiful.

 

[MandaExotics]

dendrobates tinctorius, i've heard these are a great starter (also a LOT cheaper, i can get 3 for $50, or one expensive one for $250). I was hopping to eventually breed them, though i won't be selling them because these will probably be a mix of a few color morphs of DTs.

Very true regarding price. Usually in very humid enclosures with insectivores I like to add springtails. They're cheap, breed easy, and help with possible mold issues. Depending on the size of your dart frogs they may eat some of them as well.

 

[ArowanaLover]

Thanks, i will probably add those. I was thinking about putting a Nepenthes in with them (perhaps N. Alata). This will be pretty humid. I think these froggies will be a bit too big to eat them (when i get them they are 4 months old). Isn't it a shame about the price, i really like the strawberry darts, but they are WAY out of my price range.

 

[MandaExotics]

Thanks, i will probably add those. I was thinking about putting a Nepenthes in with them (perhaps N. Alata). This will be pretty humid. I think these froggies will be a bit too big to eat them (when i get them they are 4 months old). Isn't it a shame about the price, i really like the strawberry darts, but they are WAY out of my price range.

That's usually how it goes as far as price range and animals, the prettiest and coolest are the priciest. I've never kept Nepenthes but when I had anoles I kept bromeliads in with them a lot.

Maybe think about adding some moss as well? That is, if you're going for a tank you can present.

 

[Chihuahua]

neps are known to eat frogs in the wild so i would be careful, they can grow quite large

 

[ArowanaLover]

Yeah, i used to have a ton of carnivorous plants. Some stupid disease killed them all within a week, Nepenthes, sundews, flytraps, pitchers, and all. It really stunk but i really enjoyed keeping them and think i could be a lot more successful now that im more experienced. Yeah, i was thinking Java moss.

 

[AzaleaMist]

My husband was looking into getting me some darts and was advised against it and was told they we e hard to keep and feed? I have not researched them at all becuas people I really didn't think he would go it besides I didn't mean I wanted them now when we are in the middle a project with the birds. He was trying to be nice because I lost my grey tree frogs and have an empty vivarium. I am curious about them though even though that is not in my plans for my empty vivarium.

 

[Tyrion]

Make sure you do your research as they are very hard to keep ..I have several friends that have tried but due to our cold weather here they had to keep them in a warm room and lost several before they got the husbandry down

 

[AzaleaMist]

Good to know. Thanks. I'm not ready to try them and I will probably replace my grays or get a couple whites tree frogs or set up a vivarium for both. I was also thinking a pacman at some point. We will see. I'm not planning on buying more vivarium set ups til I have the bird room finished however my empty vivarium is sad. It was a real bummer losing my three grays. I could have returned them for replacements but my kids buried them. The closest frog breeder I have found is two hours away. If he has a type I'm interested in when I'm ready we may go that route instead of the LPS since the grays passed away. I thought the grays were adorable but I'm pretty interested in the whites three frog also.

 

[GCChris]

I've always wanted them but the feeding requirements turn me off. You have to culture (breed, raise) fruit flies, springtails, and other micro-bugs to feed them, and they need large amounts of live bugs each day.

 

[AzaleaMist]

Yeah, that is too much work. They sure are pretty though.

 

[Tyrion]

Good to know. Thanks. I'm not ready to try them and I will probably replace my grays or get a couple whites tree frogs or set up a vivarium for both. I was also thinking a pacman at some point. We will see. I'm not planning on buying more vivarium set ups til I have the bird room finished however my empty vivarium is sad. It was a real bummer losing my three grays. I could have returned them for replacements but my kids buried them. The closest frog breeder I have found is two hours away. If he has a type I'm interested in when I'm ready we may go that route instead of the LPS since the grays passed away. I thought the grays were adorable but I'm pretty interested in the whites three frog also.

I had Whites for about 10 yrs the biggest thing with them is they are escape artiest so make sure your cage is very secure ..I found mine on the wall of my reptile room more then once

 

[GCChris]

Fire-bellied toads are probably the easiest, most-fun pet frogs. They sing, swim, hop - all the stuff frogs are 'supposed to do' . I miss mine. They made a sweet trilling noise every night. But I don't miss live crickets!

 

[MandaExotics]

Fire-bellied toads are probably the easiest, most-fun pet frogs. They sing, swim, hop - all the stuff frogs are 'supposed to do' . I miss mine. They made a sweet trilling noise every night. But I don't miss live crickets!

Breeding crickets is not challenging but it's not fun. Culturing springtails is easy and requires very little work. I think breeding roaches is easier than crickets as well. It's been my experience that roaches are friendlier towards one another as a colony and less likely to cannabalize than crickets. And many roaches simply smell better. I've never bred fruit flies so I don't have experience there.