Poison Dart Frogs

[Kid Dragon]

Anyone into keeping poison dart frogs? I have five D. auratus. I can tell each one by their markings. They have a pecking order and their own idiosyncracies. They are becoming one of my favorite pet herps.

 

[Bry]

Hmm...

I wonder

who keeps

dart frogs

around here.

 

[YouLosePayUp]

Ohh man I would love some of those.

 

[BLS Blondi]

They are fun to have for sure, and yours are quite beautiful, I must add. As far as taking care of them...they live in tropical areas, and I am sure you know what that means. They need extreme humidity, as they are amphibious rain forest creatures. Keep them in a large container with LOTS of real plants (strongly reccomended--for humidity purposes) moist substrate, a small pool for them to hop into, and warm temperature (75-85F). Remember, they live in the tropics, so it has to be warm and humid. A cool set-up would be a 30 gallon tall tank with tons of broad leafed plants in topsoil topped with 2 inches of colored pebbles with an in-ground pool (shallow butter container). I have seen many set-ups like this and it looks very cool. Be creative..and you willbe very pleased (as well as the little critters). And of course, plenty of crickets for them to munch on. Good luck!

 

[Kid Dragon]

They are fun to have for sure, and yours are quite beautiful, I must add. As far as taking care of them...they live in tropical areas, and I am sure you know what that means. They need extreme humidity, as they are amphibious rain forest creatures. Keep them in a large container with LOTS of real plants (strongly reccomended--for humidity purposes) moist substrate, a small pool for them to hop into, and warm temperature (75-85F). Remember, they live in the tropics, so it has to be warm and humid. A cool set-up would be a 30 gallon tall tank with tons of broad leafed plants in topsoil topped with 2 inches of colored pebbles with an in-ground pool (shallow butter container). I have seen many set-ups like this and it looks very cool. Be creative..and you willbe very pleased (as well as the little critters). And of course, plenty of crickets for them to munch on. Good luck!

Pinhead crickets are a pain in the neck, and they don't stay small for very long. I have had good success with flightless fruitflies.

 

[BLS Blondi]

Whatever works, man. Frogs will eat almost anything thay can put in their mouths. Just make sure to vary the diet. Good luck with them, and keep us posted about them!

 

[Nlneff]

Termites for dart frogs

Never had dart frogs myself, but I've heard that termites are perfect food for them. If you can find them.

 

[Thoth]

You could get termites from >>here<< though they cost more than crickets

 

[Elmolax]

umm lol... any safety hazards? Are CB ones non-poisonous? (due to the lack of a cetain beetle? )

 

[Bry]

Termites are a good prey item, but not as commonly available as fruit flies and crickets. I've thought about feeding B. dubia roach nymphs, as those are roughly the size of D. hydei. I have only fed my frogs fruit flies, both D. melanogaster and D. hydei, and they've done very well with that diet. There has been some talk about raising flightless HOUSE flies, and I believe a dart breeder is also raising flightless house flies. Crickets CAN be fed to them, but they're such a pain. Crickets are the bane of man, you know.

Keep them in a large container with LOTS of real plants (strongly reccomended--for humidity purposes) moist substrate, a small pool for them to hop into, and warm temperature (75-85F). Remember, they live in the tropics, so it has to be warm and humid. A cool set-up would be a 30 gallon tall tank with tons of broad leafed plants in topsoil topped with 2 inches of colored pebbles with an in-ground pool (shallow butter container).

How large of a container are we talking, because most darts can be kept just fine in a 10 gal, with a smaller number of darts, of course. I do prefer larger tanks, as they allow more room for your imagination. Don't overdo the plants though, you don't want to crowd the tank, plus crowding it makes it harder to see the actual frogs. You fail to mention what kind of topsoil, it has to be organic since a dart's skin is permeable. Simply handling them is a risk, and can potentially kill them from the toxins or even oils in your skin. I wouldn't do the colored gravel either, as those are dyed...not something you want to risk, and besides it looks unnatural. There are no forests where neon pink and orange gravel abounds. Simple pea gravel will do, but it does get heavy fast. What I did was use non-biodegradable styrofoam panels to raise the land area, and cut it to shape. Then I'd stack it at various heights in order to create a more interesting landscape rather than a simple flat one. I used pea gravel around the styrofoam edges in order to conceal the ugly white sides from view. For a water bowl, a simple depression in the landscape deep enough to provide a pool of water for the frogs. Just keep in mind you don't want it too deep, as to avoid saturating roots. Some plants do not do well with constantly wet roots.

 

[Kid Dragon]

I don't think you need to vary the diet of the dart frogs. Breeders have had great success with fruitflies dusted with vitamins. I was using Herptivite mutivitamins for "all reptiles and amphibians, however I switched to Dendrocare "complete vitamin and mineral powder for dart frogs" on advice from an expert keeper.

Termites are too much money if you buy them, too much trouble if you collect them. Crickets get too big too fast. I give flightless fruitflies my highest recommendation. They are easy to dust, easy to contain, and never get too large for a dart frog.

 

[Kid Dragon]

umm lol... any safety hazards? Are CB ones non-poisonous? (due to the lack of a cetain beetle? )

Only 5 species of wild ones are extremely toxic to the touch. I've handled D. auratus in the wild with no ill effects...but I washed my hands afterwards. Others report some numbness reactions.

In captivity they are non-poisonous. I read about the beetle hypothesis that you mentioned, however they really aren't sure what they eat that makes them poisonous. There are ant and termite hypotheses also, but so far no flightless fruitfly hypothesis.

 

[Jaygnar]

I totaly would love to lick one of those!!!!

 

[Kid Dragon]

I totaly would love to lick one of those!!!!

What are some other things that you "totaly would love to lick"?

 

[Beardo]

Actually....Dart Frogs get their toxins from the plants that the termites they prey on in the wild consume. They absorb the toxic alkalines and use it as a defense mechanism.

 

[Empi]

I totaly would love to lick one of those!!!!

I would stick to lickin toads if I were you!

 

[Empi]

What are some other things that you "totaly would love to lick"?

I'm not sure what answer you were looking for here, but I know I could make a long list if I really thought about it. :drool:

 

[Kid Dragon]

Actually....Dart Frogs get their toxins from the plants that the termites they prey on in the wild consume. They absorb the toxic alkalines and use it as a defense mechanism.

David,

I am very interested in this topic. I was under the impression termites ate wood. Do termites get toxins from eating a kind of dead wood? Could you give me a link with regards to termites and the kind of plants they eat to accumulate toxic alkalines? Thanks, KD

 

[Jaygnar]

Do I Dare Stoop To That Level?

Abso-friggin-lutely!........................................ Er....... No.
I was simply in a silly mood and have heard rumors of people licking toads,frogs, and various other reptiles to get a buzz. Therefore I assumed that others would be wise to my wise-cracking tom-foolery and would in turn simply attribute the comment to being a simple attemp at witicism. I did not mean to imply any inuendo or vulgarity. It was all in good fun. But of course somebody had to assume that there was a hidden agenda to instegate some sort of hedonistic perversion. This was simply not the case. I am truly sorry for the misunderstanding and I offer my most sincere apologies to any humans and or frogs and or toads that might have been taken aback or simply taken offense to any of my writings.

 

[Beardo]

David,

I am very interested in this topic. I was under the impression termites ate wood. Do termites get toxins from eating a kind of dead wood? Could you give me a link with regards to termites and the kind of plants they eat to accumulate toxic alkalines? Thanks, KD

Sure thing....

Captive bred poison dart frogs (pdf’s) are not toxic. The most widely accepted theory is that the pdf’s eat insects that eat plants with alkaloids. It is the alkaloids in the plants that allow the pdf’s to produce their toxin. If you eliminate the alkaloids then the frogs do not produce the toxin.

Here is the link I got the above quote from:
http://qualitycaptives.com/Introduction to Poison Dart Frogs.htm