Dart Frog Conditions

[andrew]

High all, just wondering, I have a 29g standard tank, whose temps are always between 75 and 82 degrees, and hunidty is around 75 - 80%. Are these conditions anygood for darts? I've never kept them and was wondering if maybe I could in my tank. Also my tank has a rather large water area, but if its too much a problem for darts, I could reduce it to about half an inch of water or less. Can darts swim? They dont look like they can. Also, my viv is well planted, would that make it harder for them to find food?
Plus what kinds of darts are best for dart beginers? Thanks.

 

[william]

the tank seems almost perfect for dart frogs. you need to reduce the water area because they will drown otherwise. lots of plants are good for dart frogs. if you could post a picture that would be great. i'm not sure which species are cheaper and commoner in the USA but i would say

Dendrobates azureus
dendrobates leucomelas
dendrobates auratus
dendroabtes tinctorius
epipedobates tricolor
phyllobates vittatus
phyllobates bicolor

al these are good starter species

 

[andrew]

Ok, here are some pics. I took them with my cell phone so excuse the quality. Also, for some reason, it looks darker than it really is.

 

[edward]

I wouldn't be too concerned about your water area with the dart. Drownings tend to be linked to the frog getting trapped under something or being unable to find a ready way out of the water.
Some species will use water features as an escape route.

Ed

 

[jeff]

I've heard of and even seen aggresive females holding other females under the water in D. azureus. Isn't this a concern?

(Message edited by tmarmoratus on May 04, 2005)

 

[joshua]

If the water is deep they won't be able to do that. The female aggressor would have to drown herself to do it.

 

[andrew]

wait, so they can swim?

 

[jeff]

They can swim, just not as adeptly as other anurans.

 

[edward]

Dart frogs swim just fine.
With species like tincts and azureus there have been deaths due to drowings due to fights between the females but these fights are usually the result of not keeping sufficient breeding sites available to the females. This causes the females fight more frequently increasing the risk of a drowning if one is held under the water.

Ed

 

[alan]

For people not experienced with darts, it's worth pointing out that they are pretty much terrestrial, so while water areas might have a benefit in terms of maintaining humidity, in smaller tanks they reduce the usable area for the frogs, possibly aggravating territorial conflicts. A 50:50 tank for PDFs is just a waste of space.

 

[josh]

for your tank, i would definitely reduce the water feature. as for the risk of drowning, it really depends on the species you are wanting to get. for your particular viv, i would suggest you get dendrobates leucomelas. they can be kept in groups with no trouble and are very good swimmers. i would offer more land and lots more plants. leucs are also an easy one to breed if you want to get into that. go to www.dendroboard.com and browse around. lots of great info and you'll see pics of lush tanks with large and deep pools. they have had no problems with drowning. not to say it wont happen however. good luck man.

 

[andrew]

thanks, as it is without water reduction, I cant fit anymore plants. I guess if I reduced it I could make a third land area, there are already two of them. I'm waiting for the second smaller area to get its violets and mosses and baby tears to really grow.
Fortunately I designed the viv so that I could change the landscape when ever I felt I had to. Adding more land shouldnt be a problem. Thanks again for the help.

 

[andrew]

One more question. How much space is considerd a territory for darts?

 

[justin]

In the wild the average territory is about 3 meters or more, depending on species. As for the water, it should be fine as is. We are working on a paper describing swimming as a defensive strategy in a clade of Epipedobates of Ecaudor.
j

 

[josh]

wow, justin, you joined caudata. cool man! good to have ya! how is it goin down in S.A.?? i saw u speak at the NW frogfest. it was great and thank you very much! take care justin

-josh

 

[justin]

Hi Josh,
I was actually a member of Caudata before, but I got really busy with traveling and such that I never checked it. I still rock my Caudata.org shirt in the rainforest fairly often! I'm glad you made it to NWFF and saw the talk-- I had a great time. Are you attending Frog Day? I'm actually still back in the US, but have 2 trips to Peru soon, and one to Panama before mid January. Then I'll be there until April or so, travel to Colombia for a bit, then home for a while. Hopefully I'll get the majority of my field work done, so then I can stay home for a little bit and get the masters done.
j

 

[josh]

thats cool justin! it must be a blast downt there! i really want to hit costa rica and peru. one day....lol. as for me attending frog day, i wont make it. dont have the funding. wish i could. do u ever run across bolitoglossa on your trips??? good luck on your masters justin

-josh

 

[justin]

Costa Rica is nice, but I don't have plans to go back right now. I will be in Panama to film A. zeteki, but Peru should be amazing these next few trips. I have found several species, but all my photos were stolen with my laptop. Bolitoglossa are not something you can really look for, you find them if they're around. I remember my first trip to Costa Rica I was flipping rocks in streams-- Federico Bolanos let me go for a little while and then asked me what the devil I was doing. I was only used to hunting for salamanders in the US...
j