*sighs* I have some questions to ask. [Archive]

Double J

02-19-05, 09:33 AM

Originally posted by Iceman
Hi everyone, ever since my girlfriend saw a poisen dart frog today, she wants one now. I read a few care sheets about them, but if it is not to much trouble I would like to ask some questions.

1: although the care sheets I read about them were good, it didn't say one thing that i noticed, how often do you have to feed a poisen dart frog?

Poison dart frogs need to be fed every day... especially juveniles. Adults can go a day or two without feeding every so often... but it is very important to always have food available to juveniles and growing frogs. In terms of how much you feed them... that depends on a number of things.. such as the species, the size of the vivarium, and what you are feeding them. Pinhead crickets are a nice and easy way to feed your poison dart frogs, but beware that often what pet stores call "pinheads".. are actually not pinheads and are sometimes too big for smaller dart frogs to eat. It is also important to culture flightless fruit flies as a food source.. and they are great if your cricket dealer is out of stock etc etc. There are two types of flies you can culture.. melanogaster, and hydei...... melanogaster are smaller.. but have a shorter life cycle so culturing them is a little easier for some people. Hydei are my food item of choice.. they are bigger, and when cultures bloom... they explode!!! The only problem with these is that culturing them takes a little more patience as cultures take a few extra weeks longer to bloom. Here is a link to what is in my opinion, the ideal way to culture flies:

http://www.understoryenterprises.com/culturing.htm

This is the exact method that I use when culturing flies. It works like a charm.
As for *how much* to feed your frogs.. here are the general guidelines that I use when feeding the larger species of dart frogs like tinctorius, azureus, auratus, and leucomelas.....
If feeding crickets... feed 20-25 crickets per frog per day.
If feeding melanogaster flies... fed 40-50 per frog per day
If feeding hydei flies...... feed 30-40 per frog per day.
It sounds like a lot.. but when you are culturing flies..... these feeding numbers are a drop in the bucket compared to what a fly culture produces in total. Plus, pinheads are cheap as well, so if you only have a few frogs, it deos not cost much to feed them.
Make sure you dust with a good quality supplement. I, as well as most dart froggers wil recommend using BOTH fine grade Rep-Cal with vitamin D3 AND Herptivite. Dust with both every day.

Originally posted by Iceman
2: do any of you think those red eye green frogs are better to have as a pet?

I keep both red-eyes, and a number of dart frog species. I actually find dart frogs to be far easier to keep than red eyes. Plus, darts are far more active, and are active during the day.. so you get a little more bang for your buck in terms of entertainment. Also, darts are far easier less hassle to breed, and are rather willing to breed if the tank is setup properly. This is an incredibly enjoyable element of keeping dart frogs.... and is a very rewarding experience.

Originally posted by Iceman
3: I read that you don't really need a source of heat, like a heat pad or heat light, but is it true you just need like a normal light? or does it have to be a uvb light? O.o

The light does not need to be a UVB light. Any fluorescent will do. I actually use the four foot shop lights over my shelving system in my frog room.. and I use a daylight (6500K color temperature) bulb, and a standard cool white fluorescent bulb. My plants thrive, and it plenty of light for the frogs.
And unless your house in house is always in the low 60's, there is no need to heat your frogs. The humidity, light, and lack of ventilation will the the tank a few degrees warmer than the surrounding air anyhow.

Originally posted by Iceman
4: Do the plants in the tank HAVE to be real? can they be plastic?

With dart frogs... plants should be real. That is half the fun of keeping dart frogs. Plants help to keep the tank clean, reduce tank maintenance, and look incredible. A *properly* maintained and set-up dart frog vivarium need never be taken apart and completely cleaned out. As long as you are misting the tank of a regular basis, have plenty of live plants, and are draining the excess water from the drainage layer on a regular basis... the system will reach equilibrium. This is how the europeans have been keeping dart frogs for decades.... and works rather well. I have a vivarium that has been running since 2002, and the tank itself looks incredible, the plants are thriving, and of course, the frogs are fat, healthy, and breeding. I know many other that have had tanks running successfully for upwards of five years and are still running.
Again, for a dart frog vivarium to work properly, it needs to be set-up properly. Here is a basic rundown of setting up a dart frog vivarium:

Pick a tank. Any size will do with a minimum of a ten gallon tank. I prefer 20 gallon tall tanks..... as opposed to the 20 longs..... as they are larger (allowing for easier maintenance), and a larger number and greater variety of plants can be kept in them. Get youself some gravel..... the cheapest and best route is to get gravel, or river rock from a garden centre of nursery as it is much cheaper than purchasing aquarium gravel. But, if you do not have a good garden centre or nursery in your area, aquarium gravel will do the trick but will cost more. Rinse out your gravel, and have a layer of about two inches on the bottom of your tank. This will serve as the drainiage basin.. one of the most important elements of a healthy vivarium. Dig out the gravel in one corner of your tank. It need not be a large area... but this will serve as a water feature/pond, and will also be where you drain the excess water from. Next, cut some fiberglass window screen and place it over the gravel, except for the area that you wish to be the water area. This screen wil help keep the soil out of the gravel. The next step of course is your soil layer. STEER CLEAR of potting soils.. they are useless in dart frog tanks! They often contain vermiculite or perlite (which is bad), and will get soggy and disgusting after a month or two. Instead, I recommend making your *own* soil mix. Here is a cheap mix that has worked well for me:

1 part Eco-Earth aka bedabeast aka coconut husk fiber aka millenium coir fiber. This can be purchased in brick form from both pet stores and nurseries. Soak the brick in a bucket of water (instruction will come on the packaging of course) and then add your portions to the soil mixture.

1 part peat moss

1 part repti bark. This helps prevent the soil from becomingtoo heavily packed, and aids in drainage and aeration.

1/2 part sphagnum moss fibers. This keeps the mixture moist and adds some plant matter to the mix.

If you like, you can add 1 part of crushed oak or magnolia leaves. These will add good organic matter to the mixture, and will be great for the springtails which will be an inevitable arthopod inhabitant of your tank. The frogs will feast on these little arthropods.. and they are a good part of a healthy vivarium. You can also put crushed oak leaves on top of the soil.. because after all.. the rainforest floor is covered with a deep layer of leaf litter.

Now, the soil mixture can be placed over the window screen that is on top of the gravel. Have your soil from 2-3 inches deep. A deeper soil layer will help keep the humidity high, and of course is beneficial for the plants. Now, in terms of plants, here a few cheap, common, and well suited dart frog plants that I use on a regular basis:

Philodendron
pothos
various Pepperomia species
birds nest fern
Alocasia
Arrowhead vine
Ficus pumilia
various Calathea species and prayer plants
peace lily
java moss
small bromeliads

Plants are taken out of the pots and planted directly in the soil layer. Ensure that you wash off all of the potting soil around the roots, and give the leaves a rinse as well. Plant them as you wish in the tank. Next, furnishings can be added. Cork bark works well, looks great, and lasts forever. Some driftwod works as well. Rocks can be placed in the tank such as pagoda stone and slate also.
The great thing about dart frog vivariums is that how they look is up to you. It is like having a piece of the rainforest in you home. Now, make sure that you have a tight fitting screen top on your tank. Those cheesy black fish tank hoods are useless and are not escape proof. Screen tops work well for me, and humidity can be kept in the tank by carefully covering the screen with a layer of saran wrap. If done carefully, the saran wrap wil be invisible.
Mist your frogs every day, and when the water level in the drainage layer begins to reach the soil, drain off the excess water wth a turkey baster. No need to worry. the water in the drainage layer will be tinted and/or brown. This is a *good thing.* These are the tannins from the peat moss and the bark leaching into the water and are good for the plants, fine for the frogs, and help keep the bad bacteria levels down.
As for water, you can use tap water, but be sure that you treat it with a god dechlorinator. If you wish, you can also use distilled or spring water.

I think this covers everything except for breeding.. which you will not have to worry about for some time anyway. I recommend a few books which include:

Frogs, Toads, ad Treerogs by R.D. Bartlett
Newts and Salamanders by Frank Indiviglio. though this bok does not directly concern dart frogs, many aspects of the text apply universally to amphibian husbandry, so it is a necessary book to own regardless.
There is also a new dart frog book out by W.E. Henkel. Though it is expensive, it is probably the best book on dart frog care that is *in print*.

If you have any other questions,. post them or PM me. And if you need frogs, go here:

http://www.understoryenterprises.com

Mark produces the best frogs in the country, has the most diverse collection, and is a hell of a guy. I highly recommend dealing with Mark as he is knowledgeable, experienced, and again, is a great guy to deal with. His frogs are second to none. In addition to rogs, Mark also carries plants, tank supplies, acrylic vivariums, and feeders.

Sorry about the late response. I generally respond far quicker :) but I have been rather busy lately.

Good luck

Double J