Mantella keepers

[Duncan]

Hello Everyone,
Compared to dart frog keepers, there just don't seem to be as many people interested in the mantellas. Its really too bad! They're colourful, can often take cooler temperatures and are usually significantly cheaper than darts. Part of the problem is availability; Madagascar seems to be forever changing their export regulations for their wildlife and consequently these wonderful frogs are often unavailable. Which is why there should be a bigger push for captive bred supplies. Hopefully more people will try in the future! Here's a pic of one of my three M. expectata. I'd love to find out who else is keeping these frogs. Any successful breeding efforts? Mine call all day long, the female fills up, and they never breed! Oh well, patience is a virtue as they say!
Duncan

[Jeff_Favelle]

I bred 2 different kinds:

The orange ones and madagascariensis . They laid their eggs on land and the egg mass just dissolved into the water. I got eggs every few weeks. It was nuts.

Tadpoles were hard though. I suggest getting pond water or "green water" and getting your tadpole chamber set up and conditioned WAY in advance.

[Jeff_Favelle]

And that is one COOL frog you have there man. I like!


Oh yeah! And keep the water below 78F. Mantellas are from a relatively cool area and warm water nukes the tadpoles.

Cheers.

[Moe]

I keep Aurientica and Baroni/madagascariensis

[Mark Pepper]

Hi Duncan,
I agree that there should be a major push to breed more mantella species. It only a matter of time before the wc ones from madagascar dry up. I think part of the problem people have with breeding them, is that many need a dry season of sorts, follwed by a wet one. Running water is often the key i belive for many species. (not necessarily for the goldens) Another thing to keep in mind is that mantellas are social animals, much more so than dart frogs and so generally do/breed best in groups (of course there are exceptions). Ideally i like to have large groups of 10-14 frogs in a 24" cube tank with a stream winding through it. I am keeping several varieties of mantella, and would like to add to most of my groups, and aquire new ones as time permits.
good luck,
mark

[ortega]

I can't wait to get one. I have seen a couple in the pet store for like 54$. Right now I'm just waiting to find, hopefully 3 for a good price. If I could get the one in your pic I'd be set.....really nice frog.