Are poison dart frogs hard to care for?

Question

I have experience with taking care of other frogs, but none like them. What kinds are easiest to take care of? How much space does each frog require? What is the hardest part about taking care of them? Tips for making a living tank (tank with live plants and is able to break down wastes)? One of those exo terra vivarium tanks or a regular glass tank? Thanks

Answer 1

I've worked with 3 species ( auratus, azureus and tinctorious) and never found them particularly difficult. Pick well started healthy looking individuals to start with. They can be fairly territorial. A 15 gal. tank will house 4 of them comfortably if you provide several hiding spots. They require quite high humidity so any plants you use must tolerate the same. Bromelia, ferns, maranta (prayer plant) all work well. I kept the plants in pots and buried the pots in several inches of coconut mulch. I think the hardest part about darts is their food. Make sure you have access to or plan to breed flightless fruitflies and very small crickets. Darts need small food and lots of it. Tinctorious is a large species and can take slightly bigger crickets then the others.
Dart toxicity is derived from their natural wild diet, captive darts are harmless.

Answer 2

Poison Dart Frogs Care

Answer 3

Looking after poison dart frogs is not too difficult, as long as you can maintain a suitable temperature, humidity, and food supply. Luckily with misting devices and under tank heating this is quite easy, although even when limited to manual plant misters, good results can still be achieved with a little effort.

The Vivarium
The basic parameters to control are temperature and humidity. The presence of a wet area, perhaps a fountain or pool can greatly enhance the interest of a vivarium, but also help stabilize humidity. The best plant to put in is a ESU live reptile and amphibian terrarium moss and for bedding Exo-Terra Jungle Earth Tropical Terrarium Substrate.



Foods and Feeding
Foods are the key to healthy breeding and sucessful tadpole metamorphosis. Some keepers buy fruit flies and pin head crickets; mail order livefood companies are all over the web, however most frog keepers raise their own live foods (especially fruit flies) and only buy the odd container of pin head crickets when needed.

The easiest dart frog to take care of is a Dendrobates auratus or the green and black poison frog. It comes from Colombia, Cost Rica, Panama and Nicaragua and is very easy to take care of.

Answer 4

I'll back up the theory about not producing poison in captivity. Although i do not know exactly what they eat. But it's a big cycle. The prey (not sure what it's called) eats a certain food then produces a chemical. Then the frog eats the prey and the chemical mixed with the frog creates the poison on the frogs skin. At least i believe this is how it's made. I'd have to double check. This is why you should always make sure your frogs are captive bred. Even touching a frog from the wild could be extremely harmful. I don't think pet stores carry these frogs. Maybe a pet store that specializing in reptiles/amphibians. I have found them for sale online alot from breeders. Average price will be able 100.00 (including shipping) for a cheap one. Some yellow and black ones are about 45.00-60.00

Answer 5

I'm not sure id would be able to tell you as i have no experience in looking after them myself i guess I'm not that stupid :p. I would suggest a glass cage with no gaps or holes for it to escape, wouldn't want one of those to bite you :D. Depending where you live poison dart frogs may be illegal to keep as pets with out been licensed to keep them!!

Answer 6

You do realize that one touch from the Poison Dart Frog could kill you right? Just checking.

Answer 7

Yea I do