Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Goose]

Ive loved darts for ever, but have not felt confident enough to take the plunge until now. The only tank, and indeed space, i have left at all is an old 36x12x15 (lxwxh) aquarium. Is this a reasonable candidate for a dart viv and how might i go about converting it? so far Im thinking epiweb or similar on the sides and a LECA over eggcrate substrate. Which of the "beginner species" would be best suited to a viv of this size and shape and in what quantities?

I know a few people on here keep darts and Id really appreciate the advice. Please dont refer me to Dendroworld, its a great site but for some reason everytime i try to register for their forum it doesnt work!

cheers,
Tom

[MJ]

Hi Tom,

If your using a eggcrate to create a false bottom in the viv then you wont need LECA.. you could just use an organic chemical free substrate mix.

good one (with easy to find ingrediants) is a basic cocco fibre (T-rex sell this is compressed blocks) some orchid bark and some peat moss. mix that in 2:1:2 cf:ob:pm .

you can also create a drainage layer with LECA just be sure to seperate the LECA from the substrate with some kind of material (weed blovk works well).

Dendrobates azureus
Dendrobates leucs (sorry cn't think of the correct spelling)
Dendrobates auratus (tho a little shy)
Dendrobates tinctorius

are all good begginer species. Also E. tricolor are easy and breed real well.

make sure to wash any plants going in to the tank really well, remove all potting soild and rinse the root system.

as for number it depends on what species you go for.. personally I like to keep tincs in pairs as females like a rumble.

auratus umm maybe 4-5 same with leucs and tricolor.

just make sure to have lots of hiding spots lots of cover and differant levels for the frogs to hang out in.
_________________
Paul

For all your Tropical plant and Naturalistic Vivarium needs please enjoy Urban Bromeliad

[Peter Parrot]

Top advice from Paul. Dendrobates Leucomelas is the name that escaped him.


All that I would add is an often overlooked species as a beginners choice and that is Phyllobates terribills. Big, bright, bold and ballsy frogs with appetites to match, they can fit larger prey items in their mouths than most darts so that there is more of a margin for error with feeding them for a beginner.

They come in three colour morphs, yellow, mint , and orange.

As for Dendroworld, Jon who runs the site has recently joined here. I shall PM him about your registering problems and no doubt he will contact you.

I couldn`t recommend dart frogs more highly. Beautiful to look at, highly active with interesting behaviour. They are firm favourites amongst my collection. I have my first tadpoles about to hatch now also. I say take the plunge. I would strongly advise persevering with Dendroworld however. I will get on the case for you right away.

EDIT: Just to add, there is some great information on the basics available here; http://www.captivebred.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7814
_________________
YSBRYDOLI POBL, GWELLA LLEOEDD
INSPIRING PEOPLE, IMPROVING PLACES
www.btcv.org
Visit our website - Gwelwch ein Gwefan
www.btcvcymru.org
Llinell Gymorth / Helpline: 08702 40 48 41

[ghastly152]

Some great advice so far, but i just wanted to add please dont use epi-web, i have it a number of tanks with great regret. The main one being that it is very abrasive and i have recently started to notice that a some of the frogs in the epiweb tanks are missing skin on their nose whereby there basically rubbing their skin against the epiweb and its removing it like sandpaper, so just a word of caution.

[sam]

Thats interesting Ghastly, because isn't epiweb very heavily directed towards dartfroggers? You would think they would think about basic things like it hurting the frogs wouldn't you?!
Just shows that being expensive doesnt always mean being the best!
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Interested in amphibians? Join us at Myamphibia for friendly banter, amazing pictures and great information. Make some amphibious friends today!

[Peter Parrot]

Epiweb is very much in the "experimantal" faze, and has been pushed in the direction of dart frog keepers yes Sam.

Hearing a genuine experience from somebody that I know keeps a lot of darts such as Ghastly is enough for me not to bother using it though! Thanks for the heads up John.
_________________
YSBRYDOLI POBL, GWELLA LLEOEDD
INSPIRING PEOPLE, IMPROVING PLACES
www.btcv.org
Visit our website - Gwelwch ein Gwefan
www.btcvcymru.org
Llinell Gymorth / Helpline: 08702 40 48 41

[MJ]

Epiwed was actually created for the Orchid grower not the frogger

Any how thats another thread

Thanks for the reminder on leucomelas lol its an easy one but I just couldnt get it right this morniing
_________________
Paul

For all your Tropical plant and Naturalistic Vivarium needs please enjoy Urban Bromeliad

[sam]

i thought epiweb had some sort of horticultural start, but was being pushed into dartfrogging (slap "for dartfrogs" on it and bump up the price! )
Its nice to see someone else taking the plunge-I will be doing the same, getting a trio of Dendrobates leucomelas on the 13th!
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Interested in amphibians? Join us at Myamphibia for friendly banter, amazing pictures and great information. Make some amphibious friends today!

[kermit]

Hi

here is my top tips talk and read as much as you can then go for it, Then spread the word.

cheers Kermit
_________________
Dale Emms

The B.D.G

www.britishdendrobatidgroup.co.uk

[Peter Parrot]

.....and get to grips with raising your own fruit flies/spring tails.
_________________
YSBRYDOLI POBL, GWELLA LLEOEDD
INSPIRING PEOPLE, IMPROVING PLACES
www.btcv.org
Visit our website - Gwelwch ein Gwefan
www.btcvcymru.org
Llinell Gymorth / Helpline: 08702 40 48 41