Origin: Central and South America

Size: Varies

Lifespan: 15-25 years (depends on many different factors)

Housing: There are many different ways to house your dart frog. I will cover how I house my terrestrial (ground-dwelling) frogs, and will also throw in a few options here and there so you have a few ideas to customize your enclosure.

I like to keep my frogs in a smaller enclosure. I currently keep trios of froglets in a 10 gallon glass aquarium with a solid top, adults are kept in pairs. Dart frogs do not get very large, and a 10-30 gallon terrarium will work perfectly for them.

For the background on the tanks, I prefer to use "Great Stuff". This allows you to create a very natural-looking terrarium for very little money. Directions for making this type of enclosure can be found on my "Naturalistic How-To Page". The only thing I change is the substrate. For the substrate, I use gravel (though LECA pellets are lighter and can also be used) with a layer of fiberglass screen on top, coco-fiber on top of that, and layer of moss on the very top. The screen will keep the coco-fiber from getting into the gravel below and messing up your drainage system or water feature.

Coco-panels can also be used for a background, though they don't look as natural as the "Great Stuff", they are a lot easier to do. Simply cut your coco-panel down to size and attach to the back using non-toxic silicone.

For a water feature, I just make a VERY shallow dip in the gravel, line it with river rock, and slope it up to meet the moss. Make sure that the pond is VERY shallow and easy for your frog to hop out of. Gentle water falls can also be added, however they are more complicated to set up and can become troublesome later on down the road. If you decide to do a running water feature, make sure that you have a way to access your pump without completely tearing apart your setup.

To "landscape" the enclosure, I use a lot of different types of plants such as bromeliads, orchids, mosses, pothos, ferns, etc. Types of wood that work well for a dart frog enclosure would include cork, ghost wood, and cypress. These types of wood are water-resistant and do not mold up like many other types. Coconut huts are a favorite of the frogs and a "must-have" in my enclosures... the frogs just love them.

The lights on the tanks are setup with timers for 12 hour photoperiods.

Humidity: I use solid tops on my frog tanks to increase the humidity. The frogs are also sprayed once a day with Spring water. (If you use any type of tap water in your enclosure, be sure to de-chlorinate and de-chloramine your water. Not all de-chlorinators have de-chloraminers as well, so definitely check the bottle or call your local water company too see if your water contains chloramines.) Automatic misting systems can also be installed, but I mist my frogs using a pump sprayer set on "fine mist".

Temperature: High 60's at night, mid-to-high 70's during the day.

Feeding:

Fruitflies:

There are two different types of fruitflies, Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila hydei. I use the D. melanogaster which grow faster and are easier to produce, though they are smaller than the hydei.

Culturing fruit flies is actually much easier than you might think. You can either purchase a ready-made media or make your own. If you decide to purchase the ready-made media, there are many types to choose from, and the seller should provide you with easy-to-follow instructions. I prefer to make my own. It's a little more work, but BARELY and it's extremely easy to do. There are many different receipes for the media, but this is the one that works for me...

How to Make a Fruitfly Culture:

Media Ingredients-

Other-

Mix the potato flakes and Brewer's Yeast in medium bowl.
In another bowl, mix 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup water, sugar, and methyl paraben... microwave until barely boiling.
Mix wet mixture into dry mixture until well blended. Add additional COOL water until the media is the right consistency. (Should be like slightly wet oatmeal... or really thick applesauce. Hard to describe.)

Put folded section of cut up sponge into cup, then add media. Sprinkle a teeny pinch of active, dry Baker's Yeast on top and wait for it to cool to room temperature.

After culture has cooled, tap in 50 or so fruit flies and put on the lid. Mark the date, and put them on a shelf. There's your culture.

After about a week or so, you should start to see the fruitfly larvae start to stick to the sides. After about 2 weeks, the culture will start producing like crazy. I make new cultures every week... and throw out the cultures once they're about a month old.

To feed your frog, tap the fruit flies into a dish that contains a 50/50 mixture of Rep-Cal and Herptivite. Swish the flies around until they've got a light coating, then toss them in with your frogs. Yum, yum!

Crickets:

I only feed 1/8"-1/4" crickets. Make sure the crickets you feed aren't too large or your frog will have trouble eating them. Put the crickets into a plastic bag with a 50/50 mixture of Rep-Cal and Herptivite, shake them until they have a light coating, then feed them to your frogs.

Springtails:

These are very small arthropods that are great for younger frogs. (Though you can still feed them to your big guys as well!) I haven't tried them yet, but I have a friend who feeds them and the frogs seem to love them.

You'll need a plastic shoebox with a lid, and some chunks of NATURAL charcoal. (Other substrates you can use are cypress mulch or orchid mix.) Add a little bit of water to the bottom to make it damp but not wet, then put them in a cool place. You can feed them practically anything as long as the food is damp. (Fruits, veggies, fish food, etc.)

To feed them to the frogs, just take out the chunk of charcoal, tap it, and let them fall in the tank.

Breeding:

I haven't bred these guys yet, but will post more info when I get some eggs. ;-)

Other:

Be very careful if you keep two females in an enclosure. They'll often fight and/or eat each other's eggs. If you find that you have two females, try your best to put them into separate enclosures.

Random fact- Poison darts are not poisonous in captivity. (But that doesn't mean that you should go and kiss your frog!!!)