Question about poison dart frogs

DeeSeven

DeeSeven

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Feb 4, 2007
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I have a 25 gallon tank I want to convert into a terrarium. Now I've done some reading on wiki and dendroboard.com and have decided I want to get a The Golden Poison Frog or Phyllobates terribilis. I've picked this one because it doesn't do alot of climbing so the fact that my tank is only a foot tall is fine. Also they have stunning color and sit out in the open with my face pressed to the glass :grinyes:. Ok now that we got that out of the way here are my questions.

(note: I have no reptile experience at all I'm a fish man)

1. Do you suggest I get a pair of them so they can possibly breed? or would that be too much of a toll for someone just starting out.

2. Where would you suggest I get him/her from? There's a reptile show next week in new york that I will hopefully be attending. Is there pros/cons to buying from reptile shows? versus a store online or even local places? I'm trying to hold off on buying him now due to 1. impulse which is a big no no and 2. I want to make sure this is the frog I really want.

3. When I read up on these i noticed the huge lack in how to set up a terrarium for them. For example how do i keep the humidity at 80%? Does anyone have a terrarium with these guys in there? i'd like to get a few ideas of how I can set up my tank.

Ok enough questions for now
 
according to wiki tho "Like the other poison dart frogs, Phyllobates terribilis is harmless when raised away from its natural food source." :confused::confused::confused:
 
OK, I'll answer your question, a 1 foot high tank is not adequete for any type of poison dart frog. Such a short tank makes it hard to regulate temperature and humidity. Also, I've found that the frogs become very shy when kept in cramped tanks.

You're right however that the poison dart frog wont be poisonous when raised away from their natural food source.

That brings me to my next point...............feeding. Poison dart frogs are small, requiring small foods. Their main food in captivity is wingless fruit flies, which generally have to be cultured at home.

Like many others here, I would never recommend the PDF to beginners. For your fairly low tank, I'd suggest 2 fire belly newts.

heres a picture of one: http://www.jounipaakkinen.fi/kuvat/tuli1.jpg

and a care guide: http://www.centralpets.com/animals/reptiles/salamanders/sal2541.html

I used to have fire-belly newts, and they're really fun to watch and feed.
 
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thank you very much for the info i'm going to start researching on newts now :)
 
Wiki is off their rocker in regards to terribilis. My friend who owns a pet shop had a huge diamond tank with a colony of terribilis. He was very experienced and only fed them hydeii and melanogaster cultured fruit flies. Every time he took them out to clean the tank, they burned his hand. They are one of the most poisonous.

I answered your questions with that link I provided. It's all the information you need to know about poison dart frogs. I could have easily told you the same things in my own words, but I'd rather not retype what is said better than I can.

Many varieties will indeed become LESS poisonous to the point of you not noticing it, but as I said terribilis is NOT one of them.
 
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