Beginner questions

[ChromeLibrarian]

Let's say I am interested in keeping dart frogs.

1. What is a good species for a beginner to start with?

2. How big an enclosure do they take?

3. Does the enclosure have to be tall, or are there species that can live in a long tank?

[Tindomul1of9]

Hmmmm. I gotta say that the first species you should work with before even buying pdf's (poison dart frogs) is fruit flies. Yea, you heard me right. THe hardest part of keeping these frogs is fruit flies. You have to learn to culture them, culture consistently so you don't end up suddenly without food, and you got to find out if you are willing to live with fruit flies.
Then, you first dart species can be D. auratus, D. tincturious, or D. leucomelas, D. azureus ( a bit more expensive but same level of difficulty).
All these guys can be kept in tanks that are longer than they are tall. I really wouldnt keep them in anything smaller than a 10, and if you want to keep 3 or four, at least a 29 gallon standard.
Also, you have to becarefull becuase some species do well in groups and others don't.
I hope others more experienced than I chime in.
Hope I helped.

[ChromeLibrarian]

I have this new 55 gallon, and may save it until I am set up for dart frogs.

[Landon]

Originally Posted by ChromeLibrarian

Let's say I am interested in keeping dart frogs.

1. What is a good species for a beginner to start with?

all the species that Tindomul named plus i would add E. tricolor and P. terribilis as they seem to get reccoemnded quite a lot also. the main thing is make sure you get a species you are interested in. if you have the desire to learn and care for a certain frog, you will have a better chance at keeping it alive. even if its an 'easy' dart frog, it still needs lots of care. if you dont have the desire (if its not something you aare really interested in) then it stands the chance of not making it.


2. How big an enclosure do they take?

minimum 10 gallons for a pair. this is what most breeders use for space reasons. if it is just a display frog i would reccomend a minimum 18g for most of the common frogs mentioned. something larger for any type of group and when you get into some of the more advanced frogs size become more of an issue.


3. Does the enclosure have to be tall, or are there species that can live in a long tank?

most of the species will be fine in a longer style tank. tall tanks have a lot of advantages though, and if you can go with a taller tank, i say do it. a taller will give you lots more options as far as wood and plants go, and mostly it will give you a lot more room for contouring the land. also, keep in mind that most of our enclosure are really short compareed to nature most of the terrestial frogs still venture into the lowere reaches of plants and wood in the wild. im sure they go more than 2' off the ground on a regular basis (im sure there are exceptions to this also), so all of our tanks should be considered terrestial, or at least sutible for terrestail (hightwise anyway).

HTH!! happy frogging!!

[atlfrog]

1. D. Auratus are easy as heck to have.
2. We have a section that explains a simple Terrarium setup at ATLFROG.com