Newest Additions! Blue and Black Auratus :)

[lil_katiedan]

So, for the past year or so we have been contemplating getting into Dart Frogs; it's one species that both Josh and I have always wanted to try our hand at. Under The Canopy Farms usually vend the shows here in Atlanta so we have had many opportunities to gather information from them in the past. They have always been very helpful and definitely know their stuff (we would recommend them in a heart beat!). This past weekend we had the pleasure of paying admission to a very disappointing reptile show and decided to go ahead and make it well worth it by adding a few amphibians to our collection. :main_rolleyes: In the end, we came home with two Blue and Black Auratus, a fully planted, self maintaining vivarium and two cultures of Flightless Fruit Flies. Needless to say, I find myself watching these little things even when they're just sitting there.

Okay, enough talk, here are some pictures.

and here's the tank....

Comments welcome, as well as tips!

 

[LIZARDLOVER]

Wow, nice dart frogs!

 

[lil_katiedan]

Thanks! They are pretty cool .

 

[eyelids]

And a fully planted viv?! Wow!

 

[nwheat]

They're beautiful!! :nice: Congrats! I love to watch our dart frogs - now I really need to trim back the plants so I can see them better!

 

[lil_katiedan]

Thanks so much for the compliments guys! For those of you who know, how exactly do you start new fruit fly cultures so you have a never ending supply?

 

[david13]

nice frods and tank

 

[Ian S.]

Awesome viv!

 

[Nigel4less]

Wow, Katie they are adorable!

 

[lil_katiedan]

Thanks again! I think we got a great deal on the tank, now we're just waiting for the little things to grow so we can see them, lol.

 

[yellermelon]

Hey Katie, Dunno If youve search around for frog "junk" but i just placed a large order here..I think they do flies. I get our flies from Eds Fly meat they sell the kits to culture your own flies.
www.blackjungle.com

 

[Select Gex]

http://www.saurian.net/htm05/froginfo_fruitfly_culture.html

Best of luck!

 

[Bodon]

They are so cool, i was very close to getting some one time...

 

[FelanMoira]

Wahhhhh!

I want poison dart frogs!

I just KNOW I will kill them though! I'm so afraid to try!


THOSE ARE BEAUTIFUL blue and black Auratus!

 

[hondawingsfly]

fruit fly cultures are easy to start, first you will need to buy fruit flies they are easy to find online or if theres a shop around that sells dart frogs youu can get them from there. i would recommend wingless fruit flys that way you wont have any problems with them around your house. next you will need to buy a case of large mason jars and order some fruit fly medium, carolina biological has it cheap or you can use ed's fly meat. take your mason jar and pour in the fly medium, it will be powder and mix it with water so you have 3/4"-1" in the bottom of your jar. next you can put some ribbon or something in there so the flys have something to crawl around on (that will give you more larva) then take the fly culture that you bought and dump about 20-30 flys in each mason jar and they will start breeding and producing more flys. you should be able to tell once a jar has stopped producing the fly medium will get darker and you will see less flys as you feed your frogs. after a few months you might need to buy a new culture of flys for breeding after the flys inbreed too many times they will eventually stop producing.

 

[hondawingsfly]

oh i forgot when you seal the mason jar use a coffee filter for the lid and just screw on the ring so the flys can get air

 

[Halley]

very nice!!!!!

 

[hondawingsfly]

poison dart frogs....

i know this is not necessarily the right place for this post but... few things to consider when thinking of purchasing a dart frog, always research the needs of the animal, (try dendroboard) before you purchase a frog you must have an adequite food source for them. they require very very small food. fruit flys are usually the staple of their captive diet and must be bred to maintain a consistant supply. (crickets can work for someof the laarger species but only when VERY small) they need to be fed every day! they must also be misted daily (up to 6 times) they need vefry specific temperatures and will not tolerate low temps or very high temps. and they must be given supplements and changes in diet. the auratus is a good choice for a beginner (very inexpensive as dart frogs go) they need better foliage to hide than provided in the pix. as for the flies, you need them ASAP not only to feed but also to culture. you can pm me if interested in a culture or purchase some from a number of places like josh's frogs. carolina's formula 4-24 is great media. until then you can try to keep them alive by taking a net with very very small holes (even a pillowcase) and sweep it through your lawn/ tall grass or fields. if you can find ver tiny pinhead crickets they will probably eat them. dust every feeding with rep cal (not reptacal) and herptivite. BEST OF LUCK!!! (oh and DONT handle them they will die when stressed like when handling)

 

[Tanner505Geckos]

Awsome frog , nice cage to

 

[Euphoric]

Love dart frogs <3
And nice set up!

I am waiting to buy an exo terra with front doors before I get my dart frogs because I am worried about reaching inside the tank. How does a normal tank work for you?