who here is into dart frogs? i have a pair of luecs, azureus, and green auratus. if u have ne post em here!
poison dart frogs
- Thread starter Elasmofreak
- Start date
I was watching something on discovery channel the other day, something like the 10 most vemonous things and poison dart frongs were #1. How can you keep them as a pet if they are the most poisonous things?
Their secretions were used by tribesman as poison for their spears, arrows, etc. on food hunts. As long as the secretions aren't consumed and do not enter the bloodstream, they're harmless. The frogs are not predators by any means. The poisonous secretion is their defense mechanism. As long as you limit exposure to them, keep very cleanly habits if you do have to deal with them, there should not be any problem.
Thimble;473322; said:
There is considerable evidence that toxicity in these frogs is derived from their diet: primarily ants, spiders, mites, and beetles. These toxins are passed from the arthropod to the frog, then sequestered in glands on the amphibian's skin. Frogs brought from the wild into captivity and fed a regular captive diet, usually fruit flies or pin-head (hatchling) crickets, eventually lose their toxicity.
the frogs gain their toxicity from alkaloid bearing ants, which they must seek out and eat regularly to maintain their toxicity. These ants are not naturally found in the US, and efinitely will not be in your house. Also, it is a common misconception that you have to consume toxin to get sick from it, as the frogs generally will not secrete unless they are actually being hurt (i.e. bitten). Touching a secreting frog of the right species will leave you dead in minutes, and touching less poisonous ones will leave you very sick.
and, I am into dart frogs, somewhat recently. I am currently setting up a tank to house a community of leucomelas and auratus.
davo;478980; said:
Mine too! Yes its true what has been said before, the frogs lose their toxicity in captivity. They are a really great addition to a terrarium, or vivarium!
davo;480323; said:
Any species of darts u put with each other will pick on each other. Dominant ones will always pick on sub dominant ones. Doesnt matter if you have a really big tank. A species tank is the best way to go! If you want to keep multiple species then set up multiple tanks. Other wise u will end up wil dead frogs. I learned this lesson the hard way, and any true dart frog hobbiest will tell you the same thing. Keep the species seperate and in pairs.