Maintenance of Dendrobates in Captivity

Did you know?
The most toxic poison frog is Phyllobates terribilis from Colombia, which can produce enough toxin to kill eight people!

A fully planted vivarium can contain mosses, ferns, epiphytes like bromeliads and even flowering orchids!

Looking after Dendrobatid frogs is not too difficult, as long as we can maintain a suitable temperature, humidity, and food supply. Luckily with misting devices and undertank heating this is quite easy, although even when limited to manual plant misters, good results can still be achieved with a little effort.

The Vivarium

The basic parameters to control are temperature and humidity. The presence of a wet area, perhaps a fountain or pool can greatly enhance the interest of a vivarium, but also help stabilize humidity and give the frogs somewhere to deposit tadpoles should the eggs go undiscovered. A vivarium with larger body of water is known as paludarium, and in such a tank, it is quite easy to keep frogs with small fish, particularly killifish.

Foods and Feeding

Foods are the key to healthy breeding and sucessful tadpole metamorphosis. Some keepers buy fruit flies and pin head crickets; mail order livefood companies are all over the web, however most frog keepers raise their own live foods (especially fruit flies) and only buy the odd container of pin head crickets when needed. Occasional feedings of aphids, woodlice and whiteworms are also welcomed

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Poison Dart Frogs as Pets. Poison Dart Frog Care, Behavior, Diet, Interaction, Costs and Health

This site contains photographs, information on poison dart frog husbandry, their habitats from the Amazon rainforest, and elsewhere in South America. There are articles on tropical plants (bromiliads, orchids, epiphytes), vivariums, and of course the frogs themselves. If you have any suggestions please contact me on info@poisondartfrog.co.uk.

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Paludarium | Killifish | Tropical Fish | Orchids