Average Size: 1 1/2-5 inches (depending on type)

Lifespan: 8-10+ years

Hygiene and Health: No removal of waste and/or tank cleaning is necessary! because the plants use their waste. Providing they are purchased in good condition, tree frogs are hardy pets which have relatively few problems. To prevent health problems make sure your frog?s water is always clean and dechlorinated. Signs of illness include: lethargy; areas of inflammation or parasites on skin; cloudy or dull eyes; weight loss; excessive yawning; bloated abdomen. Never use soap, detergents or chemicals to clean your tank or equipment. Wash out the water bowl daily. Both the tank and the floor coverings should be washed weekly in hot water and thoroughly dried. It is convenient to have two pieces of floor covering and rotate them.

Behavior: These frogs are diurnal, and active during the morning and early evening hours, hopping about the forest floor in search of food and mates.  Poison dart frogs in general are safe from predators because their bright, bold colors serve as a warning signal to birds and other animals that might eat them. The colors warn about potent toxins in the skin that will kill almost any animal that eats it. They don't really do anything special but they are the far best looking pet to look at with their bright colors.

Diet: Poison Dart Frogs eat fruit flies, springtails, rice flour beetles, phoenix worms, crickets, and other small bugs. Before you get your frogs, you need to start culturing their food items so you learn from that. There is nothing worse than not having enough food to feed your frogs. You will want to dust your bugs with a multi-vitamin and calcium supplement 2-3 times a week as well.

Habitat: All Species of pet frogs need to be housed in what's called a vivarium. A Naturalistic Terrarium is an aquarium that has been designed to create a tiny ecosystem. In this ecosystem, there are plants, soil, and a drainage layer to keep the soil from becoming completely saturated. This ecosystem creates a balance in which the animals waste is used by the plants. The rule of thumb is you can have 1 frog per 5gallons in a vivarium. The more space you give them will give you more options on how you create the Tropical forest.

High temperatures and low humidity can kill a frog quickly. Your humidity should stay above 80% all the time and your temps should stay between 70-85F. This is best accomplished in an all glass aquarium with a glass lid. Screen lids will be unable to maintain the correct humidity in the majority of setups although most people use cardboard and cover part of the top. For the vast majority of setups, no heater will be needed as the lighting will create enough heat to keep the terrarium slightly above room temperature. Its a necessity that you do purchase a Temp/Humidity Probe as it will make things much more easy for you to control the levels.

Additional Info: Dart frogs are wonderful animals to keep.  they are active during the day. They sing and climb and act very well as they would in the wild. They come in every color of the rainbow and make wonderful, therapeutic pets. Keeping a dart frog is not as hard as one would think.  They need a few basic requirements and they will do fine. Still these creatures are considered as a medium skill leveled pet but not because of the lifeform, but because Frogs need to be housed in vivariums. A vivarium is a artificial tropical rainforest ecosystem designed by you. There is so much you can do with it that it becomes a skill to try to make it look the best it can be.

Also, don't be alarmed by the name "Poison" Dart frog, because captive frogs are not toxic. In the wild they eat ants which eat poisonous plants with give them this toxicity in their body. They lose much of this toxic without being able to eat in the wild.

Loner or Groupies: There are bully dart frogs so if you do decide to house them together then you will be running this risk. Usually there is a reason such as they need more space, there isn't enough plants and things to do, one is much larger, temp/humidity levels are not right, etc. By keeping track of this and changing the 5gallon per frog rule to 7-10 will make the chances rare. Frogs are not extremely violent with each other but the stress it gives them could make them sick.

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