# Terribilis began calling



## macg (Apr 19, 2018)

Just making a note for posterity about my terribilis calling for the first time yesterday.

Adding some pics for everyone to enjoy.


----------



## Justin3 (Sep 28, 2020)

Thats awesome I'd be stoked too, they're looking great


----------



## macg (Apr 19, 2018)

Justin3 said:


> Thats awesome I'd be stoked too, they're looking great


Thanks! It seems like it took them longer to mature than others experienced, and my OCD was making me worry that maybe they weren't healthy or eating enough for some reason. I previously asked about their weight in another thread, and the conclusion was to clear out one side of the tank to provide for leaf litter, potentially allowing them to see flies more readily. 

Interestingly enough, they do not like the side of the tank with leaf litter. They are always in the dense, overgrown, humid side of the tank, or at the boundary of that with the leaf litter. Rarely making their way into the leaves.

I give them calcium plus on flies 3x a week, so deep down I know there isn't any reason they wouldn't be healthy...but it doesn't stop me from wondering, maybe I kept a supplement too long (never past the "use by" date), maybe I should have refrigerated the supplement (I know people recommend this, but I've had problems with condensation and supplement clumping in the past), etc. In they end they are probably fine. I'm just a perfectionist with certain things (frogs is one).

They're black foots, and they have some really interesting color differences between them. One has a lot of black (top left in top picture, hard to see), some are deep orange, and others are lighter orange. Pretty interesting.


----------



## Justin3 (Sep 28, 2020)

That's awesome, sounds like theyre in good hands. I recently did the same thing in my azureus tank. I noticed my pair was having a hard time hopping around because it was so overgrown with tradescantia. I cleared it out and I'm gonna be adding more driftwood for climbing soon. They were way more active after the trim so it seems like it worked out.


----------



## jeffkruse (Jun 5, 2018)

What are these? Are they just as bold as mints?


----------



## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

macg said:


> [...]Interestingly enough, they do not like the side of the tank with leaf litter. They are always in the dense, overgrown, humid side of the tank, or at the boundary of that with the leaf litter. Rarely making their way into the leaves.


As older adults they tend to wander more, but individual frogs have their preferences, so who knows ... so long as the tank parameters are good they decide.



macg said:


> They're black foots, and they have some really interesting color differences between them. One has a lot of black (top left in top picture, hard to see), some are deep orange, and others are lighter orange. Pretty interesting.


I see three major colour/pattern phenotypes in my Blackfoot breeding colony:

Golden orange, very little black pigment
Pumpkin orange, moderate to heavy amount of black pigment (hard to say in that the black can continue to fade up to 2 years old ... or not at all)
Pumpkin orange with grey speckling instead of black gloves and socks.p
Like other terribilis I've noticed bone structure can be a little variable as well.


----------



## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

jeffkruse said:


> What are these? Are they just as bold as mints?


My own Blackfoots are very, very bold and visible, just like Yellows, but I've been physically attacked by Mints.


----------



## jeffkruse (Jun 5, 2018)

Fahad said:


> My own Blackfoots are very, very bold and visible, just like Yellows, but I've been physically attacked by Mints.


So I think I am hearing that Mints are by far the most bold and the other "morphs" may not be as bold.? And these are Blackfoot Orange Terribilis? They look amazing, are they readily found in the hobby? Can you tell I'm considering them...


----------



## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

jeffkruse said:


> So I think I am hearing that Mints are by far the most bold and the other "morphs" may not be as bold.? And these are Blackfoot Orange Terribilis? They look amazing, are they readily found in the hobby? Can you tell I'm considering them...


Well, by "bold" I mean highly visible and not prone to getting out of your way too quickly if you need to work inside the tank -- in that respect I would say all terribilis localities are identical.

By "aggressive" I mean the most enthusiastic feeding response, and while that varies a bit between individuals, Mints are the only ones that have actually bitten me ... whereas all three localities I keep have taken flying leaps and shots at the food container or followed me around when I disturb leaf litter or tank furniture to pick off exposed bugs.

Mint froglets are generally larger and more aggressive feeders than other localities, in my experience.

I highly recommend any Phyllobates terribilis, if you have the space. Amazing frogs.


----------



## macg (Apr 19, 2018)

My blackfoots have twice launched out of the tank at me dropping probably 3 feet to the hardwood. If they hadn't stunned themselves a bit I may not have been fast enough to grab them. They are completely insane.

Also I agree that there is some variety in bone structure in the blackfoots. Really interesting. This turned into a really fun thread. 

I love terribilis.

The orange blackfoots are readily available from a lot of pro-hobbyists. I can give you the name of my source if you like, but if you can get some directly from tesoros I will be jealous


----------

