# Need help sexing Benedicta



## tongo (Jul 29, 2007)

Need some help sexing my benedicta. I am thinking I have 3 females because I have not heard any calling and have not seen any breeding behavior. I purchased a trio back in August 2013 so I am thinking they are around 11-12 months old.

I've attached a picture of each frog. Hopefully someone could help me out. I also found a clutch of 4 bad eggs in the tank when looking for the frogs. Do females only lay when there is a male present or would the calling of other frogs stimulate egg laying?


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

How are you coming up with their age? Did the seller say they were 6 months old? Thumbnails can be healthy and large enough to sell at 2 months. A couple of my favorite breeders have released thumbnails to me at less then 2 months old and they were huge.
Just pointing out that they could still be young.

Is your viv vented? If your viv is not vented, you might not be able to hear a male Benedicta calling. My male's call is incredibly soft. The timing has to be perfect, but if I grab a chair and sit totally still for 15 minutes, right beside the viv, I may be lucky enough to hear him. It takes him a while to forget that I'm there.
If you have fans running, or any noise in your frog room, you may not hear a male Benedicta at all.
Try misting like crazy, camp out for 15 minutes, then carefully press "play" on your gadget of choice. Play some recordings of Benedicta, very QUIETLY. Females may get interested. Males may begin calling. Males may get very agitated, looking frantically for the intruder.


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## tongo (Jul 29, 2007)

Thank you Doug. I just assumed they were sold to me as 3-4 month old froglets. I should give them more time. I am currently redoing their viv and adding a lot more plants so they feel more comfortable. 

I could have possibly jumped the gun and thought I had 3 females. Doug how loud is the benedicta call compared to southern variabilis? I have a passive vent on the top of my viv. I will try the calling video on youtube after they adjust to their new tank.

Thank you.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

They are both pretty quiet frogs. My room is too noisy for me to really judge that, and I no longer have my Southerns.

When they are fully mature, females can be HUGE. When they are fully mature, the differences should be more obvious.
Tossing this out there. Female Benedicta can get HUGE if raised right. If you let them breed early, females can be stunted and never reach their full size. A stunted female may only do small clutches, like the bad clutch you have. A full sized Benedita female can have HUGE clutches of 8 or so eggs!
Raising your females to a full year, and full maturity, before allowing them to breed, can make for better, bigger, healthier clutches. My females were not introduced to their male until well after a full year. After introduction, I had good clutches within a week.


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## tongo (Jul 29, 2007)

Thanks for the help Doug. I just don't have the space to separate them all.


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## tongo (Jul 29, 2007)

I looked at the eggs today and it seems like they are changing. Maybe they are good eggs. I'll have to wait and see how they look in a couple days. Are they usually white?


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Sorry, those eggs should be darker. But hey, you are on your way!

You PM'd me about this. 


tongo said:


> Do females only lay when there is a male present or would the calling of other frogs stimulate egg laying?


I have heard that frogs can lay eggs even though there is no male present. I have never witnessed it myself. I *believe* it's possible, but I don't have proof either way for you, thus my initial pass on that question.


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## DendroKurt (Mar 19, 2013)

My benedicta eggs always start off white then as they start to develope they get darker. The eggs in the picture look good to me. I was worried when I found my first set of eggs because white usually means bad especially in the aquarium trade but no if the embryo is starting to change shape you most likely have fertile eggs. Btw I have never once heard my male call but I have no problems finding eggs from my pair.


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## JWerner (Feb 17, 2004)

On a funny note, my white banded fantasticus tank is next to my Benedicta. The fants call a lot and get my Benedicta going. The Benedicta get very agitated and become very active. Eggs can be laid with no male.


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## whitethumb (Feb 5, 2011)

here's a pic of by benny eggs. all of them are good.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

You can try this to catch them calling...
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/ge...easy-way-record-catch-your-frogs-calling.html


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## tongo (Jul 29, 2007)

Thank you everyone! Yeah it's weird that they are white I was positive they were bad. I just watched two of them go into the same film canister so hopefully that means more eggs.


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## ngeno626 (Nov 14, 2013)

conrats!!. that just goes to show never throw eggs out until you are 100% positive


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## Ashli (Aug 28, 2005)

I'm jealous of your eggs! I've found jelly in a cannister, but no eggs 

As for sexing I have 2 males and 3 females..my females are obviously rounder than the males, but that's not foolproof.

Mine usually call first thing in the morning, at lights out and whenever I vacuum. I can't really hear it unless I'm standing right by the tank, although I can still hear it when the tv is on if I'm listening for it.


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## tongo (Jul 29, 2007)

These guys are quite sneaky. The only reason I found the eggs was because I was redoing their tank. They were laid in the leaf litter. From the clutch only one looks like it will make it to tadpole stage.


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## Dendrobati (Jul 27, 2012)

Pumilo said:


> Sorry, those eggs should be darker. But hey, you are on your way!
> 
> You PM'd me about this.
> 
> ...


Pumilios do lay eggs without males present, I have seen it several times. Don't know about other frogs though!

Marta


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