# Mixing froglets question



## Moriko (Jan 29, 2013)

Please don't look at this post as 'another mixing post' because it is nothing like that. I completely understand the importance of keeping mature dart frogs separated due to hybridization.

I'm just curious so I am prepared if this actually happens. It is better to be safe and find answers early than to be in a situation that I couldn't handle.

So.. my question is, If I happen to have two sets of frogs that breed at the same time, would it be acceptable to house the newly OOW froglets together in one enclosure?

My initial plan was to have one grow out tank.. but I didn't take into consideration that this situation could happen and possibly be dangerous for the froglets. If so, then obviously my planning would need to be altered a bit.

Also, I would have the option of dividing the tank ahead of time unless there is some other type of danger associated with that as well. I couldn't find anything on the forum about this topic, so I apologize if I missed something.


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## VenomR00 (Apr 23, 2010)

If your do that just make sure it isn't something that can get easily confused together like cobalts and bahkuis.


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## Moriko (Jan 29, 2013)

No, not at all. 

The plan would be to have a pair of cobalts as well as a pair of terribilis or leucomelas so confusing them wouldn't be an issue.

I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't harmful or frowned upon for that to happen. Regardless what I have planned.. their breeding may not work around my plans lol. 

I suppose I should have stated that in my original post.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

Moriko said:


> So.. my question is, If I happen to have two sets of frogs that breed at the same time, would it be acceptable to house the newly OOW froglets together in one enclosure?


YES, perfectly fine.


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

Unless one has parasites that the others don't have. If one pair has coccidia and passes it and another has hookworm and passes it and another has lungworm and passes it you'll end up w/ froglets that have all three.


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## Moriko (Jan 29, 2013)

frogfarm said:


> Unless one has parasites that the others don't have. If one pair has coccidia and passes it and another has hookworm and passes it and another has lungworm and passes it you'll end up w/ froglets that have all three.


If my adult frogs have had fecal tests run and are clean, is there any risk of that happening?


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## bsr8129 (Sep 23, 2010)

frogfarm said:


> Unless one has parasites that the others don't have. If one pair has coccidia and passes it and another has hookworm and passes it and another has lungworm and passes it you'll end up w/ froglets that have all three.



Would froglets, that you raise from tadpoles, even have these parasites to begin with?


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

Conventional wisdom always says better safe then sorry.

However, unless you're using sterile technique in between tanks (washing your hands after you've dealt with anything from one tank before moving onto another), it's likely that if one tank has parasites/pathogens, then all of your tanks have the same pathogens anyway.


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## mordoria (Jan 28, 2011)

It'll be fine. I have a tank of auratus and Leucs babies. They love it. Always congregating.


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## kitcolebay (Apr 7, 2012)

This is something that I've been very curious about. I'd be curious to how many people do mix their freshly OOW froglets, how many that don't, and how many do without admitting it. From what I've seen in other's frog rooms and other posts/classifieds, then it seems like it is fairly common practice. I've not had any of my own eggs/tadpoles yet, but I'd like to know if it is an acceptable thing to do. Is it really unsafe? Has anyone had anything bad come of it? Is it taboo to mention and concerned poor husbandry? I'm glad to see some state that is acceptable. I was afraid no one would speak up that they put their babies in the same playroom because of the dark storm clouds that come with anything "mixing".

-Chris


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## patm (Mar 21, 2004)

For most of us hobbyists, who aren't pumping out hundreds of froglets on a regular basis, I think it's easy enough to keep everything separate to eliminate any kind of cross contamination. 

Personally, I have Dendrobates, Epipedobates, Ranitomeya, and Oophaga breeding at any given time. I have a shelf full of various sized rubbermaids ready for froglets. One clutch gets one tub so that I can keep track of morph date, species, etc. Once all the froglets in one bin have been sold/ traded, that bin is either bleached and sterilized or another group of froglets from the same parents are transfered in.

Essentially, I think it's such an easy practice for those of us that are casual breeders to raise each group by itself that it seems a bit foolish to me to risk anything in the name of saving a square foot of space, or the couple bucks it takes to pick up a plastic bin. Obviously, there are many opinions on the subject, but as previously pointed out, I prefer the 'better safe than sorry' route.

-Pat


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## kitcolebay (Apr 7, 2012)

patm said:


> For most of us hobbyists, who aren't pumping out hundreds of froglets on a regular basis, I think it's easy enough to keep everything separate to eliminate any kind of cross contamination.
> 
> Personally, I have Dendrobates, Epipedobates, Ranitomeya, and Oophaga breeding at any given time. I have a shelf full of various sized rubbermaids ready for froglets. One clutch gets one tub so that I can keep track of morph date, species, etc. Once all the froglets in one bin have been sold/ traded, that bin is either bleached and sterilized or another group of froglets from the same parents are transfered in.
> 
> ...



Thanks Pat! Definitely seems like a valid point. I have several plastic totes that I've used to house the froglets I've gotten as tadpoles. Currently I have my SI's in one. I also have a basic 10 gallon viv that I have my tinc froglets in now. I've thought about adding my SI's to my tincs because I like having them in a glass viv so much better than the plastic totes. I've thought about setting up multiple 10 gallon vivs as growouts because of it. It'd be so much nicer to just let all the babies hang out together in a 10 or 20 gallon viv(or larger depending on quantity of froglets). That's why this topic interests me so much. I'm still trying to get a feel on exactly how I want everything set up for when mine start breeding. 

Thanks, Chris


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## patm (Mar 21, 2004)

5 or 10 gallon tanks are definitely better visually, however, the reason I use the clear totes is because of how easy they are to clean. It's such a pain hauling glass tanks to the bathroom or outside to bleach, scrub, etc. I'd love to have a rack of 10 gallon grow-outs, unfortunately space and time just don't allow it.

-Pat


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## dartfanatic (Sep 24, 2012)

Moriko said:


> Please don't look at this post as 'another mixing post' because it is nothing like that. I completely understand the importance of keeping mature dart frogs separated due to hybridization.
> 
> I'm just curious so I am prepared if this actually happens. It is better to be safe and find answers early than to be in a situation that I couldn't handle.
> 
> ...



Honestly, I keep my babies together by size more than species. I find you'll have more problems keeping a subadult frog with a baby frog of same species than keeping 2 different species that are the same size. 

The golden rule is monitor your froglets carefully, keep an eye out for aggression and skinny froglets, make sure there are a lot of hiding places, and don't put really deep water containers in any container. I also like to keep the substrate very shallow at first using primarily charcoal/peat/leaf litter/coco chunks. This way the springtails you feed won't be all the way at the bottom out of reach from the froglets. I put a piece of mushroom in the enclosure too so that the springs congregate. 

Hope all works out.


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

I had problems w/ azureus being bullied(unbeknownst to me) by auratus. I knew they weren't growing as well as when they were alone but didn't know why. azureus would feed and auratus would hide but they seemed the fattest. i walked outside the room and peeked back around the corner w/ binoculars and saw the auratus wrestling the azureus and eating all the food. 
I don't know if parasites would be throughout your collection, if you have any. i didn't sterilize between tanks and when I got a vet to do fecals on my collection only some had lungworms, a bunch had hookworm and some were "clean". Not definitive as some could've not been shedding but that's my experiences. Which is why I don't mix them generally and not w/out keeping close watch.


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## Moriko (Jan 29, 2013)

> because of the dark storm clouds that come with anything "mixing"


That was one of the reasons that I was a little worried to create this topic. You can't really learn some things without asking though.. so worth the risk 

I really appreciate all of your opinions! Just to clarify.. this was just asked to prepare me in the case that this does happen so I could make a choice about what would be best for the froglets. 

I have thought about the plastic bin option, and although it really doesn't have anything to do with looks.. I'm more worried about monitoring the conditions of the froglets. I'm sure that is due to being an over-protective parent when breeding does start to happen (main reason for this topic) but I will learn with experience. Thank you all for your answers!

~Tonya


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## Tricolor (Jun 12, 2009)

I have grown terribilis, leucs, patricias, azureus all in the same tank. Just like mentioned keep a eye on any that are being bullied. I usually pull out the larger froglets and put them in a seperate tank.


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