# Proper mantella sexing & breeding



## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

Let me do a run down of what I think is correct, and anybody can fill in the gaps, if I missed any in reading online sources.

1. From online sources, supposedly its best to keep them in a trio, or simply more males than females.

2. Keep them on a seasonal photoperiod, 14 hours in summer, and 10 hours in winter, slightly drier. 
3. Mist the tank a lot in the spring and increase the photoperiod and temperature. I'm not sure if Madagascar has a wet or dry season, so it may be cooler temperatures with misting that stimulate breeding?

I'm looking forward to getting M. betsileo, when my local herp dealer Go! Lizards has them available. http://www.golizards.com. (If their bronze mantella isn't ebenaui) I can do local pickup, and will not have to pay the horrendous shipping and handling. I will also be able to sex them myself.

Here's the real question: what are femoral glands? Supposedly on male betsileo, there are these orange femoral glands that will be slightly larger than the females. Where are they? M. betsileo is reportedly among the more difficult to breed and sex.

As a final note about bullying, is this only a true problem during the breeding season? Can mantellas ever seriously injure one another during fueds over breeding? Anybody successfully bred these frogs or M. viridis?

Thanks, 
Rain


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## Guest (May 24, 2004)

there are diffrent requirements for all species of mantella. The male brown mantella can be distinguished by a slightly more angular head. their highly territorial nature, and a slight looseness in the skin of the throat. That was taken from Guide To Owning A Mantella.


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## Christian (Mar 8, 2004)

The only really good method for sexing,,,, 

The male call...

I have three mantella viridis.... and when I am looking at my female I am asking myself if this is really a female but she don't call....

Good luck with sexing...


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## Devin Edmonds (Mar 2, 2004)

Male aurantiaca is on the left and the female is on the right. She is very bloated (full of eggs) but you can still see the broad shape of her head compared to the pointy shape of the male. Sexing mantella frogs by the shape of their head and body should work for all species although there is always that occasional male or female that just doesn't fit. 










Edit: Forgot to answer your real question. The femoral glands/pads are located on the underside of the femur. Males have larger pads than females and I think they use them during mating but don't quote me on that. They aren't visible on crocea and I assume that they aren't visible on other species with dark legs as well. In male aurantiaca you can sometimes see them if a frog is climbing the glass on the terrarium and you shine a flash light on it but they're really difficult to see. They look like a collection of tiny white spots. I've never seen them on female goldens, I doubt they are visible without a microscope.


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

*oh boy*

wow, that's pretty subtle. But I'm sure if I buy the frogs in person (instead of doing shipping and handling) it may not be so bad, considering I will do the picking. I will keep the gravid thing in mind too. I think M. betsileo males should have more blue on their throats as well. Thanks man.

Rain


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## Christian (Mar 8, 2004)

Oh yeah.... I forgot a methot for sexing the frog but I don't use that one because I am considering this method really discusthing....

You open the frog... the good thing is that is universel for all the frog...

the bad thing..... I am sure you can imagine it..... :twisted: 

Sorry for this little joke...... I woke up really bad this morning.....

Just to be sure.... this is a joke.... I never to that....


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## Moe (Feb 15, 2004)

Just wanted to say the only time my mantellas ever called was really early in the morning, such as 4:00 am. They also called from high perches.

M.N


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

*probing*

Somebody during a kingsnake chat interview with Patrick Nabors asked if you could probe dart frogs. He replied "Is that a joke?" Its still there, scheduled chats.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

*Mantella care*

Please make sure to look up or talk to someone with experience with the species you are working with as each species has different requirements, especially temperature wise. There is not a general temp that all mantellas can be kept at! Some are more sensitive than others. There is a guy on Frognet.org mailing list that has experience with most of them, so I'd probibly try mailing the list about it. He'd be able to give you individual care and breeding info for most of the species.


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## Derek Benson (Feb 19, 2004)

> (If their bronze mantella isn't ebenaui)


Huh? "Bronze mantella" can be either viridis or betsilio. Ebenaui is a species of leaf-tailed gecko. That was a funny chat when the guy asked about the probing, of course, my questions were off topic as well, asking about the waxy monkey tree frogs while everyone else wanted to know about thumbnails, oh well. Let me know how that "Go Lizards!" place is, when I go out there for the expo, may stop buy.

EDIT: If you see their tomato frogs at the store, check and see if they are CB. I have one CB that's about the size of a 50 cent piece and would like some more CB, but not freshly morphed.Thanks


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

*monkeyfrogs.com*

http://www.monkeyfrog.com or monkeyfrogs.com has cb tomato frogs. Unfortunatley, they are not selling any animals right now. They have tadpoles and frogs to sell. I will ask Golizards though.


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## Guest (Dec 19, 2005)

The name Dendrobates betsileo was originally applied to a member of the bronze mantella complex. The Betsileo region is outside of the range of the complex, and the type description doesn't match any of the living specimens seen recently. The next oldest names for the group are Mantella ebenaui, from Nosy Be, and Mantella attemsi from nearby. M.ebenaui is the older name, and both the living specimens from the area, and the type description match the animals we see in captivity. I choose to recognize M.ebenaui in favor of M.betsileo, and I am a distinct minority on this. My reason is: all living specimens match the descriptions of M.ebenaui and NOT M.betsileo. The type locality of M.ebenaui is a current locality, that for M.betsileo is not, and is at best hundreds of kilometers away in a different climate. The description of M.betsileo is closer in fact to the more distinctive M.expectata, M.manery and M.viridis. Further, M.betsileo, as currently recognized is made up of at least two species, not including several similar undescribed species, all of which are more similar to the descriptions of M.ebenaui than M.betsileo. I can't say anything to the counterarguments as I haven't been able to read them, or to examine the actual type specimens. Given that most of the known differences are in color, I don't expect century old preserved specimens to be of much help in resolving the issue. I advocate ebenaui over betsileo because I find the use of betsileo inappropriate when the published data do not support its use. Thus, M.ebenaui in a nutshell. As for "bronze" mantellas, the only named one which IS bronze is M.ebenaui. M.viridis changes shades, and at its brightest is green and turquoise. Some populations seem to be reddish, but could be another species. M.crocea is also called "bronze", but their usual saffron ("crocea" or crocus") yellow or orange is hardly bronze in my eyes. Two or more of the unnamed species ARE bronze-backed [or, admittedly, brown], but have some more distinctive features, such as red flanks. Interestingly, the red-flanked species occurs between the ranges of viridis, ebenaui and expectata - are the odd reddish viridis this species? Are the latter an additional species with an origin somewhere near these others? Things to ponder :>


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