# Solid Orange Galact sexing



## Spectre66 (Apr 27, 2009)

I'm hoping to get some advice from some folks more experienced with Galactonotus. I have a Trio of solid orange Galacts about 3 years old, that I purchased from Steven Timms(Tripod) a few months ago and I'm just now getting to trying to pair them up for breeding. As far as I've seen and as far as Steven saw these three haven't called at all, and all 3 have some wrestling matches from time to time. In the absence of calling, we came to the conclusion that they must be female.

Now, I managed to find a proven male, or at least advertised proven male. I don't mean to imply that the guy lied to me because I doubt he would, however I'm seeing opposite what I expected. So far I've had the male for a couple weeks in his own terrarium for observation, got back clean fecals, so I decided to go ahead and start introducing a single female into his temporary tank to see if there is a reaction. Fairly quickly he wrestled her to the ground into submission. I separated them, and not too long later it happened again. No calling, visible or audible just wrestling.

So... with the absence of calling, that i can hear or see... is it possible they are all males, and they aren't calling in the absence of a female? Or is it more likely that I have 4 females?

Any suggestions on sexing these guys is greatly appreciated. I know its a tough task for the most experienced which is why I'm hoping someone can guide me in the right direction.

Thanks,


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## jeffr (May 15, 2009)

Believe it or not, look at the toe pads.


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## Spectre66 (Apr 27, 2009)

What am I looking for? same as Tincs? if I have all one or the other I don't have a good reference for comparison.


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## Nick (Feb 19, 2008)

Leo,
I have three pairs and have just started getting clutches from the oldest pair. I have never witnessed any wrestling behaviour between the pairs but have read that it can happen between a 1.1 pair.
What I have seen is more akin to tinc breeding behaviour where the male calls and the female follows him around rubbing on him until they retire to the breeding hut to hopefully lay me a nice clutch of eggs. 
I have limited experience with this species, so others with more such as EricM should be able to respond with more info.
I find that females are more rotund than males, and the males tend to be smaller in length and less stockier. Some boys also have larger front toepads although this isn't always the case.
Female pictured first, male second
Nick

female


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## jeffr (May 15, 2009)

Yes same as tincs. Also body size. The pics aren't the greatest but pick the male. How old are yours?


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## Spectre66 (Apr 27, 2009)

They're all 3+ years old. I need to take pictures and post them up for you guys to take a look at. the new presumed male frog is definitely skinnier than the other 3.


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## DougP (Feb 9, 2010)

I can't offer much help but I would think that you should have heard some calling if you had a male. I have a group (4) of 75% Orange Galacts that are about 8 months old and have already heard calling. I don't expect breeding anytime soon, maybe next summer. The call was quite but audible with the tank closed.

Doug


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## Manuran (Aug 28, 2007)

Hi Leo,
I'm hoping that these pictures might help. The toes as others have mentioned are a good way to tell the sexes. Unfortunately it is not as obvious as it is in many forms of Dendrobates tinctorius or auratus. Also this trait varies from individual to individual. In some males it is obvious and in others not so much. 

I keep my Solid orange galacts together as pairs and I never see any wrestling. They have been set up for 10 years now, so they may have just worked things out years ago. lol Also, while the soft call is audible if you are in the same room, they are not very vocal animals, and it is easy to miss them calling. Anyway, the males tend to be a little smaller in size and as mentioned earlier, the toepads are larger giving the front feet a more exaggerated appearance. It is slight, but it is there, especially if they are side by side. I tried to get them to pose on the paper at the same time, with no luck. Anyway, I hope this helps.
The first picture is the male, while the second is the female.


Apologies to Nick. I just re-read Nick's post and am just repeating everything he already said. lol


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## Spectre66 (Apr 27, 2009)

I waited to take pictures this am before feeding that way there was no buldging bellies making it harder to sex... What do you guys think? This is the presumed male and one of the females, the one he wrestled with.

Best pictures I could get this morning, I didn't have much time.


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## ggazonas (May 11, 2008)

I have 3 male 75% galacts and they wrestle all the time so you may actually have all males instead of all females....also like said before calling is very low and can be missed easily. I had my yellow galacts breeding before I ever heard any calling from the male.

Good luck


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## ESweet (Apr 13, 2009)

I find that Adelphobates are generally the least sexually dimorphic poison dart frogs and are difficult to sex. The quiet call doesn't help any. Looking at toe pads can help, but this is not very reliable. I've seen females with toe pads of a male and vice versus. If you have not heard any calling AND you've spent a lot of time close to their enclosure, I would recon they are all females.

First thing I would do is play a recorded call to them and see what sort of response you get. If you can't figure anything from this, I would split them up to two pairs and provide standard breeding conditions for two months. If you have no courting /breeding, switch them up again and give them another two months. This should get some questions answered.


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## Nick (Feb 19, 2008)

Leo,
Looks to be a pair to me based off of body stucture, female top, male bottom pic.

Chuck,
No appolgy needed, you have far more experience with them than I do!


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## Spectre66 (Apr 27, 2009)

well, let the experimentation begin then... the hardest part of this for me will be to find something that I can tell them all apart by.


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## guppygal (Aug 23, 2007)

Is the first pix female, 2nd male? That's the way it appears to me if we're going by toes, body shape -


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## ESweet (Apr 13, 2009)

Spectre66 said:


> well, let the experimentation begin then... the hardest part of this for me will be to find something that I can tell them all apart by.


Yeah, that's the fun part! It's more difficult with the solid morphs - at least some of the others throw a little more variation


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