# Albino Dart Frog



## jbherpin (Oct 16, 2009)

This is not my frog, nor is it my pic. I had never seen an albino dart frog, and thought I'd share. It is described as D. auratus.

JBear


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## Azurel (Aug 5, 2010)

That is pretty freaky......Looks like a ghost frog....


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

There have been plenty of different frogs that albinism has been documented in, including: R. Reticulata, r. Ventrimaculatus, r. Lamasi from what i remember of the top of my head


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## jbherpin (Oct 16, 2009)

Azurel said:


> That is pretty freaky......Looks like a ghost frog....


I just said the same thing to my wife! I wonder what the impact is on the frog's captive survivorship? Does this frog have as good of eyesight as non-albinos, etc? 

JBear


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## jbherpin (Oct 16, 2009)

Julio said:


> There have been plenty of different frogs that albinism has been documented in, including: R. Reticulata, r. Ventrimaculatus, r. Lamasi from what i remember of the top of my head


I realize this happens in basically all animals in the world, I had not seen a dart frog example of it. Just wanted to share. 

JBear


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

i believe imitator as well julio. they also (more frequently) display a melanistic trait, making the frogs appear all black.








photo by aaronaacker

james

heres some more photos of darts with unusual pigmentation traits:








photo by patrick nabors









photo by michael shrom









photo by vivarium concepts


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## slipperheads (Oct 17, 2007)

Brian I know has some albinos.


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## Redhead87xc (Jan 27, 2010)

That Imitator and Reticulatus looks sic. It's so cool how you can kind of see a back bone on the imi.


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## Austin P (May 13, 2009)

Ive seen an albino tinc personally. The guy gets them all the time but none of them last more than a few months.


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## frogmanchu (Feb 18, 2011)

I think they are sick and would like to know more about these little guys.


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## Austin P (May 13, 2009)

Me to, I know that you'd have to keep em somewhat dark, so you couldnt set up a nice viv full of broms and orchids and such. But it'd definatley be cool to have some.


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## AzureFrog (Feb 3, 2009)

§lipperhead said:


> Brian I know has some albinos.


The pic the OP posted is one of Brian's.


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## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Austin P said:


> Ive seen an albino tinc personally. The guy gets them all the time but none of them last more than a few months.


I wonder why? Do they (any albino frog) have some type of deficiency other than just pigmentation? Is this common with all albino frogs?


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

the only albino dart that i know to survive to full maturity and breed have been the lutiano vents, and that is because they are a type of abinism that still retains a bit of melanin, but all others are think are just light sensitive.


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## chadfarmer (Nov 2, 2008)

wow that would be a crazy thing to have but to be honest i like them but not for the sake of them dieing


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## D3monic (Feb 8, 2010)

My female retic aka "White foot" altho not as extreme as the previous photo


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## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Julio said:


> ...but all others are think are just light sensitive.


That would be a terrible way to live/die if it works the way it does in humans. I imagine the most humane thing to do would be to cull the tads then??? Or can it be seen even as eggs?


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## Adven2er (Aug 17, 2008)

A photo to add to the thread. This little guy (Tarapoto) just morphed last week. I have 2 more tads like this in the water.


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## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

Austin P said:


> Ive seen an albino tinc personally. The guy gets them all the time but none of them last more than a few months.


yeah from what I hear no albinos PDFs last long


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## Vivexx (Nov 28, 2007)

jbherpin said:


> I just said the same thing to my wife! I wonder what the impact is on the frog's captive survivorship? Does this frog have as good of eyesight as non-albinos, etc?
> 
> JBear


Albinos are more prone to blindness in every creature. So it's possible they don't have full sight every animal will vary but it is a genetic deformity, it would also have a part in the shorter life span.


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## B-NICE (Jul 15, 2011)

a little off the subject, but someone on here had non green red eye tree frogs; I was wondering if those are albino even though the eyes are red. That frog looks like it went into bleach and lost its nice colors.


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## Dendroguy (Dec 4, 2010)

These are Intresting frogs,but I think that they shouldn't be bred as a 'morph'


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## rbrock (Nov 2, 2008)

They are pretty cool looking


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## Adven2er (Aug 17, 2008)

Took this pic today. This one just crawled out of the brom.


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## whitethumb (Feb 5, 2011)

old thread, but awesome photos.


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## that Frog Guy (May 13, 2012)

Didn't know those existed.

They must be pretty rare.

I bet they are worth a ton of money.


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## Gocubs (Apr 23, 2012)

Beautiful.


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## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

that Frog Guy said:


> I bet they are worth a ton of money.


It would seem rather foolish to spend a lot of money on them only to have them die not long after.
...or worse yet, living in misery.


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## Gocubs (Apr 23, 2012)

Do the melanistic frogs seem to have helth problems as well?


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## Adven2er (Aug 17, 2008)

I think Whitethumb needs a new avatar. 

Wendy that's not completely true. My pair are 1.5 years old and act like any other Tarapoto I've had in my collection. They hunt down prey items like champs. Male calls, female follows...feeds the baby.


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## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Never meant to imply that every single one died or suffered...although it sounds like many do from what has been previously written here. (I actually have none, zip, nada experience with any albinos.) I was just replying to the comment about them being worth a lot of money. It really does seem like a foolish thing to risk...death or misery of the frog.

I'm glad to hear that yours are doing great, though. 
Do you have to keep them in the dark? Are they extremely light sensitive???


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## Adven2er (Aug 17, 2008)

No problem Wendy. I personally don't think they should be sold for alot of money either. But if someone wanted to offer me a boatload of cash ,for my breeding pair, I'm all ears.  Son going to college and all.

They don't seem to mind the lights. In fact their favorite brom is right under the light fixture. I keep them in a vertical twenty high.

They really are my favorite frogs. Very bold and fun to watch.


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## jloucks (Mar 10, 2013)

WOah! That is awesome! *wants*


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## LordHollis (Nov 12, 2012)

Wow this is defanitly awesome i would love to know more? i've never took the time to look up an albino Pdf


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## NM Crawler (Jan 23, 2012)

Adven2er said:


> I think Whitethumb needs a new avatar.
> 
> Wendy that's not completely true. My pair are 1.5 years old and act like any other Tarapoto I've had in my collection. They hunt down prey items like champs. Male calls, female follows...feeds the baby.


Glad your working with them Rick! Can't wait to see them in the hobby down the road. Love it how everyone freaks out when they see something different.


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## r.avalos (Apr 10, 2013)

These albino dart look so beautiful, would wanna see one in person. Does anyone know how common they are?


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## Adven2er (Aug 17, 2008)

Fresh out of the brom today. Proud momma below.


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