# oophaga histrionica



## surfgod247

Ok so here it is in a nut shell, my little brother used to keep poison dart frogs. He decided to move out of the country and therefore decided to sell his Oophaga Histrionica breed of frogs. Well about two months go by and no one watched his tank and some of the plants started to die. I decided that it was a waist and am going to buy a cheap pair of frogs, just so something is in there. Well about two days of upping the misters and getting the area damp what do I find? Two frogslets from his pair that he sold, they are about the size of a nickel in length head to butt and about the size of a quarter when they stretch out. They are very active and seem friendly when I walk in there. It’s been about a week and a half since I have found them and they seem to be eating, not a lot but a few fruit flies each a day. I know that this breed is hard to care for, and the most experience I have had with frogs is just taking care of his for two weeks on his last trip. I was hoping some people can give me some insight on do’s and don’ts for this breed.


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## ChrisK

Which morph are they, what dimension tank are they in, what kinds/density of plants? Just leave them where they are, don't take them out of there, springtails and dusted fruit flies are good, temps in the 70's, the CB froglets should be fairly bold, from there on pretty much the same as any other dart, PM me if you need more info or check out some of my histrionicus breeding threads to see my tanks and what went on.


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## surfgod247

Its a large tank 4ft by 3ft by 2ft. It was a tank that he built and kept his frogs in for about three years. Most of the plants are still alive he maybe lost 3 of them, but there are still a ton of different ones and a good amount of moss. I am going to assume morph means color, if so they are black, with orange spots on his face that turn into yellow spots on his back. The one thing i really need help with is the timing on the pumps. We lost power and it cleared its memory so i currently have them run for 1 min long 5 times a day. it had a 8 head misting system coming down from the top but I think it might be too much water.


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## DKOOISTRA

Id see if you can find some froggers local to you who can come evaluate the tank and help you get it going. As rare as they are in the hobby etc...if any one is around im sure theyd jump on the chance to help.
Derek


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## ChrisK

OK those are red heads, sounds good so far, I wouldn't worry so much about the misting times as long as the humidity is high enough and there isn't too much water accumulation that causes anything bad, what's the substrate and drainage? Here are a couple of my red head threads for reference that you can look at: 

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/breeding-eggs-tadpoles/54206-pretty-big-histrionicus-clutch.html

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/br...ale-histrionicus-transporting-depositing.html


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## surfgod247

you know whats funny chrisk, you are actually friends with my little brother on this site. His user name is AlexRible, im reading his posts now and he has his tank that he build posted as a tread. Its funny he told me in a email that it will be hard to find information on these guys so I figured id hit the forums.


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## ChrisK

Oh yeah so you're in NJ then huh. Yeah just keep researching, culturing ff's, keeping the supplements up to date, keep the temps in the tank below 80, etc, hit me up in case of an emergency (I'm in New York) or if you don't want them anymore (they shouldn't come out of that tank for at least 6 months though), etc - so where did Alex go?


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## billschwinn

Is your brother the guy who moved to Colombia ? If so he actually contacted me in Dec about purchasing his frogs.


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## surfgod247

Yeah he is, he sold them to some guys from new york, now I wounder if it was on this forum. When I first found them I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me considering the tank had such little care for. I hope the frogs aren't sold but its not up to me, it will be up to my brother next time he visits. Ill keep you guys updated and post some pictures when I can. My last thing I need a little info on is feeding them. How often and how much should I be giving them. I think the last time I fed them I put too many flies in because they seemed not interested, and moved to the other side of the thank. Should I feed every day a few flies or dump in 30 flies every couple of days. I'm sure these are such basic questions but since it seems like you have the same breed I would take advantage when I can.


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## heatfreakk3

I don't keep histos, but I would suggest just feeding a few flies mire often, rather than a whole lot of flies at one time.


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## ChrisK

Yeah they're members on here but don't post too much. As for feeding it's pretty much a feel thing, I feed twice a week but with a pretty large amount and my tanks are also pretty well seeded with springtails and isopods, some people feed daily, 30 flies seems like a pretty small amount though in a tank that big since they'll spread out, the frogs maybe split because you freaked them out or something, one trick would be put a little slice of banana in a couple of places in the tank maybe twice a week to keep the flies in there and in pretty much centralized places, that way you can monitor what's going on, if there are constantly tons of flies in there then you're feeding too much, if there are none around the banana then it's time for more, make sure you actually see the frogs go after them too, make sure you dust the flies though, Repashy Calcium Plus ICB has worked good for me, keep it sealed shut tight and replace it every six months no matter how much is left.


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## AlexRible

Thanks evenone for the advice for my brother. I have been emailing and talking with him on the phone for the past week and a half. It is kind of a werid feeling getting a phone call saying you have some baby histos when you are not even in the same country. My brother has ordered some fresh calcium supplements and a new fruit fly culture. The tank is very large with the substrate six inches deep in some places and I am sure is making enough springs and tropical isopods to feed the froglets. I just want him to feed the fruit flies to add the supplements and to guage their hunger. The way its looking I should be back home early April to help out for a few months before i leave again.


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