# Help! New to keeping dart frog eggs; one lone developing egg remains; need advice!



## msb5446 (Apr 7, 2013)

I hope I attached this picture correctly. I am new to this board, and I am fairly new to keeping darts. I was ecstatic when one of my newly acquired "pairs" of young e. anthonyi Santa Isabels laid eggs. This is my first dealings with dart frog eggs. It's been about a week now since they were discovered; However, it appears all of them seem to be moldy or infertile except for one lone egg that appears to still be hanging on with a tadpole. Should I leave this egg mass be or do I remove the only viable egg in this group in hopes of being able to have one developing tadpole? And if I should remove it, what is the best way to do so while minimizing any damage to the developing tadpole? Thank you in advance for any advice any of you guys have! 

Melody


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Some folks remove the moldy ones and some folks leave it alone. If you want to remove them, you should be able to separate them with many utensils. I use one of those slurpee straws. Just be cautious to not puncture the membrane around the good eggs/tads.

By the way, is it possible that you have 2 tads developing? One just above and a little to the left of the one that is lower and to the right?

eta: Maybe start with moving the bad eggs on the outside to get a feel for it.


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## oconnell (Oct 5, 2012)

I suggest removing the moldy eggs. Dead embryos can release toxins that can jeopardize the living embryos.
Also - it may be your female needs some more TLC with vitamins before laying a clutch with more success.


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## pdfCrazy (Feb 28, 2012)

I have many different sizes of syringe from the vets office (with needle removed) along with one I got from the dentist that has a big curved tip on it used for flushign rather than injecting. I just suck up bad eggs out of the clutch. Takes a little practice and if your not carful you can suck up the good eggs. Other than that I just use a razor blad and needle to pull them apart and pick out the bad ones. The syringes make it easy though.


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## msb5446 (Apr 7, 2013)

Just wanted to thank everyone for all of the great help. We were able to get one viable tad as expected from the egg mass; the rest were moldy, infertile, and so on. The little guy just hatched two days ago... Here's to hoping we get a little froglet to develop! Thanks again, everyone!


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## johnachilli (Feb 8, 2007)

I usually leave them be, you increase the chance of rupturing the membranes of the good egg and ime no harm comes to the good egg from the bad ones


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

oconnell said:


> Dead embryos can release toxins that can jeopardize the living embryos.


Toxins? Any more info on that?

I've never removed dead eggs and I don't see them having any negative effects on good eggs.


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## billygunn (Nov 1, 2010)

i had problems with my anthonyi eggs so i now let the parents take care of the eggs until i see the male with tadpoles on his back. when this happens i place a petri dish with a little of my water in their enclosure and the male will release them into the petri dish and i just take that out after a few days. the water i use i make. heres my formula. in a 5 gal bucket i mix 1/2 tap water & 1/2 RO water. i do not treat the tap water since i let it age for several weeks. i put 2-3 full dried almond leaves in the bucket of water and run an air stone so it doesnt get funky. this is what i use for all my eggs and tadpoles. i add a little at a time to the petri dish until they hatch. after that they are placed in their own container with the same type of water. from what ive read the tannins in the water act as an anti fungal agent.


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## Peter Keane (Jun 11, 2005)

msb5446 said:


> I hope I attached this picture correctly. I am new to this board, and I am fairly new to keeping darts. I was ecstatic when one of my newly acquired "pairs" of young e. anthonyi Santa Isabels laid eggs. This is my first dealings with dart frog eggs. It's been about a week now since they were discovered; However, it appears all of them seem to be moldy or infertile except for one lone egg that appears to still be hanging on with a tadpole. Should I leave this egg mass be or do I remove the only viable egg in this group in hopes of being able to have one developing tadpole? And if I should remove it, what is the best way to do so while minimizing any damage to the developing tadpole? Thank you in advance for any advice any of you guys have!
> 
> Melody


Melody, 

If this is the first clutch by your anthonyi, it is not uncommon form the female to lay over a dozen eggs with only one or two fertilized. It usually takes them around three or four tries to get the whole batch fertilized. Then before you know it, you'll have more tads/froglets then you need. We shut ours down for four to six months out of the year. Good luck and enjoy your new frogs and their tads... I only take drastic measures if the tadpole cannot break through the jelly. Once it has visible gills I take a razor blade and cut away all the bad eggs and remove. I then add a couple of squirts of water to help move the tadpole along (in hopes of getting it to break out on its own). If not (after a couple of days), then drastic measures... I take the razor blade and cut into the egg away from the tadpole and pull. I squirt some water on it and it usually wriggles right out and swims freely in the water. Good luck, St. isabella epipedobates anthonyi are awesome and bold and the males call all day!!.. 

Peter Keane


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