# Which Poison Dart Frogs stay on the Substrate and which ones Climb?



## that Frog Guy

I was wondering which Poison Dart Frogs stay on the Substrate and which ones Climb?


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## Spaff

As a very general statement... most thumbs and obligates tend to be more arboreal than the larger frogs. That being said, our tanks are nowhere near the scale of nature, so even a 4' tall viv wouldn't be considered out of the height range of say a tinc or auratus, or any other "terrestrial" frog.


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## SnakePaparazzi

From the frogs that I have experience with, here is a list of each:

Ground:
Oophaga Pumilio "El Dorado"
Phyllobates Vitattus (will use all available space)
Dendrobates Leucomelas (will use all available space)
Dendrobates Tinctorius

Off the ground:
Ranitomeya: standard green imitator, imitator intermedius (banded and standard), Amazonicus (French Guyana and Iquitos), Vanzolinii

-Christian


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## Gocubs

Generally most Tinks stay on the substrate while most thumbnails are arboreal. An exception to this in my personal experience is Leucs (bumble bee), they tend to be all over the place. I have leucs everywhere. They are easy to care for and a great beginner frog that does well in groups. They are also very observable which is what every beginner forger wants. I personally started with thumbnails that I still see a few times a week, although they breed and call constantly. In a 40gal. Breeder with 4.2 leucs I always see about 4 frogs… just my personal experience. Research does a body good! Read up and get ready to be addicted. 

Cheers, Joe


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## that Frog Guy

So which Species are "Thumbnails"


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## that Frog Guy

My Patricia Tinc often Climbs all the way to the top of the 10 Gallon Aquarium that it is in. The only thing that prevents him from going any further up is the Lid.

Is that very Rare then?


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## freaky_tah

that Frog Guy said:


> My Patricia Tinc often Climbs all the way to the top of the 10 Gallon Aquarium that it is in. The only thing that prevents him from going any further up is the Lid.
> 
> Is that very Rare then?


I'd say no. As spaff said, our tanks don't provide nearly enough space for anything to truly be arboreal. If it's laying horizontal we're only talking about 12" of height, which isn't high at all.


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## WendySHall

While tincs spend a lot of their time on the ground, I see mine climbing / off the ground many times daily. They climb the walls, plants, onto ledges, and into caves that are built off the floor level. Although they are considered terrestrial, I think they very much enjoy stretching their muscles to experience different levels of a tank.


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## jacobi

If you've ever gone hiking, you'll have noticed that the ground isn't flat AT ALL. There are dips, crests, fallen logs, rock piles and more. For the most part, a terrestrial animal will traverse these with ease. A 10 or 20 gallon tanks background isn't going to be any different...


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## Baltimore Bryan

that Frog Guy said:


> So which Species are "Thumbnails"


"Thumbnail" dart frogs are the frogs in the Ranitomeya genus (R. imitator, amazonica, fantastica, etc.)

Our tanks are usually too small to truly show "arboreal" vs. "terrestrial" behavior, so almost all frogs will climb a bit, even if they usually stay on the ground like tinctorius, and I even the Ranitomeya frogs that may like climbing more use floorspace as well.
Bryan


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## ishia

I just got 5 Dendrobates tinctorius 'Azureus' a little larger than a thumbnail.
Within half an hour two had explored up to the top (not on the glass but jumping and climbing levels) of my 36x18x36 (LxDxH) Exo Terra.









Now one has his/her bedding (at least for day one) in the plant on the left hand upper corner - 2.5' above the ground. So it would seem (so far) that if they can climb (they have climbed to the top via the glass too) and jump into planted heights, Azureus will - at a young age anyway. I did read they may climb less once they are older.

The tank has been slightly modified since the picture to make the water feature more safe. Having said that, on a slightly off topic note the first thing one of them did was launch into the water feature and aim straight for a Tiger Lotus leaf in the greatest depths of my water feature (3") - just too cute!


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## Encyclia

Another necro-thread! Well, I'll bite  The ONLY species/locale I have that stays consistently on the leaf litter are my mint terribilis. Every other species I have spends at least some time climbing. As many other have said in this thread, the thumbnails (I mean Ranitomeya and pumilio - are pums considered thumbnails or just Ranitomeya? never thought about it. James Joyce parenthetical, FTW) spend more time higher in the tank, and larger-bodied frogs spend more time lower. Mid-sized frogs, like leucs and anthonyii split their time pretty well between the two, in my experience. Almost all frogs will get up and around to all parts of the tank at some point, though.

Mark


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## Ed

Pumilio are not thumbnails ... 

some comments 

Ed


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## oneshot

I'm a little confused. Do you have all the frogs in your signature? You have "thumbnails" listed. Then you asked what a thumbnail is? Or were you asking what other species, other than the ones you have are also considered thumbs?

One thing I didn't see addressed is why are you asking the original question?

Is there something you're trying to accomplish or something you're trying to avoid? Just wondering.


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## JPP

oneshot said:


> I'm a little confused. Do you have all the frogs in your signature? You have "thumbnails" listed. Then you asked what a thumbnail is? Or were you asking what other species, other than the ones you have are also considered thumbs?
> 
> One thing I didn't see addressed is why are you asking the original question?
> 
> Is there something you're trying to accomplish or something you're trying to avoid? Just wondering.


The original post is from way back in 2012. The OP may have obtained those frogs in their sig years later...


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