# D. auratus or D. leucomelas?



## Steve25 (Jan 29, 2010)

Hello all,

Had a question on the difference. My main concern is Leucs might be too loud for me living in an apartment. I've heard audio files seems pretty loud. How often do they chirp? I want a bold/somewhat bold frogs and a group of 3-4. I have a 24x18x24 exo and would like to utilize the entire Viv.

Any suggestions or maybe other types of frogs at a decent price?


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## Marc (Feb 3, 2008)

leucs might be to loud. Mine are banded and have a nice canary like call. They are not to loud to me. auratus are nice darts too. They can be shy though, depending on the morph. Costa Rican green and blacks are suppose to be the boldest. I have Taboga Island, and they seem to be out and about quite alot. 

Marc


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## dendro-dude (Jan 25, 2010)

Leucs are bold and a communal species whereas with auratus there has been some heavy discussion as to how bold auratus are and what morphs are bolder than others. Auratus have a small call and are one the larger darts and thus would need a rather large tank for a group although communal and leucs i'm not sure about. The files you listen to online are louder than the real call... such as Tincs calling, they are much quieter verses listening to a recording online


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

My Leucs. usually call a few times every morning.
Are they loud? Yes.
It`s also a beautiful sound that I can`t get enough of, even when my 2 males start wrestle mania and it goes on for an hour or so.

John


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I live in an apt, and noone has complained about my leucs yet!


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

frogparty said:


> I live in an apt, and noone has complained about my leucs yet!


....and they better not either!

John


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Thats right John!!!


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## JBR (May 8, 2006)

My neighbor upstairs also keeps dart frogs, he has a group of loud leucs and I've only ever even heard them once or twice. The apartment building we live in is an old farm house, with only tiny little bit of sound insulation between the floors. No guarantee that they will be quiet enough in your situation but I doubt they will bother anyone.


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## Steve25 (Jan 29, 2010)

JBR said:


> My neighbor upstairs also keeps dart frogs, he has a group of loud leucs and I've only ever even heard them once or twice. The apartment building we live in is an old farm house, with only tiny little bit of sound insulation between the floors. No guarantee that they will be quiet enough in your situation but I doubt they will bother anyone.


Thanks everyone for fast responses : ). Of course every type of frog is fantastic.. I believe getting the less loud frog in my situation would be wise even tho Leucs are cool.

As for D. auratus are the green and black difficult to see in a Viv full of greens and browns? The blue look awesome but I'd rather have a bolder frog.. and finding breeders is difficult


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## Marc (Feb 3, 2008)

My auratus are green and black. As far as seeing them, they hop to the front when they see me by their tank. They are hoping to be fed, so no problems seeing them. Once your dart frog figures out that you are the "food god", there is no problem with seeing them in the tank.

Marc


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## JBR (May 8, 2006)

In my experience Auratus are rather timid when they are young, but as they get older they get bolder. Mine never even bother hiding anymore.


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

My frogs are in their own room near my living room. I can barely hear the leucs when they are calling. If the TV is turned up a little I can't hear them at all. You may already know this, but they only call during the day.

Leucs were my first frogs. I also have a group of Costa Rican auratus. I can honestly tell you that if the auratus had been my first frogs, I probably would never have set up any more vivariums. I got them just out of the water and have had them for 4 months. I rarely see them. Its pretty hard to stay interested when you don't see them. The leucs were out front and center from day one, made me want to set up more tanks and get more frogs.
Your results may vary, but that has been my experience.


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## Steve25 (Jan 29, 2010)

phender said:


> My frogs are in their own room near my living room. I can barely hear the leucs when they are calling. If the TV is turned up a little I can't hear them at all. You may already know this, but they only call during the day.
> 
> Leucs were my first frogs. I also have a group of Costa Rican auratus. I can honestly tell you that if the auratus had been my first frogs, I probably would never have set up any more vivariums. I got them just out of the water and have had them for 4 months. I rarely see them. Its pretty hard to stay interested when you don't see them. The leucs were out front and center from day one, made me want to set up more tanks and get more frogs.
> Your results may vary, but that has been my experience.


Thanks for the helpful information. Living in an apartment is much different especially in the city (SF). I wouldn't like the calling myself but my neighbors or roommates most likely would get annoyed fast. Yes they call during the day but still some people work at home during the day or even sleep with different scheduled. So I think I'll go with the Auratus and hope for the best and if years down the road I could always get something different.


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## Naturian (Nov 17, 2009)

Hello Steve,

I have a group of D. Auratus, Costa Rica and a pair of Leucs. My idea was just to get a couple of Auratus when I got them in Dallas last December and let me tell you something, once I saw them I decided to get 3 Auratus and the 2 Leucs. The best decision I've ever made, they are still around 4 months old so no chirping yet, but they are bold and are all around the tank everyday. 

If you want the Auratus to stand out, try to use sphagnum moss as substrate. 

Sometimes the Leucs are a little more shy than the Auratus. 

I have them all together in the same viv for now while I'm "cycling" the leucs tank.

I'd say, get them both, you won't regret it and you'll get hitched with this, it's addictive. 

Cheers!


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## Malaki33 (Dec 21, 2007)

I say Imi's! Even though they arent up for discussion in this thread!


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