# Phyllobates terribilis how to induce breeding?



## deadsea60

I have a male and female pair of Phyllobates terribilis. I have the terrarium fully planted with cocnut hides with petri dishes. I give them food everyday and have a mister set for twice a day. But no calling!

Any suggestions?

Thanks


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## BlueRidge

Are they old enough? Are you sure they are m/f? maybe the male just doesn't want to.


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## pnwpdf

How old are they? How long have they been in your terrarium? Terribilis have a longer maturation time than other dart frogs. Sometimes they can take up to 2 years before they are ready to breed. If you just got them a little while ago, they probably aren't settled in yet and aren't comfortable enough to worry about reproducing. Give them time.


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## deadsea60

Have had them for about a year now so about 2 years old now. I have moved around the stuff recently so maybe thats why. Sexed by the guy at dartfrog.co.uk


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## pdfDMD

In my opinion, terribilis are much harder to sex than other frogs in the hobby, such as tincs. I have a group of four mint terribilis that are about to hit the two year mark and there's at least one male in the group that's started really calling in the past six weeks. Prior to that I heard some low rumbling in their jungle and I noticed all four 'talking' to each other, but both males and females in this species are known to have vocalizations so I couldn't take any of their occasional little chatter as an indication of sex. The chatter usually ensued when one lunged and got a food item another was eyeing or one accidentally landed on a cage mate. Early on, I was certain one was a female just because she is so large, even from the start; I believe my hunch was right as she's the one that chases the calling male all around the tank stroking him or knocking everything over to get to him. The other two are a toss up. They show some interest when the male is calling but I haven't seen any real courting behavior on their part. Except for the size of one large, presumably female, their body shapes are almost identical and I see no variation in the toe pads. 

I'd take any estimate of a young terribilis' sex with a grain of salt. That's not to say that you don't have a pair as that's a matter of probability. They do take longer to mature than other darts. To increase the odds of getting a pair, and if you have a large enough enclosure, you can introduce one or two additional frogs and see how things pan out. Mints are just amazing, though, and while I'd love it if mine were to start breeding I'm thrilled with their attributes. Their color is subtle yet stunning, they're incredibly bold (motion in the room usually brings them to the front of the terrarium, begging for food, which makes for a good show for house guests), and over all very charming. I think the best thing to do is be patient with your amazing frogs; it sounds like you're doing everything right, you just have to let them take their time doing theirs.


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## SMenigoz

pdfDMD's terribilis observations are right on regarding sexing. There will be no toepad differences, only body size/behavior will give clues for the first few years. One established "trick" to identify males is to look at the skin under his throat-- when he calls, this area stretches and causes the skin to blacken. This technique only works once he reaches calling age obviously...
Scott


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## deadsea60

one does have a black throat as the other doesnt/hardly at all


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## JeremyHuff

I played recordings several times a day and flooded my tank heavily. Misting won't do it alone. Good luck.


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## deadsea60

by flooding it, u let the water cover the substrate?


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## JeremyHuff

deadsea60 said:


> by flooding it, u let the water cover the substrate?


Yes. On one tank I just slightly propped it so only about half the tank was wet. Both tanks were mostly Pothos and the like which did fine with wet roots.


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## Tricolor

All good advice. Very difficult to sex. I had one I swore was a female later to have him calling away. I would add a couple more terribilis to the tank. I have never had just 2 breed. It seems to be a group effort. I would go easy on to much water. My breeding colonies are fairly dry and just heavy mist. I have heard with to much water a foot rot problem.


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## Zach Valois

deadsea60 said:


> one does have a black throat as the other doesnt/hardly at all


I was not able to find any information anywhere in regards to throat differences. Can anyone provide some insight on this? I have 2 yellow terribilis and one is completely solid yellow and the larger one has a very distinct black throat.


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## Dendrobatid

I have bred quite a few P. terribilis. I would say that a lot of good information has already been posted by some other members. They are difficult to sex. They do breed better in groups than in pairs. Once mature males will definitely have a darker throat than females. Once they get started breeding, like most phyllobates they are hard to stop. My personal experience is that if you want to promote breeding in adult individuals. That you should put them through a semi-dry period, then mist them like crazy. I would be sure that your enclosure has very good drainage. Good luck!

Jim


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## Phyllobates azureus

Do you have any bromeliads in there? They might not put the tadpoles in there but IME they like to lay their eggs on the bromeliads. Actually my terribilis have yet to put any of their eggs within 15 cm of the ground...another way you could encourage breeding is by toning up the humidity. Like the tincs, terribilis seem to get "in the mood" after a good soaking. Terribilis are among the boldest dart frogs and so a tweak to their environment shouldn't disturb them too much.


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## Zach Valois

So if I understand this correctly, terribilis can show sexual dimorphism in regards to throat coloration but it is not consistent or always apparent?

Might this differ among the color variants?

I have two grown specimens that are literally night and day difference in throat coloration. They are clutch mates. One has a absolutely solid yellow venter, and the con-specific has a yellow venter with a starkly black throat.


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## Frogman955

I have a pair of Terribs which look pretty much identical.
They have just laid their first clutch of eggs and their ages are estimated between 2 and 2 1/2 years old.
I say estimated as i`ve only had them for about a year but I was able to trace roughly how old they were.
The male has been calling for about 6 months now.
Misting was 3 times a day for about 40 seconds but i`ve recently cut back to twice a day for about a minute, and occassionally I give a good soak with a hand spray.
Noticably hand spraying does normally invoke a bout of calling from the male where the automatic mister doesn`t.
Their viv is actually quite sparce as it has not long been given a revamp and i`m waiting for it to grow in.
But they would seem to be happy enough with things as they are.

Mike


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