# This is probably a stupid question....



## back2eight (Dec 19, 2005)

...but what could be preventing my frogs from breeding?

I have luecs, azureus, and auratus. All are approximately a year and a half old. I had expected breeding by now, but nothing. I hear calling on a regular basis.

If things are not right in their tanks for laying or tad deposits, will they not do it? I'm wondering if maybe I could make some changes and make them happier. 

My auratus are in a 150 gallon tank and there are 9 of them. They have a pond with a waterfall. It is very heavily planted. They have two different huts and both have a small dish under the hut. I never do anything to the dish, however. I looked at them and they both are kind of dirty with pices of substrate in there. Is there something that I should be doing to the dish inside the huts to make them want to lay there? What else could I do to encourage the auratus? I was hoping they would lay and deposit the tads in the pond. They have broms as well. I was thinking about possible seperating out a pair and putting them in a ten gallon to see if that made a difference. 

My luecs have been calling the longest, and I fully expected tads from them by now. They have been in different tanks, and right now they are in a ten gallon with lots of broms. They do not have a water feature, but I put a small jar filled with water, and the broms have water in them as well. I'm hoping that is adequate for depositing tads if they ever have any. They have a cave/hut, but no dish under it. Do they need a dish to lay eggs? I thought they could lay them on a leaf, but maybe I'm wrong.

I have 2 male azureus and one female. They are in a 20 gallon, and I'm not sure they are mature enough yet to breed. I have only heard calling once. They do not have a water feature either, and like the luecs, they have a small jar filled with water. They have one coco hut but it doesn't have a dish under it. They also have seed pods. They have only one brom and they really don't seem interested in it at all. What could I do to make them happy so they will breed?

Sorry for the long post.


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## forestexotics (Nov 14, 2006)

Yes... That is a stupid question! Just kidding. You know the only stupid question is one that is not asked at all.
I dont have much experience with breeding but I will try to help. 
Leuc's... Yes they need a petri dish under the hut with a leaf (real or fake) in it.
Auratus.. I believe they are said to breed better in pairs according to saurian.net. I think they also need a petri dish.
Azureus... They mature slower and might not be ready to breed as you said. They also need a hut and a petri dish as Ive read. 
Hope this helps and good luck to ya......Sara


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## back2eight (Dec 19, 2005)

Is there anything special that needs to be done with the dish? Keep a level of water in it for example, or just leave it alone?

Would the frogs actually be holding back on breeding if they could not find a decent laying spot?


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## JoshKaptur (Feb 17, 2004)

in a 150 gallon tank, I'm sure their is suitable laying sites.

How much are you misting?


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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

Here are some thoughts:

Auratus - While it is stated that Auratus can be kept in groups, egg eating is always a possibility. I wash off the petri dishes to keep them clean when I know frogs are about to lay. Also, check plant leaves (especially overlapping leaves) as they can lay right on plants.

Leucs - Put a petri dish under the hut. Leucs are very seasonal breeders (2 weeks hold back the misting and feed 1 or 2 times a week) then do 2 weeks of misting twice a day and feeding every day.

Azures - Put a petri dish under hte hut.


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## Hayden (Feb 4, 2007)

Back2eight, don't I know you?!? haha, hey I'm kinda a "newb" over here on this forum. Just stopping in to say hello. I've also recently caught the "dart bug" and I've almost abandoned all my other herps, haha, just kidding. Talk to ya later.


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## back2eight (Dec 19, 2005)

Hey there Hayden! Yep, there are a lot of people from the other forum here on DB as well. Not all use the same name on both forums like I do. I typically ask most of my dart questions here.

I thought they could lay on the leaves. There are way too many in the 150 gallon for me to check them all for eggs, though. Okay, so I'll add dishes under the huts that don't have them, and keep the dishes cleaned and with some water in them. 

I mist sometimes every other day or so. I keep the humidity in the high 90's. 

I will also try to pick a pair of the auratus out and put them in a ten gallon.

Thanks!


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## back2eight (Dec 19, 2005)

> I wash off the petri dishes to keep them clean when I know frogs are about to lay.


How do you know when they are about to breed?


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## joshsfrogs (May 6, 2004)

The frogs get on a schedule. They will lay on a cycle (10 days, 2 weeks, etc.).


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## Hayden (Feb 4, 2007)

back2eight said:


> Hey there Hayden! Yep, there are a lot of people from the other forum here on DB as well. Not all use the same name on both forums like I do. I typically ask most of my dart questions here.
> 
> I thought they could lay on the leaves. There are way too many in the 150 gallon for me to check them all for eggs, though. Okay, so I'll add dishes under the huts that don't have them, and keep the dishes cleaned and with some water in them.
> 
> ...


Yeah I noticed Nuggular on here yesterday. Didn't get a chance to drop him a line though. Good luck with your Auratus. What kind of Auratus do you have? I also have 2 probably female blue and black auratus. They stay hidden most of the time, so I hardly ever see them.


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## nburns (May 3, 2005)

It wouldn't hurt to try the water in the petri dish but I wouldn't stress over keeping a constant level in there. All of my dishes are just damp from the misting and humidity. Good luck, some of these guys can be tricky.


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

joshsfrogs said:


> The frogs get on a schedule. They will lay on a cycle (10 days, 2 weeks, etc.).


Yes, some are pretty predictable.

With the six-points, the first offspring I sold, ended up in a group tank, and I think it was a good 2 years before any eggs/tads were seen.
On the flipside, I was holding some overwinter for someone that ended up not taking them, and a trio was laying viable eggs at 9 months out of the water.
I have seen them lay in leaf/bark litter, on pothos leaves, and will use a coco hut pretty consistently. Keep a dish under there, if it is a little dirty, it shouldn't be a problem, but keep in mind they like a smooth surface to lay their eggs on.

One other thing with the six-points...I don't know what their wild habitat is like, but I received the parents as a gift, bought at a pet shop, I saw them in the store prior to that, and they were keeping them in the stereotypical, pet shop "wrong" setup...there was some spagnum moss in there (dyed green) that was so dry, you could see it was dusty, screen top, and they were trying to feed them full grown crickets and waxworms :shock: ...
Anyway, after I got them home and into a proper viv, it wasn't but a week afterwards that I had eggs, so for some species, cycling them may help some.


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## back2eight (Dec 19, 2005)

Okay, thank you!

I know what you mean about the pet shops, I just recently bought a new tomato frog baby that is about the size of a dart frog, it is a very small tomato. They were keeping it in the shipping container and were putting about 5-6 full size crickets in with it in the shipping container once a week. I guess it was managing to eat them, but I couldn't beleive they were doing that. 

I know all my frogs could still be a little young, but like you said Brian, it can happen younger, so I'm beginning to think that I'm just not giving mine what they want for breeding. I'm going to change some things around and see if it helps.

I'm hearing quite a bit of calling from the luecs. Hmm.


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Kristi,


With leucs the males will start calling months before the females are ready. I know it drove me nuts starting out to have this male leuc singing his heart out with no breeding. I have not noticed any seasonal behavior with leuc breeding as our breeders lay on a fairly regular schedule.

We've had good luck with auratus breeding in group settings. Ironically the only auratus I've ever heard call (our green and black) are apprarently two males. The azureus can take a while to get going but tend to be pretty regular after that point.

With leucs, auratus and azureus I've seen egg deposition under the coco hut, on leaves of plants and on leaf litter. I don't worry about keeping the petri dish clean under the coco hut because that doesn't seem to be a deterrent for our breeders.

I have found that with some frogs you just have to wait them out. Even with groups that have dysfunctional breeding dynamics, in time things seem to sort out and you get good results. It sucks though waiting for them though. Perhaps I'll write a book entitled "Zen and The Art of Frog Breeding" :lol: 

Bill


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