# Below 80 degrees???



## MELLOWROO421 (Feb 21, 2007)

I was wondering what makes our frogs at home so much more sensitive to the temperature than those in the wild. Since I have been involved with keeping darts I have always been told to keep the temps at a max of 80 degrees, and I have even lost 1 frog that I am convinced was due to an overheated viv, but I spent the last 9 days in Costa Rica where the temps were at least mid 80's every day and we saw lots of Auratus' and Pumillios. There were also D. granuliferus, P. lugubris and P. vittatus living in the same area. I was just wondering why the higher temps don't cause the same problems there that they seem to cause in our viv's at home.


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## rjmarchisi (Feb 16, 2004)

I think in most of the smaller sized tanks, if the temp reaches the 80's then the whole tank is that temp. In taller, unsealed tanks there is a temperature gradient. In most of my tanks, at the bottom in the leaf litter it is around 73, hitting the low 80's at the top of the glass. Most pumilios tolerate the higher temps, with it getting colder at night as well.

rob


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## markbudde (Jan 4, 2008)

can you go into more detail about the frog you lost? I'm also interested in how much truth there is to this myth.
-mark


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

i agree with rob. It would be interesting to test the temperature at ground level, which may be a degree-a few degrees lower. Unlike in vivs the frogs are not forced to stay out in the heat all the time and can escape to thermoregulate if needed.


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## leveldrummer (May 30, 2008)

i think in the wild, ground temperature, in the shade of other plants, with wind, and humidity evaporation, it would end up a much cooler environment than the 90 degrees you feel with the sun beating on your back.


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## dom (Sep 23, 2007)

fresh air movement might have something to do with it also..


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## DizzyD (Sep 19, 2006)

I'm willing to bet the closer to the ground, the lower the temp. Ever walk into your basement on a 90 something degree day? 
Oh, and I'm guessing our "temp rules" are definitely made w/ 10 gallon tanks in mind, less room/freedom for frogs to find a "cooler" place if they require it. I guess in theory, if you had a huge tank/display, you would have a very large temp gradient from top to bottom, where hitting the upper 90's at the very top wouldn't be so bad. 
If someone were to take temp data from one of the zoos w/ a large pdf enclosure we would get some great info. Of course you would have to watch a frog all day and compare the temp's w/ the frog's location in the tank. It would probably be a horrible job :wink: .


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## *GREASER* (Apr 11, 2004)

my tanks hit 86 last week and all the frogs were fine. And of course micro climates in the wild help with them being able to deal with high temps. I also keep my frogs really cold at times during the winter. Colder then some people think can be done.


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## frog_newbie (Sep 5, 2007)

I have had my tanks hit the mid 80's as well without problems, seems like my frogs called more too. But I will be getting a Herpostat to control the temps in my frog room when I get a new place.

Bruce


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Obvious question is what species were they and how long has it been since this high temp exposure.


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## boricorso (Feb 19, 2008)

Im no expert and just recently got back into darts.

Im keeping 2 pumilio in temps between between 80-88, most days in the 82-85 range. they seem to be doing great but I will have to let you know how they keep doing a littlle bit down the line and once moved to their permanent enclosures.

The climate here is very similar to that of Costa Rica and Panama so i decided to give it a try, and trust me 85 degrees feels more like 90 in warm humid days wheather you are in the shade or in the sun. Thats at ground level.

m


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

*GREASER* said:


> my tanks hit 86 last week and all the frogs were fine. And of course micro climates in the wild help with them being able to deal with high temps. I also keep my frogs really cold at times during the winter. Colder then some people think can be done.


Hey Greg,
what do you keep yoru tank temps at in the winter? sometimes mine drop to the low to mid 60s at night and high 70s at night.


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## DF20 (Jul 7, 2007)

I have two cayo de agua tanks one is a 29vert and the other is a 24 high exo, and their temps are 84-86 everyday, and low 70s at night, and they are breeding, calling, and eating fine, and seem not to mind it at all. though i found that intermedius like cooler temps, the male would not call at the higher temps but when i moved him downstairs to a lower temp about 74 he called constantly, just what ive noticed...dan


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## knuckles4696 (Jun 23, 2008)

ok so im draggin up this post a lil cause i want more people to chime in with there temps. i live in arizona and honestly its been almost impossible to keep temps under 80 always. my frogs listed in my sig have been doing just fine too. it has not gotten to 85 yet but i have had 83 almost 84 degrees. mind you its not prolonged amount of time, and its only happened 3-4 times. but i do see 80-82 on a daily basis in my auratus tank wich is a 35 gallon, mind you they have so much plant cover that they dont have to receive direct light and there is also a waterfall with cool water. i ave never noticed a decreas in there activity there almost always out and about and even seem oblivious to me. my imi tank gets to about 80-80.5 and they also seem great(calling males and all) that temp is taken at the half way mark in there tank its a 18x18x24. my tinchoovers around 78-79 and shes always active same with my campana auratus. so hopefully we can get some more info, and i definetely agree that the wole keep under 80 thing might be a lil more geared towards the smaller tanks.


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## Pirateglow (Jul 29, 2008)

For the folks that mentioned their tanks were hitting mid 80's... do your frogs behave normally at these times? Do they stop breeding? Act stressed? 

I have a tank that during heat waves gets up to 83-85 for a few hours... it seems to delay my Azureus egg laying with this happens. Does this sound like the cause?


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## LittleDip (May 20, 2007)

Before I got my a/c unit in my room- my temps were in the mid 80's (80-83) and my brazilian yellow heads did hide a lot and were not as active. But since I have my tanks in the mid to upper 70's they are out more and more active for me. 

I thought that the lower 80's is WAY to hot for any frog, except thumbnails that can stand the high temps?


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## Axl (Dec 9, 2006)

Hello,
I have my brazilians at 80s on the leaf liiter and 86s just under the lights (it's a 37gal, 24inch high). They look healthy and very active at 80s or upper 70s. I think some temp drop at night (76 or so) is also good for them. That's all I can come up with.


Ahh! yeahh... I have read some info about tinctorius habitats and they seem to live in warmer and drier zones than other species.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

My 38 gal hex for my leucs has been getting up to 88 in the afternoon as my cabin heats up. They are all fine and this is the 2nd summer they have gone through it. Mating stops and they call less, but on cool days interspersed I get egg laying up to 80 degrees. Wouldn't put a thumbnail in that room, but the leucs dont seem to care. I do have lots of shady hiding areas and a very stratified tank so they can find nice microclimates. Lots of brom pools to take a dip in to cool off.


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## brbarkey (May 15, 2004)

I bet I would be a lot healthier if I lived out doors at 80 degrees vs. living in my house at 80 degrees with no circulation and lights that produced a good amount of heat. I would probably go nuts and want to kill myself.


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