# Is this leucomelas courtship?



## jor1989 (Jan 6, 2013)

Hi there,

I've been trying to get my leucomelas to breed. Although they're atleast 1,5 -2 years old and they've been calling for almost a year now, i haven't found any eggs yet. Last couple of days the calling increased and i managed to capture some behaviour on my camera. I've been wondering though if this is courtship or if it's agressive behaviour due to having to many females/males or too small of an enclosure. My vivarium is 80cm tall, 40 by 40 width and houses 4 leucomelas, with 3 of them calling regulardly. The temperature varries from 28 celcius daytime and 22 nighttime. 

excuse me for my english i was bit in a hurry when i wrote this. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjFznlDcvO4

thanks!


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

It certainly looks like courtship to me. Keep misting them 2-3 times a day and give them 2-3 days before you go hunting for eggs. I would even wait a week.

EDIT: i just watched the whole video. It is definitely NOT aggressive behavior. It is a calling male courting a female! Congrats! And welcome to Dendroboard. Please feel free to ask ANY questions. The search feature is a good tool as well. This board has been going strong for a while and has massive amounts of good advice already stored.


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## jor1989 (Jan 6, 2013)

Thanks for the quick reply,

I hope you're right. I'm trying not to interrupt the behaviour with doing as little feeding and manual misting as possible. After my first post the calling continued for about 2 full days, now it's slightly less. From behind the glass i don't see any eggs yet. I'm planning to do a good search in about two days, see if i can find some eggs. 

In an article about leucomelas i read that they usualy deposit there eggclutches underneath dead leaves. Wath is your experience with leucomelas deposit spots?


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## NWB (Mar 23, 2014)

I'm new to frogs myself but have been able to breed my own leucs. recently Don't go by what I'm saying, I'm still learning, but that looks like what mine do just before laying a clutch of eggs. The calling becomes louder and more frequent, and then it seems to lessen abrubtly. Mine scattered their first eggs before mostly laying clutches in the leaf litter . Don't worry if your first clutches are infertile or small, it can take a while.


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## jor1989 (Jan 6, 2013)

I am proud to announce that i'v found some eggs today! So the increased calling wasn't just without reason. 










I decided to take this clutch out of my enclosure because i'm not sure how many females i have and the clutch might get eaten. Next to that i think it's just super fun so see the clutch develop. 
I kinda expected to clutch to mold over or be fertilized, since this is the first clutch i found. So i was surprised to see 5 of the 7 eggs actually move and show development (i'll wait for a couple of days for the other two to develop before i remove them). They seem to be a couple of days, maybe a week old, so there might be some more clutches somewhere. 

Based on my experience with epipedobates antonyii this still is no guaranty for healthy froglets and even if the egg hatch and develop into tadpoles the chance off growing into healthy frogs is slim due to their inexperienced parents. 

I'll keep you guys updated if you like!


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

Congratulations! I am far from an expert, but I have had a couple of breeding seasons with my leucs and I can tell you that I love having a little hut in there (half coconut) with a butter tub lid underneath. They lay on the lids every time and it prevents the trauma of having to scrape the eggs off of leaves, etc. I just swap the lid out with another one and put the lid in about a half inch of water in a tub with a lid. Just an idea if you plan on harvesting eggs regularly. Well done 

Mark


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

Congrats! I wouldn't worry about the bad eggs, even if they end up molding over. Healthy, fertile, and properly cared for eggs will not be harmed by neighboring bad eggs.

Also, you don't need to worry about "disturbing" them when it comes to feedings and mistings. Especially considering they are now reproductive. Egg formation is a biologically costly event. They need the food and humidity! It is the humidity, in my experience, that stimulates (at least seems to) courtship.

What are you supplementing with? Brand, product and age? Any updates on the first clutch?




jor1989 said:


> I am proud to announce that i'v found some eggs today! So the increased calling wasn't just without reason.
> 
> 
> View attachment 130090
> ...


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