# Tarapota imitators



## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Received these today. They are Understory Line. I was trying to decide between these and Tor Linbo, but the metallic sheen of the UEs is what caught my eye for this species to begin with, so here we are. 

Sexes are not definitive (*newbie*) - any comments on my sexing would be welcome.

Male 1










Male 2










Female 1










Female 2


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

Nice pics John. Good luck with them!


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

NICE jobs on the pics John.

Hope you hear some calling soon


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## nburns (May 3, 2005)

Very nice John. There is quite a difference in appearance between the two lines from what I have seen.


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## Peter Keane (Jun 11, 2005)

Of all the thumbnails I have and have had, imitators are my personal favorite thumbnail.. and tarapotos are simply a gorgeous frog, very vocal, very bold. The ones I received from UE were too young for them to sex, but within a month or so my males were definitely letting everyone know who they were. I had eggs within 6 weeks. Good luck with your frogs, extremely nice photos.. I can't get mine to sit that long to take shots with my macro lens.. so, I just take what I can get.. LOL... I have some with green hind legs and the orange really stands out and some with bluish hind legs.. Peter Keane


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks guys. I photographed them while unpacking and transferring to their temporary quarters. I'm working on two 10g verts, one for each pair (assuming I'm sexing them accurately).


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

It can be hard to capture that metallic sheen you mentioned in photos, but you managed to do a great job, John. Great frogs!


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

skylsdale said:


> It can be hard to capture that metallic sheen you mentioned in photos, but you managed to do a great job, John. Great frogs!


Well said, Ron. John has a knack for taking amazing photos in less than ideal circumstances/conditions as evidenced by what he was able to pull together from the jumbled mess that is my frog collection. 

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/me...i-terribs-mantellas-photos-todays-meetup.html


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## cheezus_2007 (Aug 20, 2009)

imitators are my fav. frogs  the colors are bombbbbbbbbb on these... verrrrry niceeeeeeeee'


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

These are my first thumbs. I must admit I'm surprised how bold they are - two of them (a male and a "female") were out and about tonight and relatively unbothered by my walking around the room and watching them. Now back to sealing those 10gs with silicone...


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## Jason DeSantis (Feb 2, 2006)

Nice pics John! I wish I could take photos like that.
J


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks for everything Jason.


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## Jason DeSantis (Feb 2, 2006)

Anytime man. I sent your stuff out today and gave you a bunch extra on the leaves. Cant wait to see the finished viv for those guys.
J


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

johnc said:


> I must admit I'm surprised how bold they are - two of them (a male and a "female") were out and about tonight and relatively unbothered by my walking around the room and watching them.


I think Patty said it best regarding imitators and their characteristic boldness: 



slaytonp said:


> Imi's are ghetto frogs, hang out on the balcony, fight a lot and have sex in plain sight.


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

*Update Re: Tarapota imitators*

Interesting update. So when I unpacked these 48 hours ago I put all 4 of them in the same 190 oz deli cup (thanks Ray). Yesterday afternoon and evening I noticed what I believe was these two frogs together all the time (I didn't photograph them yesterday):










Today I noticed the same thing (this time I took that photograph). So I decided to take the second 190 oz deli cup that Ray gave me and set it up in the same fashion. Then I moved these two frogs into it and left the other two in the original container (but not before taking dorsal and ventral photos of the two left behind).

30 minutes later I started to hear calling from the newly set-up deli cup with the two in the photo. I can't for the life of me see them when the calling takes place but it has happened 10+ times in the last hour or so. The two frogs in the "pair" are these two (I now call them Frog B and Frog D):

Frog B:









Frog D:










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*And here are belly shots and top shots of the other two frogs, Frog A and Frog C.* Any thoughts?

Frog A:

















Frog C:


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## Newt1 (Feb 25, 2007)

Nice pics John! you will see them calling soon


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

Sweet looking frogs my gorup of tarapotos just gave me a couple clutches of eggs and I found some tads in the broms! Gotta love imis


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## Devanny (Jul 11, 2008)

Beautiful frogs!, Defenetly one of my favorites.


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Congratulations! When did you get yours and from whom? Just wondering if they're related to mine/same age as mine.

Here's a photo of one of my females (looks like I have 3 females and 1 male):


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks Devanny.


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Oh, and Azure, what did they lay the eggs in? If canisters, what angle?


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

Mine are tor linbo line from Josh's frogs and I have 3 females and one male in a 40 gallon and just witnessed wrestling between my females for the first time a few days ago so I'm gonna have to separate them soon


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

They laid in some really skinny long brom axils that I have, always find eggs near the top of the viv, and I have film canisters all over at all different angles and have yet to see a frog go near any of them, they definetely prefer the broms


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks for the info. I put my pair together in their 10g vert 2 weeks ago and tonight I see them sleeping in the same brom axil for the first time. Cute!


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

Oh and I got them some time ago probably 8 months or more


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

chances are if they are sleeping together in your brom like that you might see eggs pretty soon! Good luck

With mine I thought that they would never breed then I went to feed one day and found my male transporting a tad and I found a older tad in my biggest brom!


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks for the info. I hope so. They're pretty young still, max 4-6 months. The female is the biggest of the 3 though and in the last week she's put on a ton of weight. I always see her in the mornings in the leaf litter chasing springtails.


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

One other thing I noticed is that mine seem to breed better in a really well planted tank the more hiding spots the more privacy they have haha


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

Well I've had my standard imis start calling at as little as 3 months of age so it probably won't be too long


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Ah yes, my male has been calling since 2 days after I got them, which is easily a month ago now.


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

Nice! do you keep any other imi morphs?


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

No but I'm hoping that I can get some Varaderos soon. Do you?


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

I have two pairs of standards, my quad of tarapotos, and a trio of intermdius and I have been looking for veraderos and yurimagunesis as well they are my favorite dart specis


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

Hey do you keep newts and salamanders by the way?


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

azure89 said:


> Hey do you keep newts and salamanders by the way?


It really depends on the species. There is a whole database of care info for a spectrum of species over here:

Caudata Culture Caresheets


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

Thanks, so do you keep marbled newts?


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

No, but I have in the past. Funny you should ask that because Black Jungle keep some at their store.


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## azure89 (Jan 5, 2009)

I always thought they were cool but they are a little spendy for me especially since I don't know alot about them


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

Cheaper than frogs!


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## johnc (Oct 9, 2009)

*Re: Update Re: Tarapota imitators*

I thought it might be useful for anyone trying to sex juvenile imitators if I post what they turned out to be. If you want to play the game, I'm talking about the frogs in this post - go look, take your guesses and then scroll to the bottom of this post to see the answers.















The results! Males: A and B; Females: C and D.


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## Morgan Freeman (Feb 26, 2009)

Ahhh man, these have just overtaken Vanzolinis as my favourite thumb! 


WANT!


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