# Caught some poison dart frogs...



## Guest (Jul 16, 2006)

Howdy, today I caught two _Dendrobates auratus_ outside on my patio, and am thinking of trying to house them long term. For today, they are in a 5 gallon bucket with a shallow bowl of water, and deitrus and plants from the yard. I saw plenty of ants in the dirt when I was scooping it up, so they won't starve tonight. I have them on the back deck, out of direct sunlight. 

Couple questions. Please correct anything that may be in error.

I live in Hawaii, and the frogs were introduced here and do fine in the "wild".

What would a good number of frogs me for a group? Are males aggressive toward the female, or vice versa? *I read to keep them to a male/female How would I sex them?*

What size enclosure should I make for said group? It's going to made of mesh and 1x1's I believe...

Keeping the cage outside would not be an issue, would it? As that is where I caught them...

Plants and soil. Is it an issue to use the tropical plants found outside along with the dirt and deitrus? We don't spray for pesticides or anything...and it is where they came from (we have a jungle in the backyard...)

How about hydration? Misting? shallow bowl? Damp moss?

Feeding-fruit flys, pinhead crickets (fortified, of course), insects caught around the house, mainly, ants?


I'm not a TOTAL idiot  as I've worked in a pet store for a year and have kept "generic" frogs in WA before. But seeing as this is my first time with poison dart frogs, I'd like to do it right.

Some pics~









What is that outside?









Holy cow, a poison dart frog! Don't hop away!









Gotcha suckah. All those fish nets around the house finally came in handy...









My makeshift terrarium









Have fun widdle buddy.









I don't think he likes it. :angry:

Thanks, Jamie


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## dmartin72 (Oct 27, 2004)

Wow...I'm on my way to your place! That is awesome. :shock:


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Wow, thats awesome you have these locally! I'd definetly do an outdoor housing of some sort...maybe a screenhouse.

auratus are said to be fine in groups. Only sure way to know sexes is if they call or not. I'd imagine if you did a decent sized outdoor enclosure you really wouldn't have to worry about that. You could try providing bromelaids are small water features for them to deposit tads in. Also you could try coaxing more of your resident D. auratus population to your backyard in a similar manner.

Everything else sounds right but I'll leave it to a more experienced person to respond.


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## Ben_C (Jun 25, 2004)

Hi Jamie,
Whereabouts in Manoa you at? I used to live on Lanihuli st. (by UH)! Are you on teh west end of the valley? THe pattern of the frog looks like the ones we found on that side...
Anyway, the frog pictured in teh net appears to be a female. 
Feed that frog almost anything you find outside...they won't touch the red/black ants and the big black ones but they love just about everything else! They really like the isopods that you find under leaves. If you have a mango tree, take the net that you used to catch the frog or a similar one and sweep it around by the mangos that have fallen, you'll get thousands of flies for little to no work. however, the auratus there seem to prefer anything but flies  I would try leaf litter first, they seem to like the good stuff in that more than flies or termites.
e-mail me, my addy is: [email protected] if you have any questions as I can tell you some good places to find frogs/food for them.
Oh and as for aggression...males will fight with other males although it is much less common than females fighting with eachother.
I hope this helps,
B


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Good luck with them....it must be pretty interesting to walk out and find D. auratus hanging out in your backyard.

Bill


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2006)

Ben_C said:


> Hi Jamie,
> Whereabouts in Manoa you at? I used to live on Lanihuli st. (by UH)! Are you on teh west end of the valley? THe pattern of the frog looks like the ones we found on that side...
> Anyway, the frog pictured in teh net appears to be a female.
> Feed that frog almost anything you find outside...they won't touch the red/black ants and the big black ones but they love just about everything else! They really like the isopods that you find under leaves. If you have a mango tree, take the net that you used to catch the frog or a similar one and sweep it around by the mangos that have fallen, you'll get thousands of flies for little to no work. however, the auratus there seem to prefer anything but flies  I would try leaf litter first, they seem to like the good stuff in that more than flies or termites.
> ...


Great info. I'm on the east side of the valley. On Woolsey place. We do have a big mango tree, but for some reason we got all of one mango this season, which I ate. I'll definately collect the mango leaf litter for ground cover and insects. Excuse my ignorance, but what is an isopod? I'm a bio major and should know this...

For setting up an outside terrarium, do you know of any plants that may pose a hazard to the frogs? I plan on just getting stuff from our back yard.









Our backyard









Honolulu and UH to the left









The rest of Manoa Valley to the right.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Isopod: woodlice, pillbugs, and similar.

Dude, just screen off a portion of that jungle and you've got it made. :lol:


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## dragonfrog (Feb 16, 2006)

Two questions

1. Can it be assumed that because these frogs are from the wild, that they are truly poisionous? Having eaten the insects in the wild.

2. Is it legal in Hawaii to collect these frgos and keep them in captivity?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

According to Hawaii's regs all Dendrobates are a restricted animal requiring a permit for possession. 


Ed


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## Jordan B (Oct 8, 2004)

In terms of feeding, I think you should be ok to go out, grab handfulls of leaf litter, and put them in their enclosure. You designate a corner of the tank to be the feeding area, and put the piles of leaf litter (plus rotting or fresh fruit) there. Good luck, and thanks for taking pictures for us! That is awesome !

Jordan


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Wow, thats pretty cool. I have to say for a second I thought this was gonna be a joke or something. Just awesome.

Just take the advice thats been given and you should be golden.


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## Ben_C (Jun 25, 2004)

> 1. Can it be assumed that because these frogs are from the wild, that they are truly poisionous? Having eaten the insects in the wild.


The Hawai'ian population of auratus do have many of the same alkaloids that the Central American ones do. THey are lacking, if I remember correctly, pumiliotoxin according to the Daly study. THey also have a couple of new alkaloids that the Central American population does not.



> 2. Is it legal in Hawaii to collect these frgos and keep them in captivity?


Legal with permit as Ed said and the permit allows 4 per household.


Anyway, Jamie, a great place to get food for them is at the Pu'u'pia trailhead on Woodlawn. It should be just up the street from you  Right when the trail starts, take a left off trail and cross the creek. THere are a ton of mango trees there with a couple inches of leaf litter. Take that stuff especially after it rains. Put it in a bucket and you'll have a lot of inverts for your frogs.

I hope this helps,
B


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## Guest (Jul 17, 2006)

so the alkaloids that they have, how dangerous are they? Being that he was not hurt while catching them.

BTW, that is simply amazing, i would give anything to have some darts roaming my backyard. But being in New York, i dont think thats going to happen anytime soon


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## Ben_C (Jun 25, 2004)

> so the alkaloids that they have, how dangerous are they? Being that he was not hurt while catching them.


They are comparable to the central american auratus. I wouldn't recommend eating one but capturing w/ hands is not a big problem assuming your hands are not all cut up.

The toxin feels a bit like a mild chemical burn for a while and you get a little bit of an effect if you hold them enough but nothing life threatening from my experience...

~B


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## Guest (Jul 17, 2006)

> Anyway, Jamie, a great place to get food for them is at the Pu'u'pia trailhead on Woodlawn


I know right where that is. Thanks.

I'm calling on the permit as soon as I eat lunch...


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## Ben_C (Jun 25, 2004)

You have to fill it out in person or have them fax it to you. It's the DNLR on punchbowl street. I don't have the number on me, but it should be pretty easy to get.
Also a couple other places that are great for frog food are Waioli tea garden on Manoa Rd (on the east side by the dumpster is a great place for soil inverts) and the parking lot for the old paradise park. Those leaves are full of isopods.
~B


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## Guest (Jul 17, 2006)

I called and left a message, as the lady (I forgot her name already) wasn't in.


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## Ben_C (Jun 25, 2004)

Was it Norma? She was really helpful w/ me when I applied last year.
~B


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2006)

Made their enclosure today. Measures 42" long, 16" wide, and 30" high. Cost me all of $20 for the hinges and 2X1's. Already had the mesh lying around from re-screening the lanai.









Full shot, it's in an area of the back patio that will get 1-2 hours sun each day, tops. The rest of the time it will be in partial to full shade.









The right side.









The left side. I'll get something better for water tomorrow...I wanted to get them out of the bucket and into their new home asap. You can see the mango leave deitrus. Should be good eats in there.

And the occupants.









Cheerleader









So and so









And my favortie, What's her face!

Still need to catch The Ugly one.

(You have to know Homestar Runner to get the names...)


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## oahupdffreak (May 31, 2005)

*Nice Setup*

Sup Jamie,

Nice setup. Is it outside? Make sure to keep it moist. I live down the street from you...kinda. PM me for my e-mail address and if you want to go frog hunting...I know some spots.


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2006)

Cool. I seem to be doing well with them showing up on my doorstep.

I'm assuming you keep them too then? Do you have the permit thingy?


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## FrogOnMyToe (Jun 23, 2006)

Teen Girl Squad


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Ed: What happens if the frogs produce offspring? I'm guessing you have to give them away or donate them to an educational institute?


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