# Pumilo's Benedicta rebuild



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Our Benedicta have been VERY shy. I usually run my thumbnail vivs with film canisters instead of broms. We are taking some advice from Smackofthegods this time and adding a nice big brom. He said his Benedicta become more bold with the addition of a large brom. Time will tell. We got the brom from Jason DeSantes along with some epiphyte ferns that will go into our Sumersi viv and a couple other broms we haven't decided on yet. The viv is one of our 25 gallon slope fronts.


----------



## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

tank looks to be pretty big!

are you just putting the 2 in there?
i remember mark talking about how they were keeping them in pretty dense populations and how the best results were coming from tanks around 20gal, but i havent worked with these yet so its all hearsay from me 

james


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

james67 said:


> tank looks to be pretty big!
> 
> are you just putting the 2 in there?
> i remember mark talking about how they were keeping them in pretty dense populations and how the best results were coming from tanks around 20gal, but i havent worked with these yet so its all hearsay from me
> ...


2 is all we could afford so far. We may add to the group when we have funds or if a possible trade rolls around. Looks like we may have to if they are both female. I have spoken to a few people about groups and size of viv. My viv may be a little bigger than would be best for maximum production but that's ok as long as we get some breeding from them eventually. There are some people having very good breeding results from them by keeping them as pairs.


----------



## boombotty (Oct 12, 2005)

I keep a group of 5 in a 45g with lots of broms and have really good production. With a group, I can always see 2 or 3 as well. Even though there are lots of broms, they utilize black film canisters on the leaf litter for laying more than the broms. If you have a pair, the female will be quite a bit larger than the male, as my females are huge.


----------



## randommind (Sep 14, 2010)

I keep a pair in a 10g vert. Small I know, but I will say that my pair are ALWAYS out and about. There are 2 small broms in the viv along with 9 film cans scattered about. They have only given me 2 clutches to date and both were found in the tiny gap that is formed between 2 film cans when stuck to the side of the tank.

on a side note...both of my clutches were infertile. If anyone has any suggestions or advise to offer on that please P.M. me to avoid a hijack.


----------



## Tuckinrim8 (Jul 26, 2007)

Hey Doug,

I keep my trio in a 24x18x24 Exo and just recently started getting tads from them. I have bunch of film cans incorporated in the background and so far they have used none of them and have also ignored the few I've got stuck to the glass. I am thinking they are laying in the leaf litter as that is where they can most often be seen. My group is also pretty reclusive but have recently started seeing them a little more so maybe the breeding has caused them to lose some of their inhibitions (it happens to the best of us ) Here is a pic of their viv as of this morning...


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Hey Random, no concerns about a hijack, it's about benedicta, it's all good info. My vote is vitamin A. A vitamin A deficiency can cause bad eggs. My frogs are all on the same feeding and dusting schedule (although froglets get fed a little more often) and they are dusted with Repashy Calcium Plus (and some Superpig) My Tor Linbo Tarapoto still bred extremely sporadically and when they did, there were a lot of bad clutches. We only got 4 good froglets in over a year. I finally got off my butt and got serious about doing smaller feedings, more often, so that the dust would still be on the flies when they ate them. My thought was that without flies in the viv all the time, they would be hungrier and suck em up fresh. Also, I started dusting a half and half mix of Repashy's new vitamin A suppliment and Repashy Calcium Plus. I decided to use it twice a week for the first couple weeks, then consider scaling back. After only two weeks I found well formed eggs. A few days later I've got a second clutch forming.


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

The latest input I received has confirmed my suspicions, I'm sitting on two females! http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/breeding-eggs-tadpoles/78331-benedicta-sexing.html
If anybody has a lead on picking up a calling male, please give me a heads up.
Thanks!


----------



## boombotty (Oct 12, 2005)

I don't know if you are wanting to trade one of your females for a male, but from what I understand, the fant group needs mutiple females in their group dynamics. It seems like my females will wrestle, then they will lay within a day or 2 of the others. If I were you, I would add a male to your 2 females.


----------



## randommind (Sep 14, 2010)

Pumilo said:


> I finally got off my butt and got serious about doing smaller feedings, more often, so that the dust would still be on the flies when they ate them.


Ahhh, for whatever reason I never thought of doing this. New feeding schedule starts tomorrow.

...and just for kicks, here is a fairly horrible video of my benedicta viv with a little bit of calling in the beginning..


----------



## D3monic (Feb 8, 2010)

Heres my 24x18x24 with a trio in it. I can always spot at least two with them being Very bold. They also utilize the film cans in the manor that you see to the left there. 










Ranitomeya Benedicta Calling - YouTube


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

randommind said:


> Ahhh, for whatever reason I never thought of doing this. New feeding schedule starts tomorrow.
> 
> ...and just for kicks, here is a fairly horrible video of my benedicta viv with a little bit of calling in the beginning..
> 
> Benedicta viv - YouTube


It's just sad that I've just seen your Benedicta more in 1 minute than I have seen my own in 6 months!


----------



## boombotty (Oct 12, 2005)

I think if you'll add a couple more to yours, you will see them more as they seem to be quite a bit more bold in groups.


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

(politely pounding on Scott's front door, holding a shotgun) 
(Billy Idol "White Wedding" playing in the background)

_I'd like to discuss the intentions of your frog you sent over here. I had two beautiful, virgin girls here and your boy has, ahh, damaged their virtue! Now I got myself two girls ain't gonna be no good fer any other man!
There's gonna be a weddin this here very afternoon. I'm not sayin yer boy better be there. I'm just sayin._..(cocking my shotgun)

I received a calling male from Scott just 10 days ago and I have 2 developing clutches. 3 good and forming in the first clutch of 3, and 6 good and forming in the second clutch of 6!


----------



## shibbyplustax (Feb 28, 2011)

Pumilo said:


> (politely pounding on Scott's front door, holding a shotgun)
> (Billy Idol "White Wedding" playing in the background)
> 
> _I'd like to discuss the intentions of your frog you sent over here. I had two beautiful, virgin girls here and your boy has, ahh, damaged their virtue! Now I got myself two girls ain't gonna be no good fer any other man!
> ...


Haha nice, congrats doug. I will have to subscribe to this thread, this frog is on my wish list. You think these are any harder to keep than other thumbnail species?
Looking forward to seeing your progress with them, keep us posted!

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk 2


----------



## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

Now I envy you Doug, still waiting on my Benedicta doing things!

Regards,
Richie


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

shibbyplustax said:


> Haha nice, congrats doug. I will have to subscribe to this thread, this frog is on my wish list. You think these are any harder to keep than other thumbnail species?
> Looking forward to seeing your progress with them, keep us posted!
> 
> Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk 2


Not at all, except for perhaps the potential escape issue. Benedicta are, hands down, the fastest frog I have ever worked with. We call them "popcorn frogs" because when we used to open the lid on our grow out tub, our two benedictas went crazy. Those two frogs popping all over the container looked like opening up a popcorn popper in mid pop!! Somehow those two frogs looked like 10 or 20 freaking out in there!
They did settle in to their permanent home and aren't so crazy now but I would never turn my head away from an open benedicta viv for even a split second.


----------



## Brian317 (Feb 11, 2011)

Pumilo said:


> Not at all, except for perhaps the potential escape issue. Benedicta are, hands down, the fastest frog I have ever worked with. We call them "popcorn frogs" because when we used to open the lid on our grow out tub, our two benedictas went crazy. Those two frogs popping all over the container looked like opening up a popcorn popper in mid pop!! Somehow those two frogs looked like 10 or 20 freaking out in there!
> They did settle in to their permanent home and aren't so crazy now but I would never turn my head away from an open benedicta viv for even a split second.


Thats crazy!!! I'd be scared to keep them in a front opening viv just for that reason. How much faster are these guys compared to fants?


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Brian317 said:


> Thats crazy!!! I'd be scared to keep them in a front opening viv just for that reason. How much faster are these guys compared to fants?


I've only recently started keeping any Fantastica. I haven't seen my fants "popcorn" yet, though. Perhaps someone more experienced with fantastica can comment?


----------



## randommind (Sep 14, 2010)

So, have you guys been able to see more of them since the introduction of the male?


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Oh yes. They very next day they began making appearances. Last night the male was out. I opened the door and stuck my nose about 8 inches away from him. He just stared at me. I'm pretty sure I heard a tiny little, "Bring it on, grandpa!"
The females have been out more too, but not as much as he has.


----------



## pdfCrazy (Feb 28, 2012)

I'll set you up with a free oil change at jiffy lube in exchange for 3 of those Beni froglets when their old enough.  Thats a $41.99 value. Better jump on that offer before I change my mind Doug....... I'm just sayin......


----------



## boombotty (Oct 12, 2005)

Pumilo said:


> (politely pounding on Scott's front door, holding a shotgun)
> (Billy Idol "White Wedding" playing in the background)
> 
> _I'd like to discuss the intentions of your frog you sent over here. I had two beautiful, virgin girls here and your boy has, ahh, damaged their virtue! Now I got myself two girls ain't gonna be no good fer any other man!
> ...


That's funny stuff! I laughed my ass off when I first read that.
Awesome my dude likes the ladies, must be nice to be able to pick which one he lays with each night 
I guess I have to change my avatar, since he is the one that is on there.


----------

