# Painted Mantella



## Guest (Sep 24, 2005)

Hi!
I know this is a forum for dart frogs but I am a first time frog owner and I just aquired a brand new painted mantella and wanted to show it off. If anyone has any tips for keeping the little one healthy any info would be appreciated. I currently have him(her/it i dunno) in a 5 gallon tank with a 1 inch deep water bowl some climbing branches bark and spaghnum moss. I am just feeding very tiny crickets at the moment. They are gut loaded and coated with either calcium or vitamin/mineral powder. It's darn near impossible to find fruit flies out here and I am not sure how to culture them myself but my breeder just uses tiny crickets on his.
Any ways here's a couple pics of my frog i've had him for about 2 weeks now.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Nice pictures! Those are fun little guys, tho its hard to tell the mads from baroni. There is also a group mainly in the US that works with mantellas with a couple members on here that should be able to give you good info. 

Unfortunately I don't know of breeders near you that might culture the FFs, but check out http://www.canadart.org/phpBB2/ for possible suppliers and other resources. They even have a mantella section


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## Ashli (Aug 28, 2005)

try http://www.understoryenterprises.com Mark is amazing.

ooor try http://www.canadianfeeders.com I deal with this guy in person, and Rob is an awesome guy.


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## vignolo (Mar 9, 2005)

Hi
Do you know if your painted is a mantella madascariencis or a mantella baroni? They are both called painted mantella but they are genetically quite different.
Thanks
Pierre-Luc


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## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

i would say its probably M. baroni but im rather new to Mantellas

check out here for a general referance on Mantellas. ive got it book maked as i am having a time remembering how to spell the various species.

http://www.hitroy.com/mantellas.html


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

I don't think you can honestly tell the difference between the two species from those pics. I'm hardly an expert, but of the differences between the species the characteristics of the eye are the easiest, where one species shows some white coloration in the eye, and the other has a completely dark eye (don't have a book to reference which one at the moment).


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## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

like i said im new to Mantellas and my answer was an educate guess going by what i have read and the leg patterns on her frog. i didnt say i was 100% positive :wink:


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

by body shape and leg coloring, I would say it is an M. baroni. The eye coloration is on the madagascariensis corey . They have a tiny streak of dark brown pigmentation towards the top of the eye. If you want to know for sure the species, send me a few good upclose pics and I will dissociate them for you (or send me the individual :lol: ). Take care, and congrats on your purchase, you will love them

ed parker


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## Devin Edmonds (Mar 2, 2004)

Check out http://www.mvences.de/p/p2/VENCES_B47.PDF According to Vences, the only way to distinguish between the two is by looking at their ventral side. M. madagascariensis will always have a horseshoe shaped marking on the throat, while baroni will have a solid black throat or a single dot. Madagascariensis will also have red or orange coloration on the femurs (ventral side), while baroni will only have red or orange up to the femur. Like Ed and Corey mentioned, madagascariensis will also usually have a gold coloration in the upper part of the eye, while baroni will have solid black eyes. Good luck,


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## vignolo (Mar 9, 2005)

Mantellaprince20 said:


> If you want to know for sure the species, send me a few good upclose pics and I will dissociate them for you (or send me the individual :lol: ).
> ed parker


Hey I have some mantellas baroni/madascariencis, would you help me to identify them if I send you pics? There's also one that really looks like a mantella pulchra but still not sure.

Thanks

Pierre-Luc


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## B.Auratus (Aug 17, 2005)

I would have to say its M. Baroni from the markings on the hind legs. It is a very nice one that you have by the way and if you want to find out the sex the easiest way is to just look at its underside. Looking up at what i woul say is the frogs chin, there might be a white horseshoe marking. If so then it is a male. A female usually just has spots or half of a horseshoe mark. I have these guys myself and they are very active and I love them to death. Hope you enjoy your new friend!


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## Guest (Sep 29, 2005)

I am definately enjoying the frog very active it goes crazy when my hand gets anywhere near it.

i'll try and get a better look at the colouration like you said but i think i'll have a tough time getting closeups since the little one scares the heck out of me whenever i try to get pics not through the glass. I'd definately like to know which one it is i may just ask the guy i got it from he's bringing by an entire shipment of mantella's so i can pick out my second one (i feel bad leaving only one in the tank)..i think i'm getting addicted already i've been falling for the PDF on here...but i'm starting small with these guys.
thanks for all the replies!


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

I know that I don't know who you are getting them through, but with all my experiences in buying mantella's, I would not take their word for which species is which, especially when it boils down to madagascariensis over baroni. I have female mads that look almost exactly like baroni's, but have minute differences so I can distinguish them. If you knew exactly what to look for, then that would be your best option. One of the key features between mads and baroni is the gold in the iris, and the brighter coloration on the backside of the back legs (in the crevice, can only be seen when the leg is extended). Also, the horseshoe marking on the throat is a good way to indicate species. Other than that, good luck with them . I started my collection with only 3 mantella's, and now I have 60 plus frogs, dendro's and mantella's, so you are warned, lol . Get us some new pics when you get your new frogs, and take care,

ed parker

I will try and get close ups of my frogs features so you have a better idea


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## djone2 (Mar 8, 2012)

try this. I was told I was sold three baroni's but ended up only one of them is. Now I am looking to trade that baroni or the 2 mads so I can set up a group tank and breed them

Correctly Identifying Mantella baroni and Mantella madagascariensis


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## lincolnerickson (Oct 7, 2011)

Great looking frog. Do you have a picture of the entire terrarium?


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## Baltimore Bryan (Sep 6, 2006)

lincolnerickson said:


> Great looking frog. Do you have a picture of the entire terrarium?


This post was from 2005, and the OP is just listed as a guest so I don't know if he/she is still around on DB to post pictures...
Bryan


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