# Sexing Painted Mantellas



## kleinhanz (Oct 18, 2004)

All-

I have three Painted Mantellas that I bought at the 2nd annual NWFF. They were unsexed froglets when I bought them, but now they are fully matured frogs. I'm almost positive that they are all of the same sex (they have never exhibited breeding behavior)...but which??? How do you tell the males from the females? 

I would love to breed these guys but I do not know what sex I need. Can someone help me??? Any photos which may show size, toe pad, throat color differences, or whatever I need to look for would be a big help.


Thanks in advance.

Note: If I can get a positive ID on my frogs, I will be looking to purchase 1 or 2 adults (Seattle area preferred) to breed with my colony


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

Well, the first thing we have to do is find out if they are the m. baroni, or m. madagascariensis. There are a few distinct differences, but species differentiation is very hard to determine, unless you have one of each side by side. The madagascariensis is generally a little rounder, with a thinner eye line, and you can see a light brown section in their eyes, and they have bright red flask marks on their femurs, and usually skinnier bands of black in the orange part of their back legs. The m. Baroni has a thicker eye "brow" line, thicker black lines through the orange, and typically does not have red flash marks. Their eyes are solid black. THis is the most common type of painted mantella. 
After you have this down, you can begin sexing them. As a rule with most mantella's, females are generally rounder, while males are more angular, with a pointier nose. Females are usually larger. Males will have a baggier throat from calling (calling is the best way to determine sex, although it can prove tricky because mantella's like to call from their secret spots). If I think of anything else, I will post it for you. I don't have my copy of MANTELLA'S with me right now, but I will look through it. I would not recommend you base your frogs species on any pictures you see online. Many of them are inaccurate, because most people can't differentiate between them. Also, if you have, or can get pics of them, either email them to me, [email protected], or post them here. GOod luck with your painteds. I have a lone male madagascariensis right now, and I would love to find him a date, but madagascariensis' aren't easy to find.

Ed Parker[/quote]


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## kleinhanz (Oct 18, 2004)

Thank You Ed!!!

I appreciate your guidance in identifying the species and sex of my 3 Mantellas. I will send the pics to your yahoo account because I am unsure how to post pics here without linking in a web address

Talk to you soon!!


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