# Help sexing my cobalt blues



## Sourpatchkid (Mar 6, 2016)

Hello, 

I recently purchased a sexed pair of cobalt blues from a member here. I'm now having trouble convincing myself that they are male and female pair. It seems to me that both frogs have the angled arch spine indicative of a female, yet one of them has a wider girth. The bigger one has wider toes, which is an indication of a male (but not always?). So I'm confused. Please let me know what you think. 

Frog (left picture): ?
Frog (right picture): ?


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## Jmule (Jul 25, 2015)

I am no expert in sexing, but I think the one has heart shaped toe pads and the other has the more arched back. A heart shaped toe pad means it is a male. The more arched back means it's a female. Hope this helps!


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## Sourpatchkid (Mar 6, 2016)

Jmule said:


> I am no expert in sexing, but I think the one has heart shaped toe pads and the other has the more arched back. A heart shaped toe pad means it is a male. The more arched back means it's a female. Hope this helps!


I'm leaning towards that conclusion myself but the one with the larger toe pad is actually larger than the one with the more arched back.


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## tardis101 (Apr 11, 2012)

I can see why you're confused. They do seem to have mixed indicators. But I would say the larger frog on the left picture (the photo with both in it) is a female, the one on the right is probably a male. How old are they? If they aren't like 9-10ish months old (at least) it's still going to be hard to tell.


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## Sourpatchkid (Mar 6, 2016)

tardis101 said:


> I can see why you're confused. They do seem to have mixed indicators. But I would say the larger frog on the left picture (the photo with both in it) is a female, the one on the right is probably a male. How old are they? If they aren't like 9-10ish months old (at least) it's still going to be hard to tell.


If the description was accurate, they're both 1.5 yrs old. I have read that looking at the back angle is a better indicator than the larger toe pad on a male. Based on that it seems they both might be female. I dunno...


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## tardis101 (Apr 11, 2012)

You might try playing back a recording (like a youtube video from your phone) near the tank of the a male calling. See if you have any reaction for either of them. 

My male azureus when sitting looks like a female (and he has small toe pads). But I've seen him calling and that's how he was marked when I unboxed him. The pair produces eggs fairly regularly.


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## jdooley195 (Oct 19, 2009)

Need a picture side by side from above for a more accurate comparison. Backs say pair, with male on left...plus yellow wrists are a highly male trait in Cobalts.

Males have a more rounded arch-like curve along their back to shoulders area, and females have more of a sharp angle with not much too the shoulders.

Need a better toe pad shot though...


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## Sourpatchkid (Mar 6, 2016)

jdooley195 said:


> Need a picture side by side from above for a more accurate comparison. Backs say pair, with male on left...plus yellow wrists are a highly male trait in Cobalts.
> 
> Males have a more rounded arch-like curve along their back to shoulders area, and females have more of a sharp angle with not much too the shoulders.
> 
> Need a better toe pad shot though...


Finally was able to get a shot of them together. You can see the one with the round back and large toes appear to be a male, but it's 30% larger than the female in front?! Are there large variations like this in tincs?


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## tardis101 (Apr 11, 2012)

That last photo doesn't make me change my mind. The one in front is the male the one in back is the female. IMHO anyway.


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## Sourpatchkid (Mar 6, 2016)

tardis101 said:


> That last photo doesn't make me change my mind. The one in front is the male the one in back is the female. IMHO anyway.


Thanks. I'll also tried your suggestion of playing a mating call from youtube, but no luck in getting a response yet. I'll try replaying the sound over different times during the day.


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## tardis101 (Apr 11, 2012)

Sourpatchkid said:


> Thanks. I'll also tried your suggestion of playing a mating call from youtube, but no luck in getting a response yet. I'll try replaying the sound over different times during the day.


You're welcome! To be fair I don't always get much of a response. Sometimes I do sometimes I don't. I've never gotten a response that resulting in the male calling. But I have seen females come out from what ever leaf/log/etc. they were under and show some interest.


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## jdooley195 (Oct 19, 2009)

See if you can get a couple like this...

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/identification-forum/217505-koetari-pair.html


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## Sourpatchkid (Mar 6, 2016)

jdooley195 said:


> See if you can get a couple like this...
> 
> http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/identification-forum/217505-koetari-pair.html


I will try to do that during their next feeding session. I'm beginning to suspect that the the bigger one with the large toe tip is a Suriname Cobalt and the smaller one is actually a female of another cobalt variant. 

This is the only information I had from the add placed on dendroboard: 
Line/Origin – Male – Tropical Ecos, Female - Nabors

When I received them, there was a labeled written as "Suriname Cobalt" 

Anyone have extensive experience with different variants of cobalts?


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