# Insight Into Sexing Two Oyapoks



## Leccathu (2 mo ago)

Hello! My specialist exotic herp shop have come into some D. tinctorius 'Oyapok' from local breeders, and among the number are two out of the group that are ID'ed as male. I am thinking of purchasing one of these males, but at second glance I wasn't actually fully sure on whether there might actually be a male and a female. The toepads on both are quite distinctive, but one frog has decidedly stronger cleavage in the abdomen than the other. I have a 1.1 pair of Cobalts at home, and both the male and female have strongly developed toepads, making the female's size the only strong marker of sex. Both of the Oyapok 'males' are around the same size, though the individual with cleavage is larger by about a cm.

This is truly picking at grains of sand, but I was curious if those who have experience sexing tinctorius may have any insight into confirming the sex of these Oyapok frogs?

Photos of the two Oyapoks - the dorsal markings are the easiest way to tell them apart.

















Photos of my male and female Cobalt for comparison.









Cheers, and have a pleasant day!

Best regards,
~Leccathu


----------



## Drachenblut (10 mo ago)

Hmmm. I could be wrong but I think that they could both be female... And idea on age OOW of the frogs? Lovely pair!


----------



## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

The Oyapoks both look male to me based on toe pads. Same with the Cobalts, but it is more subtle there (maybe because the pictures are smaller and less ideal for the purpose). As an a much more experienced frogger told me, I usually keep an eye on the size of the front toes relative to the back toes. Males will typically have much wider front toes than back (especially the long middle toe). On females the front toes will be closer to the size of the rear toes. As with all "rules" like this, there are always exceptions.

Mark


----------



## Drachenblut (10 mo ago)

Encyclia said:


> The Oyapoks both look male to me based on toe pads. Same with the Cobalts, but it is more subtle there (maybe because the pictures are smaller and less ideal for the purpose). As an a much more experienced frogger told me, I usually keep an eye on the size of the front toes relative to the back toes. Males will typically have much wider front toes than back (especially the long middle toe). On females the front toes will be closer to the size of the rear toes. As with all "rules" like this, there are always exceptions.
> 
> Mark


Hi Mark! The Cobalt pictured is actually a female according to Leccathu - go figure!

She mentioned she was leaning towards both Oyapoks being male as you suggested - however they were unsure as one has a significant front cleavage/seperation and the female cobalt had the same - thus why they were thinking that one of the Oyopoks might be female.

Apparently they have been in close proximity for a while and have not shown agression towards eachother, but is this normal even if two juvenile/almost adult males?

Thanks Mark, appreciate your insight!


----------



## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

So sorry. I am not sure what I was thinking earlier  I meant to say that I agreed with the assessment of the Cobalts being a pair, though that male is tougher to tell for me than the Oyapoks. Could be the picture. Anyway, it is not easy to tell sometimes, especially before they are mature (or even after). It sure helps having one of each sex to compare between. Sorry about the confusion.

I didn't usually pay much attention to the toe cleavage, though having it sure makes it more likely that it's a male. It's the size of the toe pads that I paid the most attention to. The second picture down is less of a slam dunk than the top one, but partly that's because I can only see the front toes.

I have had near-adult, sibling groups of Tincs together since coming out of the water before that never showed any sign of aggression. This was not the desired outcome, though; I always tried to sell them before they got too close to sexual maturity. Same sex pairs, either male or female, can work in Tincs, though it's riskier. My experience has been to look out for aggression between multiple females in the presence of a male. As with all dart frogs, though, a male-female pair is the safest.

Mark


----------



## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

Some shots of them sitting down, especially a profile shot, would be very helpful.


----------



## Leccathu (2 mo ago)

Update on Photos:

Thank you all so much for your help with this! I really appreciate it.

I did my best to take photos of the two frogs sitting down. I hope that they may help!

Frog Number One (Not cooperative in the least):

















Frog Number Two (much more amenable):

















Thanks again, and have a good day!

Best regards,
~Leccathu


----------



## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

In those pictures, the second frog could be female. Still tough to tell. Frog 1 is still looking very male to me. So tricky not being there in person!


----------



## Drachenblut (10 mo ago)

That's cool Mark! I know it is tough to discerne from pictures. Leccathu told me she purchased both frogs so we shall see as they mature if the sex becomes more determinate!


----------

