# Leucomela breeding habits



## jdawud (Mar 18, 2015)

Hey there frogger friends!

My lovely lil leucomelas (0.0.3) are about 13-14 months old or so and I haven't heard any calling at all. Recently I started playing calls and it elicits a strong response from the one we call The Cuddler, who approaches the front glass and goes back and forth and climbs around a lot. He(?) is skinnier than the other two, which are rather pear shaped. It's tough to say with one of the other frogs because sometimes it react sometimes not. I think I might have 1.2, but of course I could easily be wrong. 

So, I've been reading a bunch of old threads about leucs and breeding and want to make sure what I think I've learned is in fact true. Please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this.

Males can start calling as early as 5-6 months but sometimes not until 18. (Average of a year?)

Females usually need ~3 months more before they are receptive.

The first few clutches often fail, possibly due to not being fertilized.

Males call, ladies follow the males around touching the male on the back with their front legs, eventually (sometimes a couple hours) they go to a laying area and the male deposits sperm then the female lays the eggs on it thus fertilizing them. A competing female can distract/interfere and keep this from happening. 

They start to breed during periods of high humidity (90-95%) and plentiful food, although this sometimes needs to be preceded by (about?) a month of lower humidity (65-70%). 

Tadpoles will eat each other so individual cups are preferred if not "letting nature take its course". 

Females will eat other females' eggs. 

Eggs should be black. If they are mottled they might not be fertilized. Bad eggs turn cloudy white.

Eggs take 14+ days to hatch and tadpoles take ~3 months to morph out and leave the water.

Eggs should be kept in a thin layer of water (RO?) that keeps the bottoms wet but doesn't cover the eggs. 

Tadpoles should be kept in the mid 70s in a tannin water/"tea" (seems to be several ways that people do this) and fed (so many different opinions, can't really tell if there is a generally accepted diet).

Once the legs pop, give them a slope to be able to climb out of the water when they are ready because they loose gills shortly after and could drown.

I'm sure I've missed some stuff, but is that about right? Please feel free to correct me, expand, explain, or link to better info.

Thanks!


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## pdfCrazy (Feb 28, 2012)

That pretty much sums it up.


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## jdawud (Mar 18, 2015)

Haha! PdfCrazy, I was just reading another thread and saw your Facebook signature, you've now got one more follower! And I see you're in Denver, I'm up in Louisville.


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## jdawud (Mar 18, 2015)

So I did the second leucomela call from the mist King site this morning and then one started to jump on the backs of the other two. I took a video and I think this might be aggression. Needles to say, I won't be doing anymore playbacks for them if this is aggression. If this is aggression should I remove the aggressor to my quarantine tank for a while? How long? This behavior makes me think that the frog on top is in fact female and that since its attacking both of the others that I may have 0.3, especially since they are ~13 months and no calling, even with occasional playbacks.

Thoughts?

https://youtu.be/J7LFAAMVn3k


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## jdawud (Mar 18, 2015)

No wrestling since I posted this the other day. I posted the video on another thread and I've had a couple responses that this is typical of female leucs when there is a male calling. For this reason, I'm now leaning pretty heavily towards my trio being a 0.3.

Of course as soon as I hit 'submit reply' one is bound to start calling.


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## tardis101 (Apr 11, 2012)

This might help on sexing.

https://www.joshsfrogs.com/catalog/blog/2011/10/how-to-visually-sex-dart-frogs-part-ii/


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## 55105 (Jan 27, 2015)

Mine have been calling for quite a while now (months) no breeding activity and the one that does call isn't very good at it  but they're still youngish.

Most of the calling occurs the day after I mist very heavily. Other times its sporadic and just a couple calls.


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## CharValley (Feb 29, 2016)

I have noticed with my Leuc's that whenever one male hears another he will return the call and suddenly I have a competition in the frog room. I keep my breeding Leuc's in trio's 2.1 with an almost overgrowth of plants mostly pothous and philodendra. The "dominant" male in the group will find the highest leaf closest to the breeding hut but both males will call in the same tank. The females are the only ones that I've seen "wresting" and it seems to happen when a Male has either started calling or a "courtship" chase has begun and another female wants in on the action. (I have a group of 9 young adults together, they have laid several clutches, not fertile yet). These were morphed 12/14-1/15. They love to burrow into the moss clumps in their tank.

So I would lean towards 0.3 

I have also raised tadpoles in groups of 4-6 (the full clutch) in a large flat tub with Japanese ball moss (this stuff seems extremely hardy and can withstand partial exposure to air so it works well as a climb out spot. No tail eating, missing legs or aggression seen in these groups.

But, I do mostly use old wax-worm cups, with a small piece of the moss and single tadpoles. I had the issue with auratus tadpoles becoming overly aggressive and usually it was the tail that would be damaged. So of course I don't want to experience this with any of the tadpoles. 

So, I am not sure if my experience is unusual but to be on the safe side I would raise them in individual cups. Just remember to feed very lightly so that your water does not become polluted which will cause health issues and possible die off of your tadpole(s).

It sounds like you have pulled a great list of rules to follow.

Good luck and hopefully you just have a "shy" male 

Charlie


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