# Highland bronze auratus paludarium



## Kugamazog (May 12, 2010)

I didn't see many threads with lots of pictures of highland bronze, so I thought I'd post mine. The build thread for this tank is here.



















There are 5 sub-adults hopping around inside a 75 gallon old oceanic tank. The center pond is about 4 inches deep, and the background is corkwood smooshed into great stuff. The build thread has the rest of the info on the tank.










The patterns are highly variable. I've named them after the markings on their dorsal side. This one is Yang due to the brown spot in green.










Spooky because as a froglet, the back looked like a ghost mask. He/she has since developed a brown dot.










Smiley due to the smiley face.










One spot due to a single, small spot on the back.


















Onespot and U, since it has the Japanese letter on it's back.


















I also have two undersides because they seem to have even more reticulation. Also, the toepads are supposed to be important for sex ID. I haven't heard/seen any calling yet.

I have plenty more pictures if there is any interest. I can also see if I have enough pictures to show the "markings progression" of any of the frogs over the past 4 months. 

These are my second species, so I'm still a bit new at this. It's been mentioned that the coloration of this morph changes as they age. I've noticed a subtle change the borders between the teal/brown. The older they get, the blurrier the border becomes.


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## tommy2 (Feb 13, 2007)

very nice pics! thanks for sharing...


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## therizman2 (Jul 20, 2008)

Beautiful frogs! They are next on my list to get and I already have a tank setup for them.


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## Ben Wehr (Jan 23, 2011)

I'm looking to get a few of those here soon too. Have you kept other auratus? how do you rate their boldness compaired to other auratus?


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

very cool frogs from my experience with these guys they take about 2 years to get their full and final coloration.


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## Kugamazog (May 12, 2010)

Ben Wehr said:


> I'm looking to get a few of those here soon too. Have you kept other auratus? how do you rate their boldness compaired to other auratus?


These are the only auratus I have. I'm looking to get more when I have the money. They are variable in boldness. I feed them on top of the round corkboard. I can consistently find three of them chilling out up there. They are rather bold and undisturbed by my presence near the tank. The other two nearly always hide.


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## stu&shaz (Nov 19, 2009)

wonderful frogs we have the viv cut wood sorted,plants bla bla, just need the hours, to make it all happen which it will!!! we would absolutely love to see every pic you have especially how the markings develope,if we have found the time to have everything ready for them, then we might be able to get some from holland around june,we adore this morph but we only know of one group in the uk,there might be others but we haven't found them yet,Stu and Shaz,thanks so much for posting these great for us ....THANKYOU


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## Kugamazog (May 12, 2010)

New pics update!

They are about 8-9 months old now. Any identification of gender would be helpful.

Two things to notice in these new pictures. First is that the brown coloration has lightened slightly and the borders have blurred more with the teal. Several of the pics are a little over-saturated due to the flash. Under normal light, they look more like the dark pictures. 

Second is that these frogs have gotten fat!










U has fleshed out quite a bit.










Flash a little too strong but much better resolution.










You can clearly see the tympanum behind the eye in this picture.










Onespot taking aim at a male D. melanogaster.



















I seem to find onespot and U together quite often. 










Yang (through frosted glass of the center support)










Smiley used to be the boldest of the bunch. Now he is the shyest.

They have all become more timid than when they were younger. If you leave them alone for an hour or so, they hop around and sit out in the open. But if you get near the tank, or open it to feed them; they hide. They also tend to sleep on top of leaves which is just adorable.


Also: I have not seen Spooky since mid February. There was a period of about an hour around that time that I had the lid open to clean the pump. Unlikely that he hopped out, but possible. He could have gotten trapped somewhere in the shuffling. These frogs have the habit of burrowing out hiding spots between the substrate/backdrop. Or he could have simply died for some other reason and I never found the body. Either way, he's been missing long enough that I presume I won't be seeing him again.


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## stu&shaz (Nov 19, 2009)

absolutly stunning pictures thanks again for posting,we have 3 camo auratus one male already calling they have only been here a short time,one is much darker than the other 2,which look quite similar to yours.these also look very similar to the panama special,we are in the uk so names might be different.
Here is our male







.
I am waiting on Mark Pepper to get back with more info on this as thats where our frogs came from.
Stu


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## dartdevil1 (Apr 23, 2011)

Ya those r very nice frogs they look very healthy thanks for sharing


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

That is a pretty dramatic color change that your frogs underwent. Beautiful frogs!


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## Dart Frog (Jun 9, 2010)

Cool frogs! Dig the fogger in the tank.


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## zoojosh (Feb 8, 2014)

I live in San Diego. El Cajon to be exact. Anyone know where I can buy some of these Highland Bronze Auratus? I have a 180 gal. vivarium and so far I have 1 blue tinc, 1 imitator, 2 luecomelas, 1 green guy, can't remember the name. Any suggestions as to how many I can get?


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## zoojosh (Feb 8, 2014)

you can reply at [email protected] or text at 619-929-1184 thanks


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## 357MAGNOLE (Jan 23, 2014)

zoojosh said:


> I live in San Diego. El Cajon to be exact. Anyone know where I can buy some of these Highland Bronze Auratus? I have a 180 gal. vivarium and so far I have 1 blue tinc, 1 imitator, 2 luecomelas, 1 green guy, can't remember the name. Any suggestions as to how many I can get?


It is highly recommend that you don't mix species or variations.


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## zoojosh (Feb 8, 2014)

Very nice. I was just showed these guys yesterday. I would like to get some 
Would you mind telling me where you got them from?  How many do you suggest keeping together. I have a 180 gal tank. 1 blue tinc,1 imitator, 2 luecomelas, one green auratus I think. 2 waterfalls, Lots of live plants, plenty of places to hide and a fogger. Any suggestions would be great. thanks.u can text me at 619-929-1184 or email is [email protected] thanks


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## zoojosh (Feb 8, 2014)

Ok got your last reply, If I put like 5 or 6 of them in there, Would they be ok? Or should I not even attempt?


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## Adam R (Jun 26, 2013)

these frogs are just beautiful


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