Choosing Frogs #

TL;DR #

Excellent beginner frogs:

• Dendrobates leucomela
• Dendrobates tinctorius
• Dendrobates auratus
• Epipedobates anthonyi

What looks the coolest? #

Browse lots of great frog pictures here: http://www.dendrowiki.org/alle.html

Can you get one captive bred? #

Captive bred frogs are generally healthier in captivity as they have already adapted to life in a vivarium and are dramatically less at risk of bringing diseases along with them that they might otherwise pick up in the wild. Captive bred frogs do not impact wild ecosystems like capturing wild frogs does, so it is a far more ethical approach to keeping frogs.

How much space do you have for a vivarium? #

Frogs of different sizes (and climbing preferences) thrive in different size vivariums. See: Vivarium Size.

How many frogs do you want to keep in one vivarium? #

Frogs of all species can be territorial, more often males than females with a notable exception being D. tinctorius females. See Aggression for a list of frogs that are known to do well in groups.

See also #

• Vivarium Size
• Don’t mix dart frogs

Sources #

• https://joshsfrogs.com/blog/keeping-dart-frogs-in-groups

How noise sensitive are you? #

Dart frogs have wildly different calls, which might affect whether they will annoy you in your house. Dart frogs are diurnal, so they don’t call during the night with most of their activity being during the day. 7am through 7pm are relatively normal calling hours. They mostly call in the mornings and evenings.

Loud frogs: #

• Dendrobates leucomela
  • Rapid, high pitched trill (https://youtu.be/83Aqa3oEe1Y)
• Oophaga
  • Raspy buzzes (https://youtu.be/F-7YiHIZmPE)
• Ameerega
  • A. bassleri and trivittata have periodic chirps (https://youtu.be/XlUkyYrjDjE)
  • A. silverstonei have sustained chirps (https://youtu.be/URTZtj0qLLc)

Quiet frogs: #

• Dendrobates tinctorius
  • Cell phone vibration (https://youtube.com/shorts/_PO4NerS8NY)
• Dendrobates auratus
  • Buzzy vibration (https://youtu.be/A8goFjkZqO4?t=59)
• Ranitomeya
  • R. ventrimaculata make a creaking sound (https://youtu.be/5agh7eA5KkY?t=16)
  • R. imitator have a short, shrill call which is a bit louder (https://youtu.be/jWAAzRRAP-M)

Dendrowiki also has sound recordings of many frogs: http://www.dendrowiki.org/alle.html

Boldness #

Broadly speaking, the bigger the frog, the bolder it is. The safer the vivarium feels for the frogs, with plenty of hides and areas shaded from bright grow lights, the bolder frogs will be.

Bold frogs #

• Dendrobates tinctorius
• Dendrobates leucomela
• Phyllobates terriblis

Moderately bold frogs #

• Ameerega
• Dendrobates auratus

Shy frogs #

• Ranitomeya
• Excidobates
• Phyllobates vittatus

Sources #

• https://dartfrogconnection.com/ (See Dart Frog menu)