Ranitomeya tad!

[Oakley388]

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share a shot of my first tadpole from my Ranitomeya imitator pair. I knew it would be small but I am truly blown away by how small it really is!

 

[Dyscophus antongilii]

Thanks for sharing that photo with all of us. That is truly a small tadpole, indeed. The adults are amazing looking. Your photography is amazing too. How hard is it to keep a planted vivarium? I do NOT have a green thumb. But, I do LOVE the genus Dendrobates.

 

[Oakley388]

Thanks for the kind words. I find the bioactive setups about the easiest to maintain. Once I cycled through bulbs and finally got the temps right it has been almost effortless. For my morning geckos and darts, as long as I feed them then things go really great. I just picked up a 29 gallon which I am really excited to try out. All my bioactive setups right now are 10 gallons vertical and a 12x12x18 zoomed. The space of the 29 gallon is going to be so fun to work with!

 

[Dyscophus antongilii]

Thanks for the information. What species of plants do you use? Have you found one species to be more hardy/easy to keep then another? I am assuming, note the word in assuming please, you have more then one species of foliage in your vivarium.

 

[Oakley388]

Sorry for such a late response. I went out of town last week and spent the last few days with family in town. As for plants I have:
Spathiphyllum “Liana”
Philodendron “Prince of Orange”
Pilea depressa “Baby Tears”
Nephrolepis cordifolia “Lemon Button Fern”
Pilea spruceana "Silver Tree"
Peperomia obtusifolia variegata "Golden"
Multiple dwarf bromeliads
Ficus bonsai

All of these are doing great in my setups with little care. I did manage to water log one of the dart frog enclosures on accident and the plants still did fine until I realized what I did and went to town with a turkey baster.

 

[Oakley388]

An update on the little one. This picture is from a few days ago when I first noticed the legs poking out. It's really incredible how big it is. He's about the size of the dad now except round!

 

[Socratic Monologue]

Cool pictures, and nice work!

My imitator 'green' pair was transporting tads about a week before your first post, but I don't think any of mine have legs yet. I'm letting the parents raise them, though; that might be slower, and I can't see the development much (they are all in Neoregelia axils). It looks as if you've pulled your tad to raise it.

 

[Oakley388]

Thanks! Actually my pair is raising this one too. Occassionally I change the water in the film canister just because of fruit flies having a habit of drowning themselves. I know they can do better than me at raising, I just assist here and there.

 

[Dyscophus antongilii]

Sorry for such a late response.

Please don't be sorry. As you can see, my reply is late as well.

I went out of town last week and spent the last few days with family in town.

I hope you enjoyed visiting your out of town family.

As for plants I have:
Spathiphyllum “Liana”
Philodendron “Prince of Orange”
Pilea depressa “Baby Tears”
Nephrolepis cordifolia “Lemon Button Fern”
Pilea spruceana "Silver Tree"
Peperomia obtusifolia variegata "Golden"
Multiple dwarf bromeliads
Ficus bonsai

Thank so much for the list. Can I ask: what website/what store did you source your live plants from?

All of these are doing great in my setups with little care.

That's my kind of vivarium with plants . I did mention, I am NOT any type of horticulturalist, right !

I did manage to water log one of the dart frog enclosures on accident and the plants still did fine

Those are some hardy plants. That means, that, I MIGHT not kill them. One can ONLY HOPE !

until I realized what I did and went to town with a turkey baster.

That was a very smart way to fix the problem.

An update on the little one.

Thanks so much for the update, it made my evening.

This picture is from a few days ago when I first noticed the legs poking out.

Your tadpole definitely grew very quickly.

It's really incredible how big it is.

I completely agree.

He's about the size of the dad now except round!

, please keep us updated on the progress.

 

[Oakley388]

Thanks for the kind words and following along. I think all of the plants in my enclosures are either from Josh's Frogs and Lowes/Home Depot.

This little one is just about a fully formed frog now!

 

[Dyscophus antongilii]

Wow, has your little one grown. He/she looks amazing. Thank you, again, for posting the picture. It was very easy to say such kind things, since, I love Dendrobates. Plus, of course, watching tadpoles grow up, is great! Lastly, thank you, for sharing the sources of your plants.

 

[GHC Exotics]

That bottom picture is pretty dang cool

 

[Socratic Monologue]

Neat picture, Christopher. Is that frog still in the water? I ask because mine (that I mentioned earlier) have popped legs, and are getting their pattern, but are still entirely in the water.