other than frogs?

[CSdart]

I like the look of the rainforest viv type thing but i don't really want to have to breed fruit flies or springtails. I currently breed dubia roaches and the babies are pretty small. I'd say just over half a centimeter. I don't have much room but i could probably fit a 20 gallon high tank. Are there any dart frogs, or and frogs for that matter, that would fit in a tank that size and eat food that size? I'd also like something that doesn't require a lot of experience since i am a first time frog owner. Thanks in advance for suggestions.

[Dean]

Yes there are plenty of frogs that could eat small roaches some species of darts can full grown also adult mantella will also alot of tree frogs can. For the most part you would have to find 2 or 3 adults and they will fit in a 20 gal no problem. Just go to kingsnake and look at all the amphibian ads. Go to one of the links here or you can google it.

[arielelf]

Terribilis would be able to eat prey that size and larger as adults. My Santa Isabellas can devour prey that size also, which is surprising given that they are so small.

[tkromer]

Red Eye Tree frogs eat bigger stuff, 1/2cm should be no trouble for even subadults. I think a 20g high is pushing it for them though, they seem to move around a lot more than PDFs.
You could also setup more of an aquarium and keep an aquatic amphibian like tiger salamander or an axolotl. They'll eat anything that moves

[KeroKero]

I would recomend Phyllobates terribilis, bicolor, or auroteania for the PDFs (vittatus may work as well). They are not just easier and do very well off a diet based on crickets/roaches rather than FFs, those 3 species are also the true PDFs actually used on darts in the wild :wink: They are also very good for beginners.

If you can find them CB, there are some mantellas that would work (check out the Mantella website for more info including a captive care article) as I feed mine small crickets and roaches as well. WC mantellas are pretty common this time of year but can be tricky depending on te species and aren't as bold as most of the CBs.

TF wise... just about anything except the really large ones LOL. I've kept Agalychnis (RETFs and Black Eyed TFs are examples) and some other small latin american species (Phyllomedusa tomopterna, hypchondrialis, D./H. leucophyllata the clowns and their relatives ebraccata and marmorata) in tropcial rainforest tanks, tho Black Eyes (A. moreletii) like it drier and hotter. I also keep Theloderma, but the smaller species are rare, and T. corticale (the mossy frog) can be a bit large for that size tank, and are mostly aquatic as adults... but easy frogs.

[Dendrobait]

I'd reccomend treefrogs rather than darts for feeding dubia. The babies are .5 cm but they are quite round and flat...and fill out rapidly. Escapees would grow rapidly in the viv, they'd be cool inhabitants but I don't think the frogs would agree with me! I s'pose if you started with adults and took meticulous care with the feeding dish it would work out.

[KeroKero]

The size of the dubia is specifically why I only recomended the large phyllobates! They are the only ones that would really be able to do the fresh nymphs. They would have to be bowl fed tho, as they aren't the most active hunters like the others. A ceramic bowl for non-climbers or a roach stop painted bowl for climbers goes a long way.

[MRI_GUY]

Originally Posted by tkromer

Red Eye Tree frogs eat bigger stuff, 1/2cm should be no trouble for even subadults. I think a 20g high is pushing it for them though, they seem to move around a lot more than PDFs.
You could also setup more of an aquarium and keep an aquatic amphibian like tiger salamander or an axolotl. They'll eat anything that moves

The last part of this statement is a bit inaccurate as Tigers are fossorial salamanders that only spend time in water as juveniles. Once morphed they are strictly terrestrial. Axolotls are the same only they need strict conditions and in many cases hormones to morph so an aquatic set-up would be fine for them indefinitely.

[Ed]

Additionally the caudates need to be kept cooler... (below 70 F is good 60-65 is better).

Ed

[KeroKero]

There are neotenic populations of tigers that have occassionally popped up in the trade I'm not sure I'd rule out caudates but definately we'd need some more specific environmental conditions (namely temps) that the tank would be dealing with to narrow down an idea of what to try.