Breeding of Bumblebee runner toad Melanophryniscus stelzneri

[gigiols]

Hallo i am Luigi and i am new of this forum. One year ago i took a couple of these special and wonderful toads in a show here in Italy, it's called Reptiles day in Longarone. After some months the couple was enlarged and now i have 7 toads, only one surely male and other big females full of eggs. This Jenuary i tried to breed them without success but i try again in April. I fed them with several quantities of fruit flies and also some supplements as Calcium plus vitamin D3. I put them in the refrigerator for 5 days at 7 degrees (celsius). Next to weeks to increase the temperatures reach about 20 degrees. The important point is about rain chamber. Toads have to be subjected to a strong rain for about 5 hours, i prefer to start one hour before the sunrise. If the male is receptive he will embrace the female. This hug could also extend for days, my advice is to repeat again the rain every 12 hours so the male won't leave female. You should spray with an atomizer on the couple in amplexus, they will seem annoyed but i think is good to do this practice. After some days the male should bring the female in the water and they should copulate with the subsequent release of eggs.

Here some pictures of these months trying to breed them!

[Colleen53]

Great write-up Luigi. I have 6 of these little guys and 2 of them are fattie females. I would love to breed them, but it sounds like alot of work. How are your tadpoles doing? Thanks for sharing!!

[gigiols]

I think it's medium difficult to breed this toads, the important things are basicly 3: Feed them so much, give them a cold period and put them in a rain chamber. The tadpoles are growing up thanks to the algae that have grown on the Java moss, i give them also some tablets of spirulin, i don't know how you call it in english, that's the best way to feed little tadpoles. I made also a Dendrobates tadpole food with animal product as the dust given to the babies of the fishes, spirulin that is an alga and supplements as Korvimin and calcium plus d3.

[Colleen53]

I know a few people here have bred them as well and some good write-ups. Please stay in touch as I would like to know how your tadpoles/froglets survive. Updates with pictures are also very helpful. Thank you!!

[TDK]

Keep us psoted on your progress. Also get ready you need a mass of springtails.

[punctata]

Awesome Job!!! Please Keep us posted on raising the young

[tikifrog]

Congrats on the breeding! They look really good too!

[gigiols]

I'll take some pictures during the rising of tadpole, i hope everybody will leave the water successfully. I need many springtails, i ordered some boxes from Germany, but i also have some little species of Drosophila, are them good to feed froglets!?

[TDK]

Drosophila are typically too large for these tiny todlets when first emerging. You should get lots of Springtails and maybe stunt some Drosophila cultures for when they are a little older.

[gigiols]

How many tadpole do usually go out from the water on about 200 units !? After 10 days my tadpoles appear thinner, they've grown up for about 10 days now, in the first they were always fat even if i have never seen them eating, but now i am a bit worried for they health. I give them basicly (80% of time) Spirulin algae, sometimes fish food and i also give them mosquitos larvae but i think they don't eat it as dendrobates' tadpoles do. I found about 20 littlest tadpoles dead but till now no mass deaths.