[Newtnerd]

After many hours of research and building a couple practice vivs, I finally bought my first frogs. I got 3 standard imitator froglets (Sen's line) from a local breeder. I have them housed in a pretty heavily planted 10 gallon vert and they already seem settled in to their new home. Each one has their favorite brom to sleep in at night haha. They're so damn cute. Here's a few pics.

 

[Newtnerd]

Sorry for the crap quality. I shot these on my phone. I'll get some nice ones with my canon 550d later.

 

[deboardfam]

Nice looking tank! Great frog...

 

[ConFuCiuZ]

The are great frogs. Now you got to play close attention on the space requirements for the three imitators you have. Btw, great looking viv

 

[frogface]

Congratulations! Nice fat belly shot

 

[Newtnerd]

Thanks guys! I chose out two that looked like females and one that seemed to be a male. I think I made accurate predictions because the other day I did an experiment where I played a recording of their mating call. The one I believe to be a male came out of his brom and started trying to call. His throat swelled up, but I didn't hear anything. He might still be too young to call. Anyways, once I have a pair, I plan on removing the third wheel. But for now they're young enough that it shouldn't matter. I'll keep a close eye on them once they start maturing.

 

[Newtnerd]

oh i do have a question though. Seeing as the darts are in a new environment and on a new feeding routine, they aren't finding the melanos when i first put them in there. It takes them a little while to come out of hiding and start munching. Most of the flies have been consumed within 24 hours of feeding, but my concern is that i watch the flies sit in one place and rub the supplements off themselves. After about ten to fifteen minutes of being in there, it looks like the powder is all gone. do you think there is still residue on the flies and the frogs are getting good nutrients or should i be concerned? One thing i have been doing is putting a little piece of banana on the leaf litter to attract the flies to one place, but this is all in vain if the frogs are hiding up in the broms. i assume if i feed around the same time every day, they'll eventually get into a rythm, but do you guys have any advice?

 

[Newtnerd]

Anyone?...anyone?

 

[WendySHall]

I've only had very limited experience with a few imitators. In my case...they never came down when I fed. For a while, I wondered if they were eating at all! It was very few times that I've actually caught them in the leaf litter/bottom of the tank. But they were always fat and happy. So, I wouldn't worry about them eating. As for whether or not they're getting enough supplements...just dust every feeding. There's not much else you can do.

 

[Xan Stepp]

I have NO experience with imitators, but my vents behaved the same way when I first got them. They were shy and I was worried that they were getting enough supplementation. They did get a bit bolder with time, but I still supplement at almost every feeding just to make sure that they get enough, because they don't always eat right away. It'll also help a bit to make sure that the tank is seeded with other things like springtails and isopods.

 

[El Saptio Joyas]

The FF don't have to look like snowmen for the vitamins to take. The flys cant get all the power off them. They will still have enough dusting after a few hours to help the frogs. My Intermedius are not aggressive hunters either. It takes about 10 min for them to start looking, then they may take 3-4 FF then after are more casual about chasing flys or springs. I have found it better to feed these guys early in AM and/or Later in evening vs (for example) Auratus or SIs who will eat aggressive anytime of day.

 

[Newtnerd]

Thanks for the replies. I actually have been noticing that they were more active in the morning, so the last two days i have been feeding them when i wake up. They seem to be getting more flies when I first put them in now because they're typically out hopping around. I also started putting the flies on the surface of the bigger piece of driftwood stuck to the background because they spend most of their time in the top of the tank. This also helped them get to the flies faster.

I'm glad to hear that some of the dust stays on the flies for a couple hours. At a glance i can't see any after about 20 minutes, so i was just a little concerned.

As far as how much they are eating, I'm really not concerned. The tank is seeded with tropical pink springs, dwarf white isos and giant orange isos. They have all sorts of stuff to munch on