[RobJersey]

I have a calling male and possible female.. I’d really like to add more to hopefully get some breeding going. No eggs from my time with them. The gentleman who gave them to me had one non viable clutch before losing the 3rd frog which is unknown if that was the female.

I’ve reached out everywhere and figured I’d give here a shot as well. Really would love to add numbers / homes to this really interesting breed.

 

[RobJersey]

This is black nose.

 

[Encyclia]

Sounds soooo familiar, Rob. Sorry, I don't have Orange Heads, but I do have Abiseo and they are an absolute pill to breed. I had the same situation where I had 2 females and one got thin and died. I think they can be really aggressive toward each other. My 1.1 (remaining) have a love-hate relationship. They try to breed periodically, but they will also wrestle quite a bit which is disconcerting, partly because of the size difference between the male and female (I am not 100% sure this is always the case). They are in a 90 gallon with just the pair and it is scaped with a ton of visual barriers. Not much more I can do on that front.

I am in the same boat as you are where I am the only one I know with a female so I feel a real burden to get some offspring out there to preserve them in the hobby. Further info I can pass on is that before they breed, I will hear quite a bit of calling and the male will wait for the female in the coco hut. Once I see both in the hut, I will usually look to find him on top of a clutch of eggs which may or may not be fertile. This happens every 6 or 8 weeks during the summer and occasionally during the winter.

Do you have moving water in the tank? I go out of my way to tell folks not to put water features in their dart frog tanks, but Ameerega seem to be an exception.

Once you get eggs, your battle is far from over, if my experience is any gauge. Mine will lay completely infertile clutches maybe half the time. Even if a clutch is fertile, mine will sometimes eat them before they hatch (I had been allowing the male to sit on them until they hatch because I was told that's what has to happen). When that happened like 3 clutches in a row, I started to pull them. They did just ok the last time, but I did get a few tads out of the deal all but one of which perished when I moved them to the tank I had prepared. I learned a lot from Tijl's thread about breeding his Hahnelli (sp?). It doesn't seem to be 100% the same between that species and pepperi, but it is closer than pepperi to any other species I have bred. Thanks, Tijl!

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck and I hope you have great success soon!

Mark

 

[Tijl]

I have a calling male and possible female.. I’d really like to add more to hopefully get some breeding going. No eggs from my time with them. The gentleman who gave them to me had one non viable clutch before losing the 3rd frog which is unknown if that was the female.

I’ve reached out everywhere and figured I’d give here a shot as well. Really would love to add numbers / homes to this really interesting breed.

Instead of adding more frogs, you can also try and play some youtube clips of pepperi calling next to their tank. See what happens. Try A dry period for a month or 2, lots of feeding with correct supplements and after this you can start misting. I'm not 100% sure, but i think Ameerega like it more wet than most dart frogs.

As Mark also stated, they live near running water. So I am also sure tadpoles have to be raised in running water.

Happy my topic was usefull for you Mark!

 

[Johanovich]

Instead of adding more frogs, you can also try and play some youtube clips of pepperi calling next to their tank. See what happens. Try A dry period for a month or 2, lots of feeding with correct supplements and after this you can start misting. I'm not 100% sure, but i think Ameerega like it more wet than most dart frogs.

As Mark also stated, they live near running water. So I am also sure tadpoles have to be raised in running water.

Happy my topic was usefull for you Mark!

Frogs that live near running water sometimes go into breeding mode easier if they can hear water as this signals the wet season for them. Doesn't need to be a fancy water feature, just a tube connected to a pump that lets water flow against one side in a tank can suffice.

Not sure if this is the case for Amereega, but for other frogs (especially in smaller groups) this method has worked wonders.

 

[Red Beard]

I don’t have orange heads either, but I am almost positive that I have the last breeding group of 3.2 Pepperi yellow/gold in Canada.

I have had them since late March of last year. After a long wait, they seem to be breeding regularly. They are in a 36x18x24 Exo Terra, with a corner pond. I have never seen any of them go near the water. Ramping up misting helps to get them breeding. Over the course of a week or so their calling gets louder and more frequent. On the day they breed, there is no mistaking that something is happening. They will call very loudly and very frequently. Probably the most amazing sound I have heard.

I have had four clutches so far, but the last on only had a few eggs and none were fertile. From my first clutch, I have 7 froglets that are five months old and looking great. I have another twenty tads developing right now as well.

I have never tried to play calls to my Pepperi, but it has worked wonders for my 2.1 Silverstonei group. I have to be very aware about when to play the calls and for how long with them.

I wish you all the best with breeding yours. I would had to see these amazing frogs vanish from the hobby. I literally contacted everyone who had ever posted about Pepperi on social media until I found my group. Unfortunately, very few people had them and of course none would ship to Canada.

 

[RobJersey]

They have a running water feature the male calls fairly often. The other (possible / unconfirmed female) doesn’t seem to respond. I will work on a dry spell and see what happens

 

[RobJersey]

It’s frustrating because I absolutely love these frogs. They are so different than my other darts in just about every way. I designed the tank specifically for them with a lot of research hoping to get breeding going. I know that the male (he doesn’t have a black spot on his nose ) calls regularly.. the other seems to like sitting in the stream area or a hut on the opposite side of the hut the male uses. Sometimes they are together, but no clutch yet.

I know ameerega in general are more difficult to breed, but I wish they where more popular or worked with to get more info on technique. I will read the thread mentioned and thank you to all who ha e replied.