New to darts

Hey guys, it's been a while since I've had any herps. I have a good 15 tubs/ cages that were empty, and the empty tank syndrome finally got to me. I'd decided to get back into the hobby by diving into dart frogs. I wasn't even aware that darts were available on the market until I saw a pair at alligator alley. So, after a few months of brooding, reading up on their care, grabbing a few books on them in general, and tank set up, I finally purchased my first two from bryan and the gang at Alligator alley. I got an adult D. azureus, and what i think is a juvenile D. auretus (blue and black). When i inquired if they were the same subspecies, I was told that both were the same subspecies, and that they shared the same parents, but I'd just like to double check with you guys. From what i've read, I haven't come across any literature of D. azureus going through a pattern morph similar to leopard gecko's as they matured. Right now I have the froglette in a separate plastic shoebox container until he gets quite a bit larger. Below are the pics. Thanks for your input. I am absolutely enthralled with these guys!

Here's the froglette that i think is a blue/black D. auretus





And here's the D. Azureus




I apologize for the poor quality of the photo's. I took them with my phone.

Hi! Michael Wilson is the only one that I know of in the society that's really into darts. I bet he can answer your questions. Tandy

I have two species of darts. I had two D. auratus but they hopped off into the great pond in the sky. I am surprised at the difference in the two frogs. One definitely looks auratus but Michael or Bryan are the ones to answer this question. Did Bryan say they both came from the same parents?

@ alice,

It was actually Patrick who sold me the frogs and that had told me he thought the two shared the same parents.

Patrick got it wrong. The top one is D. Auratus and the bottom is azureus. They couldn't have come from the same parents.

If they somehow are hybrids of the 2 species, they would be next to worthless in the hobby and should not be allowed to breed. Hybrids are a cardinal sin in the dart frog hobby. I'm sure Patrick just got mixed up and they are 2 separate species.

They shouldn't be housed together. The larger azureus would very likely bully or kill the little auratus.

I do happen to have the two seperated. The D. auratus is actually in a sweaterbox container right now so I can monitor him for the next few weeks, then once he's big enough he'll be going into his own vivarium. The D. azureus is doing fantasitic as well. I'm really surprised at how enjoyable these guys are to watch. And thank you for the clarification.

I'm happy to have another dart frog keeper in the group. There aren't too many of us mainly I believe due to the difficulty in getting food for them. I order fruit flies from Josh's Frogs except in the high heat of the summer. Some keepers, like Michael, raise their own fruit flies. I don't have much luck with that but it's due to forgetting to set up a culture or the culture failing. I try and keep springtails in the tank as supplemental food and also toss in teensy tiny crickets I get from Alligator Alley when I don't have fruit flies. Best of luck. These are a blast to watch.