Epipedobates anthonyi

Order: Anura
Suborder: Neobatrachia
Family: Dendorbatidae
Subfamily: Colostethinae
Genus: Epipedobates
Species: Epipedobates anthonyi, Noble, 1921

Epipedobates anthonyi is a small growing species of poison dart frog in the family Dendrobatidae. It grows up to a maximum length of 2,5 - 2,9 cm. Males stay a bit smaller.

Its overall coloration is a dark red with bright white, yellow or greenish stripes along the body. One stripe is in the middle of the back and leads from the rear end to the head. Mostly this stripe splits up in the nose area. Two other stripes are on the sides of the body and go from the eyes till the hind legs, where the pattern continues but breaks up in little patches on the legs and one from the mouth till the hind legs. Little patches can also be seen on the front legs.

This species is active over the day and lives solely on land. Water puddles are only searched up for deposing hatched tadpoles. This species is found in the tropical rainforest of Ecuador and Peru, where it is endemic. Here it lives in both terrestrial and arboreal habitats, but most often it is found in leaf litter. It relies on a rather moist habitat with a high percentage of air humidity to not dry out.

Males give of a trilling mating call when adult, which is possible to hear from several meters distance. It is a species, that doesn't show much dominance fights between males, which makes it easy to keep them in little groups. Since it isn't to sensitive to wrong parameters, like other members of the poison dart frogs, it makes it an easy species for beginners in the hobby. Therefore is it not a rare species in the terraristics.

In nature E. anthonyi produces the toxin epibabtidine, a highly toxic substance similar to nicotine. It shouldn't be ingested, or brought into mucous membranes and open wounds, since it causes paralysis, which ends fatal if respiratory organs are affected. In captivity E. anthonyi looses its toxic advantages. This is because the poison is synthesized from slightly poisonous prey, like ants, mites etc., which can only be found in the wild. Breeding in captivity for generations and getting only non poisonous food, like fruit flies, lets the potency of the poison vanish.

E. anthonyi is listed as "Near Threatened" by the IUCN. Even though the population seems stable, deforestation and chemical pollution harms the natural habitat of this frog. For keeping wild specimens at home CITES - papers are necessary. Bred ones only need a proof of origin and a registration at the district captaincy (e.g. in Austria).

This frog originates from Southwest of Ecuador till over the border to Peru.

Its habitat consists of a tropical rainforest, where E. anthonyi mainly lives terrestrial in leaf-litter. It also likes to crawl up onto pieces of wood and the leaves of plants. Its tadpoles are, like most frogs, found in water pools.

In nature this frog eats all sorts of little invertebrates, everything that fit into its mouth. This includes flies, mites, ants, mosquitoes and lice.

In captivity food should be chosen, depending on the size of the animal. Frogs which just came on land, are possible to feed with springtails (collembola) or white tropical isopods. Also small fruit flies (drossophila) are taken good. The bigger the frogs get, the bigger prey fits into the mouths. Later you can also feed pinhead-crickets, bigger fruit flies and aphids. Especially for smaller frogs it is important to have constantly food in the terrarium. To have always enough food available, it is advisable to breed the food for the frogs yourself. It is possible to powder the food with vitamins, which makes the food richer.

Tadpoles of this species can be fed with frosted food (black mosquito larvae, white mosquito larvae) and spirulina tabs. Also fine flake food (for fish) is possible to feed.

Since this frog doesn't grow big it is the ideal species for smaller rainforest - terrariums. Minimum size is a cube of 40 cm. It is possible to keep a small group of E. anthonyi in this size terrarium.

Special Dendrobate terrariums have a sloping floor, which helps to collect remaining "rain"-water in a drench on the front of the terrarium. This terrarium often has a valve, which makes it easier to change the water. It is also possible to use a normal terrarium, but then it should be taken care that it has a double ventilation and that the ventilation is fine enough to let the frogs or its food not pass through.

To fullfill all the needs of this tropical animal, some technical equipment is necessary. E. anthonyi prefers temperatures ranging from 22 - 28 °C. This you can reach with heat mats under the terrarium, by the warmth of the light, or by the room temperature (via radiators).
We prefer the last method, since its the most stable and controllable way, to keep the temperature in the right range. A own dedicated "frog - room" makes heating the terrariums, therefore easier.

The next important factor is light. This frog is day active and needs a day rhythm indicated by light. You can use all sorts of lights, but to avoid burn injuries or overheating of the terrarium it is smart to install the lights outside of the terrarium. Since we heat our terrariums over the room temperature, we only use LED's for lighting. Other than that you can also use spots or neon tubes. Some species also prefer UV - light. It is possible to offer this with special lights but consider and please note that not the full spectrum of UV - light passes through normal glass.

These frogs need a constant air humidity of 70 - 80 % (day) and around 100 % (night), which can be taken care of in different ways. If there is only one terrarium to take care of, it is the easiest to spray water 1 - 2 times a day with a spray bottle. For bigger set ups you can also install spray-systems. Other than that foggers or water pools, keep the humidity up, especially in warmer terrariums. Those pools are for this species not necessary, since it doesn't swim. Only the tadpoles need water to live in till they go on land. A lot of living plants also help to keep a moist climate.

Ventilation normally works via the double ventilation vents in a normal terrarium. For higher terrariums also PC - ventilators can help for a good air circulation. Is this not given, the moisture will cause mold growth, which can cause health problems for the frogs.

The set up of a terrarium for this frog can be done in different ways. The substrate should never consist of soil, sandy substances or little pieces of peat. The frogs can swallow these substrates and this causes constipation. It is better to use sterile leaf litter or mosses as a substrate. When having no diagonal second floor, the easiest way to avoid leaves rotting in the remaining "rain water", is to create a drainage with filter sponge or ceramic granules.

To make a nice background you can use cork or styrofoam which you can cover with black silicone and powder with peat. It gives a great substrate for growing plants and for the frogs to climb on. As structure in the terrarium you can integrate pieces of wood and twigs. To give the frogs the possibility to hide and reproduce, different tropical plants should be added in the terrarium.  Different ferns, bromelia's, mosses, orchids and tendrils create a living biotope for the frogs.

For breeding and hiding purposes it is also possible to place little frog-houses or film cans. It is best to install them slightly diagonal, so that spray water can collect in it.

Sexing of E. anthonyi becomes easier how older the frogs get. In general males have a slimmer body figure and stay a little bit smaller. When being adult (around 12 months) males start to call for a mate via a loud trilling sound. This frog species produces this sound through their throat pouch.

On closer inspection, there is an audible difference in the call of a poisonous frog in general. For example, they use a call to flirt with a female and to lure her to spawning place. This call is different from the call they make, when they lay and fertilize eggs. The call sounds even different when the male does brood care and visits the youngster that are sitting in a pool.

This poison dart frog has a very special breeding behaviour, which is also really good to observe in captivity.

Once a male is adult (around 12 months) it sits on a good visible position and calls for a female. This call can usually be heard in the afternoon but it is also possible during the day as the frogs are active during the day. If a female is interested, it follows the call to the spawning spot which the male chose. This is in most cases a bromelia plant, which collects water on the base of its leaves. In the terrarium this can also be a little film dose which you can install to the background. The female then lays 10 - 30 eggs that the male will fertilize. The female then disappears from the spawning place, where as the male takes care of the egg clutch and protects it. The tadpoles hatch after around two weeks.

The male positions himself then in the middle of the hatched tadpoles. Those crawl then on his back. The male can carry the tadpoles on his back for several hours, looking for an ideal space to drop them. This is mostly a small water puddle or another water filled bromelia leaf, for example.

When breeding in captivity, those tadpoles can now be separated in a own raising tank. This makes it it easier to take care of the offspring. A lot of tadpoles also develop good in the bromelia's without extra care. One advantage of this species is, that the tadpoles are not cannibalistic and you can raise them together in a  breeding tank.

The setup for a raising tank should be simple and easy to clean. A small air filter and heating should be installed, to keep the water clean and warm. Its also possible to raise them in a breeding box, which you can hang in a running aquarium, which makes keeping temperature and water parameters easier. On the ground should be added some dead leaves of oak or beech. Also alder cones and catappa leaves you can use, to make the water a bit more acidic and avoid fungus growth. Regular water changes are necessary to keep the nitrites and nitrates low. The tadpoles can be fed with frozen mosquito larvae and spirulina tabs. Also fish flake food is possible. When the tadpoles develop all legs it is good to give them some sort of floating island, where further developed ones, can already crawl on.

Once the tadpoles developed into little frogs, its best to put them in raising terrariums, which are also simple kept to make cleaning and feeding easier. A filter sponge as substrate covered with some sterilized dead leaves or covered with some tendrils, give the frogs enough hiding space. The small frogs now have to be feed several times a day with little insects like springtails (collembola) or little fruit flies (drossophila). The other parameters should be the same as for the parents.