Blue Poison Dart Frogs

Sex:

Latin name: Dendrobates tinctorius azureus

Its bright blue skin, usually darker around its limbs and stomach, serves as a warning to predators. The glands of poisonous alkaloids are a defense mechanism to potential predators. These poisons paralyze and sometimes kill the predator.

They have black spots that are unique to each frog, enabling individuals to be identified. This species of frog has a distinctive hunch-backed posture.

Native Home: The Blue Poison Dart Frog is found in the forests surrounded by the Sipaliwini savanna, which is located in southern Suriname and adjacent far northern Brazil.

Size: The Blue Poison Dart Frog is a medium-sized frog that weighs about 8 g and grows to 3.0-4.5 cm in length. Females are larger and about half a centimeter longer than males, but males have larger toes.

Diet: Adult Blue Poison Dart Frogs will readily consume Drosophila hydei fruit flies and pinhead crickets. All ages of poison dart frogs will enjoy springtails and isopods.

Reproduction: To find mates, the male Blue Poison Dart Frog will sit on a rock and produce quiet calls, which the females follow to track down the males. The females then physically fight over a male. The male takes the female to a quiet place by water, which becomes the site of the egg-laying. Fertilization occurs externally; once the eggs are laid, the male covers them in his sperm. Between five and 10 offspring are produced at each mating. The male takes care of the eggs, sometimes joined by the female. The eggs hatch after 14 to 18 days, and after 10 to 12 weeks the tadpoles are fully mature.

Lifespan: Blue Poison Dart Frogs have a typical lifespan of 5-7 years in the wildand about 10 years in captivity.