The reason you will be told no for those frogs is that all 3 listed are part of the tinctorius group, meaning that they are all genetically compatible and as such WILL breed together, producing mutts.

HOWEVER, pretty clear we're not talking about a hobbyist set up here, where offspring may be made available to others. So, and this is important, IF you never ever ever share the offspring with ANYBODY, either leaving them for ever in the enclosure, or destroying any eggs produced, then yes it can work. There are plenty of dutch people with conservatory sized vivs that house those 3 together fine.

Problems I can forsee? Well it's implied from your post that you have never ever kept dart frogs, so launching into a big display enclosure sounds to me like running before you can walk. :lol2:

Ade

 

be much easier if you just had a display full of males, then you dont have anything to worry about.
Shouldn't get any major fighting as it's generally the females that do the scrapping.

 

I like what you're trying to do, but IMO it should be done right, or not at all:

a) I doubt that many kids would be much more impressed by 3 spp of Dendrobates than they would be by one. If you think they would be, run three separate tanks.

b) The kids will probably think back to this experience if/when they decide to take on exotic animals of their own, so IMO their lasting recollection should be one of correct husbandry.

c) As alluded to in your question and the responses so far, there are any number of things that could go wrong and it is a real possibility that you could quickly end up with an empty viv - which is presumably not what you want from a financial or reputational perspective.

Nick

 

I like what you're trying to do, but IMO it should be done right, or not at all:

a) I doubt that many kids would be much more impressed by 3 spp of Dendrobates than they would be by one. If you think they would be, run three separate tanks.

b) The kids will probably think back to this experience if/when they decide to take on exotic animals of their own, so IMO their lasting recollection should be one of correct husbandry.

c) As alluded to in your question and the responses so far, there are any number of things that could go wrong and it is a real possibility that you could quickly end up with an empty viv - which is presumably not what you want from a financial or reputational perspective.

Nick

I'm completely with Dr Nick here Benn,I would advocate 3 separate vivs too,I'd add in that there might be potential problems caused by mixing species that don't occur in the wild together,unknown pathogens,being my concern.If one was to mix then mix frogs that naturally co habit.But Benn if I was to undertake that,I would have kept both species separately for at least a year so I really knew what each species needs, I would never go there though,as I can see no benefit for the frogs in having a mixed tank.

So many institutions mix dartfrogs when really they should to set a pristine example of how too keep them.Kids are influenced by what they see,the ones that fall in love with amphibians,don't need a rainbow box of frogs,they need you to set that example to them. They will get far more from well set up single species vivs it will still inspire them.
good luck

Stu

Although I don't keep darts, I do keep lots of other frogs and I majorly agree with the points raised above- I've lost count of the posts on this section saying "zoos do it/colleges do it/(random) public displays do it- why can't I?" As is also constantly stated on here, it sometimes can be done, but usually shouldn't. Benn, is there any way you can instead build a two or three-part enclosure as part of the same installation? That way you could have different species side-by-side, but safely kept apart.

 

I'm completely with Dr Nick here Benn,I would advocate 3 separate vivs too,I'd add in that there might be potential problems caused by mixing species that don't occur in the wild together,unknown pathogens,being my concern.If one was to mix then mix frogs that naturally co habit.But Benn if I was to undertake that,I would have kept both species separately for at least a year so I really knew what each species needs, I would never go there though,as I can see no benefit for the frogs in having a mixed tank.

So many institutions mix dartfrogs when really they should to set a pristine example of how too keep them.Kids are influenced by what they see,the ones that fall in love with amphibians,don't need a rainbow box of frogs,they need you to set that example to them. They will get far more from well set up single species vivs it will still inspire them.
good luck

Stu

 

I would also say if it is an educational thing have seperate units if possible so correct husbandry can be shown. Also that way you can actually allow the frogs to breed without having to destroy eggs, it will add an extra educational step and you're adding to the captive bred population at the same time.

One thing though, maybe swap the auratus for a different species if you're going for separate tanks. Auratus are not mega outgoing so something bolder will be a plus for you so the kids actually see the frogs. Terribs maybe? Pums seem to be the most well know darts to non keepers, they seem to crop up in a lot of kids books about rainforests, maybe explore them as a possibility.