# Frogs & Toads > Dart Frogs (Dendrobatidae) >  E. Anthonyi "Santa Isabel"

## bshmerlie

I'm just creating a thread so I can share with you what Tony and Isabel have been up to lately.  I'm having a lot of fun with them.  They are having a jolly old time producing eggs and transporting the tads.  Here is a picture of Tony with a group of tads from his last clutch. I post updates on this thread of tadpole development so you guys can see the progress.  

How many tads do you think he's carrying around?

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## Amy

Haha that is awesome!!  They are quite busy arent they!  What are you going to do with all those frogs?? LOL

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## John Clare

Great photo and great news!  Part of the reason I never got anthonyi is because I didn't want to deal with finding homes for them all!

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## bshmerlie

Now that Tony has transported his tads he's working on a new batch. :Smile: 
Men...they only have one thing on their minds.   :Embarrassment:

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## berksmike

Looking great Cheri - wasn't joking when i said they never stop!
A little tip for your film cannister lay sites - if you split a cannister in half you can slide it in the whole cannister and then pull the split one out without having to disturb the eggs:

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## bshmerlie

Yeah I saw how you did that ...very cool.  I don't mess with the eggs at this point.  I just let him take care of them. Once he has them all transported to the water bowl then I clean out the cup.  He seems to rotate between two favorite cups.  Im looking at getting a nice camera that can take some good close up shots.  At that point I'm going to pull the eggs and take a daily developmental shot as the eggs become tads.

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## Brit

This is so awesome!  :Big Grin: 

I can't wait to see picture of the developing tads and eventually froglets, so exciting!  :Big Grin:

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## bshmerlie

Here is Tony JR. on his first day with all four legs.  I was hesitant to do it but I moved him to a grown out tank with shallow water and slope and plants to help him crawl out of the water.  I wasn't expecting legs so soon.  He was born on the 4th of July.  Isn't supposed to take longer than this?

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## Amy

He is looking great!!  Congrats!

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## John Clare

Well Cheri, between you and a friend, I decided to get some _Epipedobates anthonyi_ "Rio Saladillo".  That's the race with the blue stripes.  Here's a photo from dendrobase.de:


Photo credit: Prov. ©2004 Jan Verkade.  Original page: www.DendroBase.de

I hope they don't mind me posting that photo but I've got none of my own yet.

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## bshmerlie

> Well Cheri, between you and a friend, I decided to get some _Epipedobates anthonyi_ "Rio Saladillo". That's the race with the blue stripes.


I've actually looked at getting some of those too. I really think the _E. anthonyi_ are underrated frogs.  They are really great frogs with a great call and lots of personality.  I actually think they might be the best dart frog out there for anyone who wants to learn about and refine their tadpole care skills.  They are bold and active at all times.  I love them.  

Here's are some photos of Tony Jr. two days out of the water.  Sorry not the greatest photos I know, but I don't quite have your camera skills and all the "display" leaves ready to go.  Little Tony kept moving. I don't know if you can tell but he is already showing his racing stripes.

.

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## Amy

Yay!!  So Cool!  I can definitely see some stripes going in the second picture!

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## John Clare

> and all the "display" leaves ready to go.  Little Tony kept moving. I don't know if you can tell but he is already showing his racing stripes.


Haha, does it seem that false?  These photos were taken in terrarium:









Same for this Santa Isabel:

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## John Clare

I meant to say, your little Tony looks like he's doing well.  What are you going to feed them with?  I've been told that the stripes can take up to 2 years to develop fully by the way.

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## bshmerlie

I've been culturing tons of springtails in preparation for these guys plus melanogaster fruit flies. Their stripes are becoming more vivid with every passing day. I don't think the stripes are the issue its the red body color that takes the time. I'll see if I can get a better picture of little tony in the morning so you can see the difference a couple of days make with the stripes. They are definately visible now.  I use SuperPig for the frogs and a color enhancing fish flake for the tads.

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## John Clare

Superpig definitely does the job but I find it unnecessary.  Why?  Because Repashy Calcium+ (formerly known as Calcium+ICB) contains the same color enhancers but in lower amounts.  They have pretty much the same effect, just slightly less pronounced (you should see my Matecho tinctorius).

Are you sure you'll need the springtails for the metamorphs?  I have a feeling they will be able to take wingless _Drosophila melanogaster_ since my juveniles are eating _D. hydei_ fruit flies without issue.  Here's a quote from Poison Frogs (2007) by Lötters, Jungfer, Henkel, and Schmidt:




> As soon as the front legs appear, the tadpoles are placed in angled containers with a water level of not more than 1 cm that lead to a "terrestrial" part of some brown leaves.  When the metamorphs have eventually left the water, they can be housed in small terraria of maybe 20 x 30 cm.  Froglets are initially dark brown with an indistinct light striped pattern. Measuring between 9-11 mm in length, they are capable of managing _Drosophila_ right away.  Unfortunately, the offspring of wild-caught specimens with a lot of white in their pattern are usually much less attractive than their parents, as their light stripes are often much narrower.  The reasons for this phenomenon are as yet unknown.

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## berksmike

I generally feed my neomorphs a mixture of mels and springs. Most will take mels straight away but have found a small number wont take them for a while so the springs are good for that.
Here's a clip of some of mine having a feast of springtails (sorry for the picture quality):

Baby Phantasmal Dart Frogs feeding on springtails - YouTube

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## John Clare

What kind of melanogaster are they Mike?  I generally find that frogs can often manage the wingless mutant when they can't handle the winged kinds.

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## bshmerlie

Mine are wingless...they look a little smaller

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## berksmike

I use turkish glider mels as I find these the most productive. Have made up stunted cultures before to see if those refusing normal mels will take stunted ones - some do and some stick to the springs so generally feed both. They will also take 1st and 2nd instar milkweed bugs without any problem.

Btw John those "Rio Saladillo" look lovely - might get some of those myself. Have a couple of empty vivs im just growing in!

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