# Frogs & Toads > Mantella & Other Mantellidae > General Discussion >  The Basic & Advanced Husbandry of Mantella Species - By Joshua Ralph

## Joshua Ralph

Hi everyone, 

Following the success of the Article series by myself regarding the generic husbandry and breeding of the Mantella genus (Currently a two part series, with more to come), I have decided to start discussing the basic and advanced husbandry techniques and requirements for 14 of the species within my own personal collection. 

The Husbandry sheets will still be uploaded as care sheets on the main forum but to try and boost up the posts regarding the genus, I thought this would be appropriate. 

If you are interested in reading a copy of the Article 1 in the Practical Reptile Keeping Mantella series, please send me a Personal Message and I will provide a PDF copy of the article. 

If you are interested in reading a copy of the Article 2 in the  Practical Reptile Keeping Mantella series, please send me a Personal  Message and I will provide a PDF copy of the article. 

And Finally, if you are interested in finding out more, about the conservation of the Mantella genus in captivity and in the wild, then please feel free to Like the Mantella Conservation Project on FaceBook. (Click Image Below)




Many thanks and keep your eyes peeled for more posts on this thread. 

Kind regards, 

Joshua Ralph
Moderator.

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## Paul

I absolutely love my Mantella. They are very shy, but that makes me appreciate the pictures and videos I am able to get of them. I have a few very rookie videos of feeding them and one "for fun" video of them like a move trailer up on my youtube channel. 

The most common thing people say to me when they see pictures of my M. Ebenaui is that they are not very pretty frogs. I couldn't disagree more! They are not flashy like some of the Dendrobates, but the coloration on them is simply beautiful.

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## Lynn

Joshua,
_Thank You_ for sharing all of this terrific information of which, of course, membership will always value and benefit from.

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## Paul

Josh,

I would like to get a discussion going around prepping a group to breed. When is the right time, what are the best practices, caring for eggs, raising tadpoles, raising froglets, and when froglets are ready to be sold or traded.


As I have said before I have a small (5) group of Ebenaui (thanks for the proper id!!!) and originally purchased them with the hopes of breeding them in captivity and start trying to develope a strong healthy line of CB Mantella in the US. I do plan to add more species to my collection as time and availability permit. 

Thanks

Paul

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## Joshua Ralph

> I would like to get a discussion going around prepping a group to breed. When is the right time, what are the best practices, caring for eggs, raising tadpoles, raising froglets, and when froglets are ready to be sold or traded.
> 
> As I have said before I have a small (5) group of Ebenaui (thanks for  the proper id!!!) and originally purchased them with the hopes of  breeding them in captivity and start trying to develope a strong healthy  line of CB Mantella in the US. I do plan to add more species to my  collection as time and availability permit. 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Paul


Well Paul, I breed annually around about the same time every year, from March till around about the middle of September, after which I slowly start to ease off the main triggers for breeding including Feeding and Precipitation. 
Unfortunately, there is no set method of breeding the members of the genus and will require slight differences in regards to temperature, preciptation and dietary in take. The way I do this in regards to the Brown Mantella group species (M.ebenaui and M.betsileo) is like so;

*WARNING*
 Please ensure that all individuals are fully prepared for this preparation, as this can be stressful for the animals 
(I add this to everything I advise people, as it is an incredibly risky process.)




> *Humidifying – Winter (Mid/Late October/November - Late Janurary/February time).* 
> In regards to what the humidity should remain at, the optimum amount should be about 70-75%  which should be provided in the form of a light spray every other day (once on the spray days. This will provide the required triggers to mimic the build up to their summer period of plentiful precipitation, and the spraying that is provided, of course, prevents the specimens from drying out completely.
> 
> *Temperature – Winter (Mid/Late October/November - Late January/February time).*
> In regards to temperature, 18˚C - 21˚C is thought to be the best and highly recommended temperature requirements for the species; however it can rise to approximately 22˚C during their winter period.
> 
> *Feeding – Winter (Mid/Late October/November - Late Janurary/February time).*
> The dietary schedule should be altered completely for this breeding preparation, to mimic the lack of food that would be available for the individuals during their “rest” period. Lower not only the quantity you feed them but also how often you feed them, which can be twice a week if needed. (Please heed warning above, do not attempt this if the specimens are not fully prepared prior.) 
> Feeding can be provided, 3 times a week at the beginning of the process (Late September) and towards November I get to about 2 times with the one off 3rd feeding. When it gets to late December time I normally get them down to 2 feedings only carry this on till the end of January then slowly build up again.  
> ...


  I have breed a lot using the above method for this species in particular and have about 39+ tadpoles from them  in total. 
When it comes to the Spawn, Tadpoles and Froglets, this is the norm for me; 




> *Spawn.*
> The spawn can normally be found in secluded areas of the Terrarium and most of all, at night time in the gaps between the leaves of Dracaena plants where water collects (Like bromeliads), you can replicate this by providing camera film canisters and filling them up with a small amount of water. With my E.N.T style terrariums, spawn has been found on the gravel in the water trench, where there are mounds coming out of the water. 
> If you find spawn within the first few weeks and the Ovum of the egg is a Yellow colouration, then it is more than likely freshly laid. However, do not remove straight away and leave up to 3 days before removing it, due to the possibility that a male has yet to fertilise the spawn. If, after a few days (up to a week) the Ovum starts to turn a Brown/Tan colour, they have not been fertilised and must be removed immediately. 
> 
> *Tadpoles*.
>   For up to 4-5 days, the Tadpoles will not need to be fed at all, and more than likely will not feed if dietary items were provided. The specimens can be housed together and normally seem to prefer being housed communally, as cannibalism is not a great threat with the species.
> 
> *Water Changes.*
> Care must be taken to make sure Water Quality is not lowered and cleaning must be provided regularly in the form of a minor water change, every other day. Water filters can be provided, however the strong currents produced by these devices can actually cause many health problems and even fatalities, especially during the first couple of weeks after the Tadpole has hatched. 
> ...


As for selling the Froglets, I normally wait till they are about 20mm in size at least, just so I know that they are well established and not going to die on their new owner  :Smile:  

Kind regards, 

Joshua

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## Paul

Excellent Thank you Joshua! I plan on putting my group through a winter cycle this year. I will follow this guide and let you know who it turns out for me. 

I have also been wondering if the current tank is setup correctly or should be modified some. It is a Paludarium and has an open water feature in the front right corner of the tank. The rest is pretty standard. It is heavily planted and has a piece of driftwood that runs at an angle across the land section (under this wood is where all the mantella have dug out homes in the moss). 

I have considered removing the wood and forcing them to use more of the tank to find a home, but if it is working for them I don't want to upset the tank. 

I have also considered converting the tank to a traditional false bottom and eliminating the water feature all together, but my hesitation comes in from not wanting to take the whole tank apart... It is growing quite nicely. 

So for now in my waffling I have all but decided to leave the tank as is for now and see how the breeding goes next year. May end of needing to change things just to make it easier to find spawn.

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## bill

Hey Paul! Don't forget, if Josh's post helped you, give the man a rep point!! Ya know, that little star button thingie??


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## Joshua Ralph

> Excellent Thank you Joshua! I plan on putting  my group through a winter cycle this year. I will follow this guide and  let you know who it turns out for me.


Not a problem, may have taken me ages to respond to but I got their eventually! lol Let me know, this is recommended by many breeders and does try to simulate wild environmental factors. 




> I have also been wondering if the current tank is setup correctly or  should be modified some. It is a Paludarium and has an open water  feature in the front right corner of the tank. The rest is pretty  standard. It is heavily planted and has a piece of driftwood that runs  at an angle across the land section (under this wood is where all the  mantella have dug out homes in the moss).
> 
> I have considered removing the wood and forcing them to use more of the  tank to find a home, but if it is working for them I don't want to upset  the tank. 
> 
> I have also considered converting the tank to a traditional false bottom  and eliminating the water feature all together, but my hesitation comes  in from not wanting to take the whole tank apart... It is growing quite  nicely. 
> 
> So for now in my waffling I have all but decided to leave the tank as is  for now and see how the breeding goes next year. May end of needing to  change things just to make it easier to find spawn.


Haha, well I had 3 different things to suggest but your last comment rendered it all useless! :P 






> Hey Paul! Don't forget, if Josh's post helped you, give the man a rep point!! Ya know, that little star button thingie??


Hahah thank you man  :Big Grin:

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## Paul

I unfortunately have already given josh rep points and cant give more till more people are helpful enough to warrant a rep point lol. So I blame society as a whole in the lack of new Rep for Josh  :Big Grin:

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## Paul

Handing out Rep like candy and still Josh is denied Rep from me by the system. My search continues.

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## Josh

I gave rep to him in your stead, don't worry  :Wink:

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## Paul

Rep has been given. It is late sadly and may not be as appreciated, but it was hard earned and well deserved. Thanks to the FF community at large for helping me make this Rep add moment possible.  :Smile:

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