# Frogs & Toads > Dart Frogs (Dendrobatidae) > General Discussion >  Boophis ankaratra - one of the coolest not-tree frogs out there!

## Joshua Willard

Latest project : Boophis ankaratra. For now, 15 of these guys are living inside critter keepers I have in a wine chiller, to keep them at about 60 degrees. These frogs seem to waste away on people - from what little information I was able to glean on these guys, they are a higher elevation species that experiences a rather chilly climate in the wild.

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## DartEd

Omg, Josh they're beautiful.

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## Heather

Very pretty frog. I hope they do well for you.

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## Lynn

Wow , Josh 
Thanks very much for sharing these photos.
They are really beautiful.

I'll store them anytime rather than wine. Ha!
I know you are very busy ----- please keep this thread going!
Lynn

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## Happy Frog

I remember reading about this species a number of years ago on the net.  I thought them to be interesting but considered the husbandry for them to be almost impossible for the average frogger...

Thank you Josh for posting the pictures and reminding me about this species.

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## zBrinks

Whoops - didn't realize I was logged into the Josh's Frogs account - I'm Zach, who works at Josh's Frogs (and does the forum advertising, and apparently forgets to log out of the business account sometimes :P)

Several of the Boophis arrived skinny, and all are on their way to fattening up quite nicely on a diet of hydei and 1/8" crickets. I had a bit of time this evening to install some led lighting and a glass shelf, as well as a thermohygrometer to keep better track of the temps. Right now, they're getting up to a blistering 62 during the day and 56 at night, and seem to be loving it!

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## Terry

Thanks for sharing your photos of this remarkable species. I have had the opportunity to care for several Madagascar species at the zoo I worked at. _Boophis ankaratra_ is part of the _B. albipunctatus_ group and closely related to the _B. luteus_ group. Frogs in Madagascar are often placed in "groups" based on similar color patterns (morphs) or calls. There are three species affinis for B. ankaratra: "Antoetra slow", "Andohahela slow" and "Andohahela fast" (the fast and slow refer to the rate of their calls). They are just temporary names for now, but eventually they can be determined to be the same species as "_ankaratra_" or a totally new species based on genetic studies. This species is quite plentiful and found in the cooler highland regions of central Madagascar and their tadpoles are adapted to fast moving streams.

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## DartEd

Those are so amazing Zach. They look so delicate. I wish you guys at Josh's the best of luck with them.

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## Creamballman

Very cool, but just to clear things up... these guys aren't classified as tree frogs, but they have sticky toe pads and climbing abilities like them? What are they classified as the, poison dart frogs?

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## Carlos

Gorgeous frogs and good photo's Zach  :Big Applause:  !  How are these guys doing?  Any plans to breed them?  Thank you  :Frog Smile:  !

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## zBrinks

> Very cool, but just to clear things up... these guys aren't classified as tree frogs, but they have sticky toe pads and climbing abilities like them? What are they classified as the, poison dart frogs?



 These are actually close relatives of mantellas, believe it or not. The genus Boophis is pretty amazing. I'm hoping to breed these guys, but keeping them alive is going to be a challenge in itself. Of the 15 that came in, a few of the ones that arrived were in rough shaped and passed, but most of them are doing great.

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