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These frogs are diurnal, -partially active during the day as well and the night. Unlike most species of frogs, these exhibit exorbitant coloration. Most frogs, -those with no protection against predators except remaining hidden, have camouflaged colorations.

Their toxicity of poison dart frogs varies from specie to specie and even from the same specie within different regions, different levels of toxicity have been noted. Many of the over 176 species of these frogs are critically endangered due to agriculture, logging and other activities of man. Loss of habit affects all creatures of the tropical rainforests.

This Frog is Intently Watching a Housefly – A Potential Meal

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The indigenous Amerindians of Central and South America found that the poisonous secretions of these brightly colored frogs could be used on the darts used to bring down other small game, hence the name “poison dart frogs.” But of the over 175 species of ‘poisonous dart frogs’, only three species have been documented as being used for this purpose. Of the three types that are used for the native ‘poison darts,’ curiously, none have the characteristic bright colors and patterns typically noted of the other species.

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Most species of poison dart frog are rather small, just over a half inch (1.5 cm.) in length, but there are some species that can range up to 2 ½ inches (6 cm) long. Living in the tropical forests, they sometimes lay their eggs within the tapped pool of water to be found in bromeliads or other plants, crevices in trees with standing water, or small pools on the ground.

It’s Not Easy Being …Blue? But It Sure Is Pretty!

This is probably my favorite poison dart frog, -I love these neon blue-violet colors. A true psychedelic frog! But you wouldn’t want to lick this variety!

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Wild caught specimens of these frogs can maintain their toxicity for some time, but they do gradually lose their poisonous attributes due to their augmented diets. They poison they secrete is not of them, it comes from the poisonous ants and gnats that they naturally eat. Still, a specimen bought at a pet store should be treated with respect for one does not know how much toxin the frog still retains.

Their natural lifespan is generally believed to be between one and three years, although some non-poisonous frogs of North America like the Gray Tree Frog is cited to live for perhaps as long as 5-10 years. The research in this area is continuing.

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The worldwide decline in amphibian populations have not left the Poison Dart Frogs exempt. Habitat loss being the biggest culprit to the decline in their population, the disease “cutaneous chytridiomycosis” is ravaging the species the hardest in the last 25 years. Efforts to counteract this decline have included efforts by zoos to treat captive frogs with an antifungal agent that is the same as is used to kill athlete’s foot in humans. The hope is to preserve the species until such time as their native habitat (and the widespread disease at~large is controlled, of course) can accommodate their return and repatriation, even if it is by their distant progeny.