1S371 Edgewood Walk
West Chicago, IL, 60185
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Ranitomeya | SPIRITUS SUB HYALUS
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The species that was, wasn't and is again. Originally used to describe the red Dendrobates ventrimaculatus from the area around Iquitos, Peru, the species name wasn't universally accepted in science. Then, after the genus Ranitomeya was reworked after genetic studies were completed, amazonica had a place again. The species is now represented by the former yellow ventrimaculata from French Guyana as well as the original red frogs from Iquitos. Care of variabilis is the same as amazonica.
Clutches of 4-10 eggs are laid every week to once every three weeks in film canisters tilted at about a 45 degree angle so that they hold a bit of water. Eggs are laid below the water line and having clean water in the film canister seems to be a prerequisite to the frogs laying eggs. From time to time, all the frogs in the enclosure will end up in the film canister when breeding occurs.
The male will transport the tadpoles to other bodies of water in the enclosure and the female may lay nutritive eggs for the tadpoles.
The adults will sometimes lay viable clutches of eggs in the water with a tadpole, but I am unsure if this is just an artifact of captive life. Tadpoles are carnivorous and may be cannibalistic so keeping them individually is a good idea.
Care: Easy, a good first thumbnail, sometimes shy
Groups: Yes, even mix of sexes
Breeding: Easy, film canisters tilted to 45 degrees to hold water
Tadpoles: Parents show indirect care, will breed in canisters that have tadpoles in them, recommend pulling after deposition
Froglets: Small, springtails are a help
Tips: For frogs that don't readily use film canisters, try a shallow dish with water and philodendron it it, keep water clean
Frogs brought into the US by Understory Enterprises. Variable in color from red to orange with blue netted legs. Very similar to what was called Red Amazonicus from European and direct importations.
These frogs are very similar in coloration - especially throat pattern to the imports by Understory Enterprises. The parents of these frogs were acquired from Todd Kelley in the late nineties.
These frogs first entered the US via Chuck Powell in the 1990's. In general, they resemble a typical R. amazonica with a well defined 'Y' pattern and thick colored stripes. This frog is not as bold as the amazonica from Iquitos but also not as shy as some fantastica.
Notice the stripe on the throat. This marking is particular to this species - from what I've seen.
This species caused quite a stir when Understory Enterprises first imported the type locality morph from the area around Shucushuyacu, Peru. Brilliant red head and bright blue netted legs over a jet black body - they were like nothing the hobby had seen before. Initially priced at $400ea this morph proved easy to breed causing the price to drop fairly quickly. Understory imported the morph from Pampa Hermosa next, and while beautiful, it hasn't been as popular or proven as easy to breed for most. We will see if the recently photographed "Lemon Head" morph makes its way into the hobby in the near future.
Courting is initiated by the male with a buzzing call similar to R. variabilis but repeated for 5 to 10 seconds. The call can be heard easily outside the enclosure. If interested the female will follow the male around the enclosure, walking in a jerky fashion and stroking his back. These frogs lay 3 to 8 light gray eggs every 10 to 14 days on horizontal surfaces, often showing preference for overlapping leaves on short plants or in the leaf litter. Our frogs lay in film canisters, and prefer ones that are black, mounted amongst leaves with the opening facing the rear of the enclosure. The male will transport tads, freqently 2-3 at a time to water, including film canisters.
Care: Intermediate, large as adults but rocket fast, sometimes shy
Groups: Yes, male heavy
Breeding: Easy, horizontal film canisters on the sides or in the leaf litter, sometimes leaflitter used exclusively
Tadpoles: No parental care after deposition, recommend pulling after deposition
Froglets: Small - Medium, springtails are a help
Tips: It can be hard to find eggs. Sometimes it's best to provide plenty of deposition sites and just pull tads.
The second of the morphs to enter the hobby via Understory. My favorite between the two, but overall, not as popular as the first.
The first morph into the US. Not the greatest pictures here, but still a beautiful frog.
The first eggs - just a month after the first shipment to the US. My initial group proved to be very fertile, like many of the others that came down from Canada.
Just a months worth of clutches from my initial 2.2 group.
My first thumbnail and a fantastic place to start for anyone looking to get into thumbnails. Ranitomeya imitator will breed on just about any protected vertical or near vertical surface. 1-4 (typically 2) white to light gray eggs are laid weekly to every other week. My frogs prefer completely vertical black film canisters with the opening facing down, just above the leaves of plants. Tadpoles hatch in 10 to 14 days and are transported by the male to individual small bodies of water like film canisters or bromeliad axils.
R. imitator take excellent care of their young in captivity and the tadpoles can be left to the care of the adults. If you pull the tadpoles, they need a high protein diet and can be cannibalistic so they are best raised individually. The tadpoles will morph after 60 days and are able to small fruit files supplemented by springtails.
Care: Beginner, typically bold
Groups: No
Breeding: Easy, film canisters upside down vertically
Tadpoles: Excellent parental care after deposition, recommend leaving tadpoles with parents
Froglets: Medium, springtails are a help, tadpoles left with parents morph larger
Tips: Lower light levels result in bolder frogs
This extremely variable morph does not seem to mimic a target species. Frogs range in color from green to orange and have a broken net pattern to bold striping. Melanistic and amelanistic froglets have been produced and these frogs typically breed readily. This morph entered the hobby via Understory Enterprises.
R. imitator 'Cainarachi Valley' is most likely the same frog as the 'Green' R. imitator, however these frogs were collected with locality data by the INIBICO project. For all practical intents and purposes, treat these frogs just like other imitator just don't mix them with the green imitator in the hobby without locality data.
These frogs are site specific "Intermedius" that entered the hobby through Understory Enterprises. They breed readily and are typically bold.
R. imitator 'Green' is better known as the nominat imitator in the hobby. This is incorrect as the term nominat refers to the first subspecies described when a species is split into subspecies. Since R. imitator intermedius and R. imitator yurimaguensis are no longer considered valid, these frogs should be referred to as 'Green' or the holotype imitator. These frogs are most likely from Cainarachi, Peru, but since they are of unknown origin they should not be mixed with INIBICO imitator known to originate from that region.
While 'intermedius' is no longer considered a valid subspecies of Ranitomeya imitator, it is still used as the common name in the hobby. R. imitator 'Intermedius' is a variable frog patternwise that appears to mimic R. fantastica and R. summersi across it's range. These frogs are similar in care requirements to all other R. imitator.
It is important not to mix these frogs with the ones with locality data from Chazuta and Huallaga.
My Ranitomeya imitator from Tor Linbo's line are some of the boldest frogs I have, being out nearly all the time. These frogs produce offspring with a wide array of patterns, from orange netting like a green imitator all the way to a striped frog, much like a lamasi.
The Linbo Tarapotos should not be mixed with the ones from Understory Enterprises that have locality data linked to them.
The Understory line of imitator from Tarapoto, Peru are as fantastic as the Linbo line. Bold frogs that breed regularly, they are typically netted but will produce a range of colors from orange to green. Melanistic and amelanistic froglets have popped up too.
These popular imitators mimic a wicked looking orange fantastica also from Varadero, Peru. Intense orange striping - sometimes covering the whole head - is offset by a black body with blue legs.
Probably the rarest locality of imitator in the US hobby and possibly the rarest legally available thumbnail. These frogs came into the hobby through Understory Enterprises and were not popular at the time. This coupled with limited production in Canada resulted in just a handful of frogs being left in the US. Those that are here haven't produced well. This is all ironic seeing that the striped phenotype is the most common in the wild. These frogs are similar to the Yurimaguensis, however these frequently have more intense striping and are less likely to produce netted offspring.
Ranitomeya imitator 'Yurimaguas' used to be considered a subspecies of R. imitator but is now just considered to be a morph. While these striped frogs are not common in US collections, they are actually the most common form of imitator in the wild - like the ones from Yumbatos. The Yurimaguas in the hobby frequently produce netted offspring instead of striped ones. I don't know if this is the result of genetic bottlenecking or something that also happens in the wild.
Ranitomeya fantastica is one of the larger species of thumbnails with some females reaching an inch in length. The species is extremely variable across its entire range and fully deserving of the species name fantastica. The bright orange heads of the ones from Varadero and the orange head offset by the cream neck band on the holotype frogs from Yurimaguas are particularly striking.
Like R. benedicta, courting is initiated by the male with a buzzing call similar to R. variabilis but repeated for 5 to 10 seconds. The call can be heard easily outside the enclosure. If interested the female will follow the male around the enclosure, walking in a jerky fashion and stroking his back. These frogs lay 3 to 8 light gray eggs every 10 to 14 days on horizontal surfaces, often showing preference for overlapping leaves on short plants or in the leaf litter. Our frogs lay in film canisters, and prefer ones that are black, mounted amongst leaves with the opening facing the rear of the enclosure. The male will transport tads, frequently 2-3 at a time to water, including film canisters.
Care: Intermediate, large as adults but rocket fast, sometimes shy
Groups: Yes, male heavy
Breeding: Easy - Moderate, horizontal film canisters on their sides or in the leaf litter, sometimes leaflitter used exclusively
Tadpoles: No parental care after deposition, recommend pulling after deposition
Froglets: Small - Medium, springtails are a help
Tips: It can be hard to find eggs. Sometimes it's best to provide plenty of deposition sites and just pull tads. Try placing film canisters at the back of the enclosure with just a small gap between the opening and the back of the vivarium.
The Caynarachi Valley morph enter the US hobby through Understory Enterprises. Likely coming from a higher elevation that the Copperhead lines already in the hobby, these frogs were also our first taste of fantastica with solid orange heads. While the majority of the frogs have some sort of butterfly or crown pattern, some are produced with solid orange heads.
These frogs are from an old line from Europe which came to the US in the late 1990's. Generally shy, our frogs are especially bold; bolder than some of our imitators. Even shy frogs can become more bold when breeding. These frogs likely originate between the collection locations for Understory's Caynarachi Valley and Lowland fantastica morphs - probably where INIBICO collected their frogs.
These frogs should not be mixed in captivity.
These frogs were imported through the INIBICO project and have collection site information associated with them. They are likely the natural integrade between the Lowland and Caynarachi Valley morphs that Understory imported - and possibly from the same locale as the old line Copperhead morph. The extreme variability of the INIBICO morph makes it special.
These frogs should not be mixed with Copperheads in captivity.
'Lowland' frogs tend to be more variable patternwise than the 'Copperhead' morph, with some frogs' crowns being replaced by a more R. variabilis like dot and Y pattern. These frogs can be reclusive in general, but become far more bold when actively courting. Mine appear to prefer breeding in the leaf litter and film canisters on the floor of the enclosure instead of horizontal leaves like the 'Copperhead' do.
These fantastica from Tarapoto, Peru are the product of Understory's work. The frogs have a bright orange head with a well defined star or crown. The back pattern consists of moderately narrow white to peach to yellow colored summersi-like bands on a black background. The similarities to summersi do lend credence to the anecdotes that this frog is a natural (or accidental man-made in the wild) hybrid of the two species.
INIBICO also sent frogs to the US however, the numbers were limited and they did not breed well. To my knowledge there is only one female left in captivity.
A seriously under-appreciated frog, Ranitomeya flavovittata is in the vanzolinii genetic group and is the smallest of the group. The call is similar to R. imitator, being slightly quieter and higher in pitch. Their light gray/white eggs are very similar (if not the same) as R. imitator or vanzolinii and were laid in horizontal film cans both in the leaf litter and stuck to the side of the vivarium.
Care: Intermediate, only due to smaller adult size, sometimes shy
Groups: Yes, even mix
Breeding: Easy, horizontal film canisters on their sides or upside down vertically
Tadpoles: Excellent parental care after deposition, recommend leaving tadpoles with parents
Froglets: Small - Medium, springtails are a help, tadpoles left with parents morph larger
Tips: Lower light levels result in bolder frogs
R. reticulata is one of the smallest Ranitomeya with some adult males being just 15mm. They will spend a fair amount of time on the floor of the enclosure but will not hesitate to climb. While this was one of the first species of Ranitomeya to be imported, the difficulty raising newly morphed froglets due to their size has prevented them from becoming common in the hobby.
After an elaborate courtship ritual that includes dancing around the enclosure the frogs prefer to breed in horizontal film canisters strewn about the leaf litter, sometimes stuck on the glass. They lay 2-3 eggs ever other week and the male will transport the tadpoles to small bodies of water. There is no parental care after deposition, but some people leave the tadpoles in the enclosure for the tadpoles eat algae and drowned flies.
Care: Difficult, small size means less margin of error, fairly bold
Groups: No
Breeding: Intermediate, horizontal film canisters on their sides
Tadpoles: No parental care after deposition, recommend pulling tadpoles
Froglets: Tiny, springtails are required
Tips: Actively breeding frogs are bolder frogs
This line of reticulata comes from Iquitos, Peru by way of Understory Enterprises. My adults are a mixture of solid and spotted frogs. These frogs have proven much easier to breed and the young easier to raise than the old line frogs.
A line of frogs from Understory Enterprises that produces frogs that keep their juvenile striped pattern into adulthood.
My R. reticulata 'Solid' are from multiple older lines that produced froglets with white feet from time to time. Unfortunately, the whitefooted froglets were not as sturdy as the typical ones and the heterozygous offspring didn't produce many whitefooted froglets. While I still have frogs from the line, I don't think the whitefoot gene is present anymore.
A froglet just hours out of the water on a typical plastic spoon.
A froglet exemplifying the striped pattern that typically fills in over time.
After genetic study, what used to be called Ranitomeya lamasi and biolat are now grouped into sirensis with the distinctively different holotype, a solid red frog with blue legs. I've observed the most activity around lights on and lights off, these frogs are typically shy. They make up for their shyness with a lovely call, much like that of R. imitator, the ability to be kept in groups and a willingness to breed.
Breeding takes place just about anywhere and 1 - 5 white to gray eggs are laid at a time. The male readily transports the tadpoles to individual bodies of water and directs the female to lay nutritive eggs for the tadpole. If tadpoles are pulled they need to be housed singly and fed a high protein diet.
Care: Beginner, the high price and limited availability of the Highland/Tingo Maria morph should prevent them from being a starter thumbnail, typically shy
Groups: Yes, even mix
Breeding: Easy, horizontal film canisters on their sides, upside down vertically from 90 to 30 degrees
Tadpoles: Excellent parental care after deposition, recommend leaving tadpoles with parents
Froglets: Small - Medium, springtails are a help, tadpoles left with parents morph larger
Tips: Lower light levels result in bolder frogs
R. lamasi 'Highland' is also know in the hobby as the Standard Lamasi as it was the first to make its way to the United States. It is not nearly as common in the US as the other morphs from Panguana. This is due to a major price crash that made the frog undesirable, limited breeding efforts and bottlenecked the gene pool resulting in difficulty breeding remaining stock. Several imports from Europe were made between 2012 and 2014 and breeders have started having success with those. Unfortunately this morph may have been extirpated from the wild and what we have may be it.
There seems to be a movement in the hobby to call them Tingo Maria instead of Highland since that is where the founder populations may be from. I included it here, though I don't know if that's the best name to use for these frogs.
Various offspring
Green Leg Panguana, like all R. sirensis are a bit reclusive but appear to be active after the lights go out and early in the day after the lights turn on. Whether these are a distinct population from the Panguana sirensis I don't know. They came in separately in the late 90's and I've maintained them as such since then.
Pictured it a typical frog along with one with an aberrant pattern.
A froglet with an aberrant pattern
'Panguana' are quite similar to the 'Green Leg Panguana' but they possess white to blue/gray reticulations on their legs as opposed to the blue-green of the 'Green Leg Panguana'.
'Orange Panguana' are similar to the 'Panguana' morph, as they possess white to blue/gray reticulations on their legs. The color of the 'Orange Panguana' vary from light orange to a brick red.
Additionally they possess rather noticeable yellow flash marks on the upper part of their thighs and forearms. They are similar to 'Green' sirensis in this respect. The frogs in the hobby came to the US via a collector in the Czech Republic, apparently they are sympatric with Ranitomeya uakarii at the collection site.
These sirenesis are the only ones currently in the hobby with locality data. Produced by Understory Enterprises, these frogs have proven very similar to the sirensis from Panguana that are already in the hobby.
Pictured is a juvenile frog.
Ranitomeya summersi, is one of the larger species of thumbnails with some females reaching an inch in length. The species used to be considered a morph of R. fantastica and are still referred to by some as Yellow Fantasticus. R. summersi are more terrestrial than most other species of Ranitomeya but they do not require a horizontally oriented enclosure as they are found climbing in low shrubs and plants in the wild. They also occur in a drier area than other Ranitomeya but it isn't necessary to replicate this in captivity.
Though moderately shy, they can become more bold when breeding. Courting is initiated by the male with a buzzing call similar to R. variabilis but repeated for 5 to 10 seconds. The call can be heard easily outside the enclosure. If interested the female will follow the male around the enclosure, walking in a jerky fashion and stroking his back. These frogs lay 3 to 8 light gray eggs every 10 to 14 days on horizontal surfaces, often showing preference for overlapping leaves on short plants or in the leaf litter. Our frogs seldom lay in film canisters, but when they do they are black, mounted among leaves with the opening facing the rear of the enclosure. The male will transport tads, frequently 2-3 at a time to water, including film canisters. There is no parental care after tad deposition. Metamorphs typically take melanogaster without problems.
Care: Intermediate, large as adults but quick, sometimes shy
Groups: Yes, male heavy
Breeding: Intermediate, horizontal film canisters on their sides or in the leaf litter, sometimes leaf litter used exclusively
Tadpoles: No parental care after deposition, recommend pulling after deposition
Froglets: Medium - Large, springtails are typically not needed
Tips: It can be hard to find eggs. Sometimes it's best to provide plenty of deposition sites and just pull tads.
These summersi are from Sauce, Peru and entered the hobby through the work of Understory Enterprises.
These particular summersi are from Huallaga, Peru. Imported from Germany in as yellow Dendrobates fantasticus, these frogs were actually mixed in with banded R. imitator who are exceptional mimics of the summersi.
Male watering a clutch of eggs.
Male watering a clutch of eggs.
A clutch of eggs that are a couple days old. The neural crest is visible.
Early tadpole visible
Froglet
Froglet
Ranitomeya uakarii is a close relative of R. reticulata and is part of the R. fantastica genetic group. Until it was described in 2006 as a new species it was thought to be a morph of R. duellmani. This frog can be shy, much like other R. fantastica group frogs, but will become bold over time and while actively courting.
These frogs lay between four and ten light gray eggs every other week in horizontally mounted film canisters tucked into plant leaves and give preference to canisters that open toward the rear of the enclosure. Others have reported eggs being laid under overlapping leaves or in the leaf litter. Courting is much like other fantastica group frogs with jerky movements and back stroking. One difference is that the call, a repetitive raspy buzz, of the male can be heard several feet away from the enclosure.
Care: Intermediate, small as adults and quick, sometimes shy
Groups: Yes, male heavy
Breeding: Easy, horizontal film canisters on their sides or in the leaf litter, sometimes leaf litter used exclusively
Tadpoles: No parental care after deposition, recommend pulling after deposition
Froglets: Small, springtails are typically necessary
Tips: It can be hard to find eggs. Sometimes it's best to provide plenty of deposition sites and just pull tads.
The 'Tamshiyacu' frogs are part of a Understory Enterprises import and are from a different population than the frogs that were imported from Europe. The dorsal striping on these frogs tends to be narrower than their European counterparts and often doesn't connect at the nose to form a black nose dot.
The 'Tahuayo' frogs are part of a Czech import and are from a different (more southern) population than the frogs being imported by Understory Enterprises. The dorsal striping on these frogs tend wider than their Understory Enterprises counterparts and often connects at the nose to form a black nose dot.
Tadpole after a couple weeks in the water.
Newly morphed froglet
Ranitomeya vanzolinii is a member of the genetic group with imitator, flavovittata and sirensis and have shown to have monogamous relationships in the wild. In captivity, the frogs have proven to be excellent parents, with a pair raising six tadpoles with feeder eggs at one time. Pairs and trios of white/gray eggs are laid on vertical surfaces like in R. imitator, but vanzolinii seem to be much better at hiding eggs than our imitator and rarely use the film canisters. I switched to placing many water filled canisters in the enclosure and letting the male deposit the tads. Sometimes these frogs can be reluctant to breed, taking two years to start. Switching adults around sometimes works, but often simply time is needed.
The frogs pictured are from European imports. Understory Enterprises has made fully legal, site specific, frogs available as well.
Care: Beginner, sometimes shy
Groups: Yes, but shown to be monagamous in the wild
Breeding: Intermediate, film canisters upside down vertically or horizontal
Tadpoles: Excellent parental care after deposition, recommend leaving tadpoles with parents
Froglets: Medium, springtails are a help, tadpoles left with parents morph larger
Tips: Lower light levels result in bolder frogs
Ranitomeya variabilis was recently restructured to include all the former R. ventrimaculata frogs that didn't move into R. amazonica - basically the yellowish ones with thinner striping. Care of variabilis is the same as amazonica.
Clutches of 4-10 eggs are laid every week to once every three weeks in film canisters tilted at about a 45 degree angle so that they hold a bit of water. Eggs are laid below the water line and having clean water in the film canister seems to be a prerequisite to the frogs laying eggs. From time to time, all the frogs in the enclosure will end up in the film canister when breeding occurs.
The male will transport the tadpoles to other bodies of water in the enclosure and the female may lay nutritive eggs for the tadpoles.
The adults will sometimes lay viable clutches of eggs in the water with a tadpole, but I am unsure if this is just an artifact of captive life. Tadpoles are carnivorous and may be cannibalistic so keeping them individually is a good idea.
Care: Easy, a good first thumbnail, sometimes shy
Groups: Yes, even mix of sexes
Breeding: Easy, film canisters tilted to 45 degrees to hold water
Tadpoles: Parents show indirect care, will breed in canisters that have tadpoles in them, recommend pulling after deposition
Froglets: Small, springtails are a help
Tips: For frogs that don't readily use film canisters, try a shallow dish with water and philodendron it it, keep water clean
This variabilis comes from Peru via Understory Enterprises. They have the typical black nose spot and a Y pattern on their backs. Frogs range from having a red-orange nose fading to yellow to totally yellow markings on the frogs. Easy to produce, they are not as common in the hobby anymore.
Pictured is a new metamorph.
This is the holotype morph of variabilis and isthe frog that R. imitator 'Green' (and the site specific ones from Caynarachi) imitate. My 'Highland' are from a mixture of Understory Enterprise and INIBICO imports. Personally I find variabilis to be much more attractive in appearance than the imitator who imitate them.
These variabilis come from a population further south than the highland morph imported by INIBICO and Understory Enterprises.
These frogs are a little bit larger than the Highland morph and in general have more green and blue coloration than the Highland morph although they aren't as metallic.
While having much finer netting on their backs than the Southerns that Understory brought in, the coloration and size of these frogs is much more similar to the Southerns than the Highlands.
These have been in the hobby since the 90's and aren't quite as ready breeders either the Highlands or Southerns.
An awesome little frog with a stripe down the back instead of netting or a Y pattern. Not as variable as some other morphs of variabilis.
Yet another frog that was introduced to the hobby by Understory Enterprises, it never appeared to be popular and is uncommon in the hobby now.
A large leaf frog from South America, the fringed Cruziohyla craspedopus is an other-worldly vivarium occupant. Possibly spending their entire lives in lowland rain forest canopies, the frogs breed exclusively in tree holes that contain water.
In captivity, small clutches 3-10 eggs are laid once or twice a year in containers that mimic the holes they'd find in nature.
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