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Written by Richard
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Sunday, 16 March 2008 11:01 |
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Mantellas are not difficult to breed, provided the correct environmental parameters are provided, and can be quite prolific when in full swing. I have bred five species over the past 8 years: M. aurantiaca, M. viridis, M. pulchra, M. laevigata, and M. bernhardi. Breeding species such as these is very satisfying and rewarding. All owners of mantellas MUST do all they can to breed from their stock, for the survival of these species. |
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Written by Richard
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Sunday, 16 March 2008 11:02 |
 This species, the Golden Mantella (Mantella aurantiaca) is the first species I bred. Like all other mantellas it is endemic to Madagascar. I bought 3.2 adults from The Vivarium (Walthamstow) on 24th April 1998. By November they had spawned once for me, but none of the clutch was fertilised. By the end of the following season (´99) I had learnt enough to have four froglets! I was mightily pleased! In 2000 I was so successful that I gave 40 tadpoles away at one point (my collaborators in that venture managed to successfully raise 24 froglets from that lot). In 2001 I had over 800 tadpoles - that season I had also bought another 1.1 adults (from ukherps.com). The female of that pair laid one clutch with an excess of 120 eggs!!! Unfortunately, I was not able to give any tadpoles away that year, so had to try to raise them all myself, with disastrous consequences - none of them survived! I was devastated. Since then I have made sure that I have members in the studbook programme to whom I can distribute the tadpoles and froglets, and if you’re interested in joining please do contact me! |
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Last Updated on Sunday, 23 March 2008 20:46 |
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Written by Richard
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Sunday, 16 March 2008 11:07 |
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I received 1.4.1 individuals of this species at the end of 2005, and have bred them since then. I now have three young froglets, and about 30 tadpoles! This is a beautiful species (although much darker than many other mantella species), and it likes much warmer conditions than most other species. See the "Mantella Gallery" section of my site (accessible from the homepage) for some stunning pictures of this species. |
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Written by Richard
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Sunday, 16 March 2008 11:06 |
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I received 0.0.15 individuals at the end of 2005. This is a stunning species, with some fascinating breeding behaviour, even by the already unusual breeding biology of the rest of the genus. This species lays food eggs for its young, and generally raises a single tadpole at a time in a small water body. I use film canisters, or multivatamin tubes, and the adults lay eggs with abandon in these containers. My first froglet left the water a week ago - a perfect miniature copy of the adults! |
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