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AmphibianTerrestrialIntermediate
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Splash-backed Poison Frog (Red)
Adelphobates galactonotus "Red"
The breathtaking Red morph of the splash-backed poison frog, featuring a striking blood-red coloration on its back contrasting sharply with black legs.
Class:Amphibia
Order:Anura
Family:Dendrobatidae
Subfamily:Dendrobatinae
Genus:Adelphobates
Species:Adelphobates galactonotus "Red"
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
70 - 100 %
Day temperature
20 - 26 °C
Night temperature
18 - 21 °C
UVB
None - Low
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Inhabits the humid, dense, and dark primary rainforests of the southern Brazilian Amazon (Tapajós and Pará river basins). It is a terrestrial species that lives on the forest floor, hiding under leaf litter, fallen coconut shells, and roots.
Taxonomy and Genetics: A robust and relatively large dart frog species, reaching about 4 cm in size. The lower body and legs are deep velvety black, while the dorsal area features a vivid, solid "splash" of blood-red, orange, yellow, or blue depending on the morph. Females are larger and rounder.
Behavior and Habits: Diurnal and moderately bold, often spending time in the open on leaves or mossy logs. When startled, they perform short, quick hops. The male's courtship call is a very quiet buzz, and males carry tadpoles on their backs to water sources after hatching.
Morphology: Sexual dimorphism is characterized by the larger, wider, and rounder body shape of adult females when gravid, whereas males are smaller, more slender, and produce vocalizations during courtship.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: Provide a horizontally-oriented terrarium of at least 60x45x45 cm for a small group. Use a drainage layer (clay pebbles) topped with a moisture-retaining substrate, covered in leaf litter. Include coconut huts, flat cork bark, and broad-leafed plants for hiding.
Lighting and Heating: Maintain a temperature range of 24–26°C. Avoid temperatures approaching 29–30°C as they can be fatal. A night drop to 21°C is ideal. Provide low UVB (2–5%) to support calcium absorption and prevent metabolic bone disease.
Humidity and Hydration: Maintain high humidity between 80–90% via daily misting. Proper ventilation via mesh screening or fans is essential to prevent stagnant air, which can cause lethal bacterial infections (Red Leg syndrome). Use purified or declorinated water.
Feeding and Supplementation: Ravenous feeders. Offer live insects such as fruit flies (Drosophila hydei), pinhead crickets, and small roaches. Dust prey with calcium, vitamin D3, and vitamin A supplements three times a week to prevent nutritional issues.
Compatibility: Very peaceful and highly social. They can be successfully kept in groups (e.g. 2 males and 4 females in a larger enclosure) without the territorial aggression common in other dart frogs.
Health and Common Diseases: Never handle these frogs unless absolutely necessary; their skin is highly sensitive to soap, lotion, and skin oils. Maintain clean conditions and avoid exposing them to aerosol sprays, smoke, or dirty water.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Inhabits the humid, dense, and dark primary rainforests of the southern Brazilian Amazon (Tapajós and Pará river basins). It is a terrestrial species that lives on the forest floor, hiding under leaf litter, fallen coconut shells, and roots.
Origin
Selective breeding and cultivarsAmazon, Orinoco, and Guianas
Amphibian profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 4.05 cm
- Lifestyle/Microhabitat
- No verified data available
- Activity cycle
- No verified data available
- Sociality
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Toxicity
- No verified data available
- Life stage
- No verified data available
- Handling tolerance
- No verified data available
- Brumation
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
The catalog's scalar value is 4.05 cm. The AmphiBIO v1 source reports a maximum adult measurement of 4.05 cm for this species, recorded as snout–vent length (SVL). These figures are not interchangeable: the first is the profile's editorial reference, whereas the second is a published maximum under a specific measurement convention; differences among sources can reflect sex, population, life stage and measuring method.
Image gallery
Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.
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