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AmphibianTerrestrialIntermediate
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Strawberry Poison-dart Frog "Popa"
Oophaga pumilio "Popa"
A distinct geographic morph of the Strawberry Poison Frog from Popa Island, Panama. Colors range from metallic olive green to yellow or bronze, often with black spots.
Class:Amphibia
Order:Anura
Family:Dendrobatidae
Subfamily:Dendrobatinae
Genus:Oophaga
Species:Oophaga pumilio "Popa"
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
80 - 100 %
Day temperature
22 - 26 °C
Night temperature
19 - 21 °C
UVB
None
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Endemic to Popa Island in the Bocas del Toro archipelago of Panama. They inhabit the wet forest floor and lower vegetation, relying heavily on epiphytic bromeliads for shelter.
Taxonomy and Genetics: Belonging to the family Dendrobatidae. Oophaga pumilio is famous for its extreme color polymorphism; the Popa morph is characterized by its metallic olive green, golden-yellow, or bronze dorsal color, frequently spotted with black.
Behavior and Habits: Diurnal and highly active. Males vocalize from elevated perches to defend territories. Females exhibit dedicated parental care, transporting tadpoles to water-filled bromeliad leaf axils and feeding them unfertilized eggs.
Morphology: A tiny frog reaching 1.8–2.5 cm. Males and females are similar in size. Males are distinguished by their dark, wrinkled vocal sac on the throat and calling behavior.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: A vertical rainforest terrarium (minimum 45x45x60 cm) is required. Multiple live bromeliads (Neoregelia) are mandatory to provide pools of water for tadpoles. Furnish with branches, moss, and a thick layer of leaf litter.
Lighting and Heating: Maintain daytime temperatures at 24–27°C, with a night drop to 21–23°C. Temperatures above 28°C are dangerous. Provide bright light for plants and low-output (2–5%) UVB.
Humidity and Hydration: Maintain high humidity levels of 80–100%. Daily misting is required, and bromeliad cups must remain filled with water.
Feeding and Supplementation: Feed exclusively micro-prey, such as springtails and small fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). Dust food with a high-quality calcium, vitamin A, and D3 supplement three times a week.
Compatibility: High intraspecific aggression. Best kept in single compatible pairs (1.1). Never mix different locales or species of poison frogs.
Health and Common Diseases: Highly sensitive to starvation and dehydration. Daily feeding is mandatory due to their fast metabolism. Handle only when strictly necessary, using wet, powder-free gloves.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Endemic to Popa Island in the Bocas del Toro archipelago of Panama. They inhabit the wet forest floor and lower vegetation, relying heavily on epiphytic bromeliads for shelter.
Origin
Selective breeding and cultivarsCentral America and Caribbean
Amphibian profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 2.5 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 2.5 cm. The AmphiBIO v1 source reports a maximum adult measurement of 2.5 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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