Every month, we will be featuring a different frog with expanded information and special prices. Please check back monthly to find out what will be the next Frog of the Month.

The frog for December is the Lemon Yellow form of Dendrobates galactonotus. D. galactonotus is has several different forms that are available in the hobby. Most of the forms in the U.S. hobby are identified by the confusing method of assigning a percentage number to the amount of coloration on the frog’s back. For example, 95% Orange implies that 95% of the frog would be orange in color. There is another form called “75% Orange”. This is to infer that 75% of the frogs back will be covered by the orange coloration. These are two, entirely different forms. People should not confuse the two forms because of individual variability which may cause a 95% Orange form to have less than 95% coverage, or vice-versa in the 75% Orange form. By that same token, a 95% Orange frog that has less than 95% coverage should not be labeled 90% or 85%. If it is the same form, it should be called as such, regardless of the exact amount of coverage. It should also be said that the Solid Orange form of D. galactonotus is not the result of a 95% Orange frog that just happened to get more orange. Confused yet? Well, it gets worse.

Coloration on D. galactonotus has also led to some confusion. The 95% Orange D. galactonotus, sometimes referred to as “Para” in the European hobby after the area in which the original animals came from, can vary in color from a bright, red-orange to a lighter shade of almost yellow-orange all having some amount of black on their legs and undersides. Because their color can vary from red-orange to yellow-orange, some people end up selling them as “Red D. galactonotus” and “Yellow D. galactonotus” when they are actually the same form. To add to the confusion, there are other Red and Yellow forms of D. galactonotus that are from different areas. These should be kept as separate forms. To distinguish between “Yellow D. galactonotus” from Para, the bright yellow form are being called “Lemon Yellow” in the dart frog hobby. They are consistently bright yellow, as opposed to the “yellow” D. galactonotus form Para, which tend to be colored more like the flesh of a cantaloupe.

Breeding for D. galactonotus usually takes place in a bower, where the female will lay eggs that are often white or tan in color. The male’s call is a soft, but long and drawn out, metallic buzz. The tadpoles seem to require a higher protein diet than other, closely related Dendrobatids such as. D. tinctorius. This can be accomplished by using live foods and/or freeze-dried bloodworms in their diet. They are also very susceptible to developmental problems if their water temperature is not monitored. Temperatures that are too cold seem to contribute to Short-femur development in the froglets. The water temperature should be kept in the mid to upper 70’s F (23-26 degrees C.). The froglets that emerge grow rapidly, and develop their color quickly.

The Lemon Yellow from of D. galactonotus is a strikingly colored frog. They are very hardy, and reproduce well in captivity. Growing success in breeding has made this species increasingly affordable, even for the beginning hobbyist. We would highly recommend this frog for all hobbyists.