SPECIES SPOTLIGHT

The wonderful world of exotic animals

Mimic poison frog ‘Chazuta’ (Ranitomeya imitator)

Ranitomeya imitator is a lowland species of thumbnail poison frog from the Peruvian Amazon. The term ‘thumbnail’ is used to describe their miniature size and adults can comfortably sit on a human thumbnail. Like many dendrobates, they’re beautifully patterned, extremely territorial and in the wild, highly toxic. Although there are many locality morphs of R. imitator, the ‘chauzita’ locality are consistent in dark mottled patterns, with vibrant orange and yellow details. They also have very soft calls, which is unlike most thumbnail poison frogs and makes them more appealing to the general keeper.

They inhabit bromeliads and broadleaved plants close to forest streams. However, they are very poor swimmers and keepers should be cautious not to provide pools of water that are deeper than the frog’s body. Once a suitable 45x45x60cm glass bioactive enclosure has been established, care and breeding are relatively straightforward. However, this species, like many amphibians, is extremely sensitive to environmental conditions. Anything higher than 28°C or drier than 50% RH can be very detrimental to the frogs’ health and prolonged periods can be fatal.

Sourcing appropriately sized foods can sometimes prove challenging too. Although adults will feed on the frequently available D. hydei fruit flies and pinhead crickets, young frogs will need the smaller D. melanogaster flies. Dusting these invertebrates with a good quality supplement such as Repashy Calci+ (9/10 feeds) and Vit A (1/10 feeds) is paramount to ensuring the animals get the best diet and retain their vibrant colouration.

Ranitomeya imitator can be housed in small groups as juveniles but must be separated into pairs as adults.