Rob

These frogs are part of the Dendrobate family and are seen in a number of colours including deep blue, yellow and gold. In the wild, they excrete a potent toxin through their skin which is believed to be able to kill humans. This however is not the case with captive Dendrobates. The reason is behind the food they eat. In the wild, they eat ants, termites and beetles which carry the poison from certain plants. In captivity, they are isolated from this and never become a danger.

With all this in mind, I can now explain why they have the name Poison Dart or Arrow frogs. The Amerindian tribes would use the secreted poison to smear over the tip of the arrow or dart and use them as a potentially fatal weapon.

Quite a simple explanation but I find it very fascinating.

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Tom

i agree..

Great post.

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jo x

yes i think i answered a question on this it is intresting how there food source produces such a toxin

Rob

from what I have read, its not the actual bugs that are toxic its the plants they live/move around on. They then carry the toxin and it gets ingested by the frogs. research has shown that even wild caught from lose their poison secretion in captivity after a while of eating purpose bred food such as crickets and locust.

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jo x

all dendrobatids are at least some what toxic in the wild, levels of toxicity vary considerably from one species to the next depending on diet. some chemicals that have been extracted from the skin of some have also shown to have medicinal value. such chemical as a painkiller 500 times as potent as morphine, called epibatidine, but this is unfortunately demonstrated unacceptable gastrointestinal side effects to humans. Secretions from dendrobatids are also showing promise as muscle relaxants, heart stimulants and appetite suppressants.

elblando

The deadly poison they can secrete is called batrachotoxin and is around 5000 time more deadly than potassium cyanide. Levels of poision do varie from species to species and area to area. They do loose their poison in captivity but wild caught species can still have very low levels on toxin in their bodies years after being caught.

Fundo

you wanna try touching one! not fun, trust me :(

Aaron

I thought they got there name from people tieing feathers to there back legs and putting a pointy hat on there head to represent arrows and fired them at french people for revenge for eating there legs.

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R.I.P Ralph.

Next Reptile to the collection. Panther Chameleon.

Aaron

ok i lied i made that up.

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R.I.P Ralph.

Next Reptile to the collection. Panther Chameleon.

Kirstyx

great post! so would nothing happen if you touched a CB Dart Frog?

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LoveLife

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