A small, hardy, gregarious dart frog with red-brown coloration and pale stripes, famous in science for the alkaloid epibatidine. It is one of the most beginner-friendly and prolific dart frogs, doing well in social groups.
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Andean foothills and lowlands of central Ecuador (Bolivar and Chimborazo provinces)
Origin
New World
Climate
🌴 Tropical
Family
Dendrobatidae
Genus
Epipedobates
Part of the Poison Dart Frogs
Small, brilliantly colored diurnal frogs of the family Dendrobatidae from Central and South America. Captive-bred individuals are non-toxic because their alkaloid defenses come from wild ant- and mite-based diets. They thrive in planted, high-humidity bioactive vivaria and are display-only animals that should not be handled.
From the minimum an animal needs to be kept humanely, up to the ideal setup. Bigger is almost always better — minimums are floors, not targets.
Photo coming soon
Minimum
Bioactive vertical vivarium
18 × 18 × 18 in for a pair
Epipedobates tricolor stay smaller than typical darts — a 18×18×18 bioactive with ABG, leaf litter, low broms, and a shallow water feature works for a pair. Cooler tropical range (68–75 °F), 75–85% humidity, springtail + fruit fly culture essential.
Photo coming soon
Recommended
Larger planted bioactive
18 × 18 × 24 in for a small group
Bold and active — phantasmals do well in small groups (3–5). A 18×18×24 with dense ground cover, multiple hides, and shallow pooling water encourages natural foraging and calling.
Photo coming soon
Ideal
Planted bioactive 30+ gal
30+ gal display vivarium
Heavily planted display vivarium with leaf litter, dripper, multiple sightline breaks, and an isopod + springtail crew. Phantasmals are one of the loudest dart frogs — a larger volume buffers the family from constant calling.
Life & growth stages
How this animal changes through its life — each stage often has its own care, diet and space needs.
Photo coming soon
Egg
Amphibian eggs are soft, jelly-coated spheres laid in or near water — in floating clutches, strings, or foam nests depending on the species. The dark embryo is visible within the clear gel as it develops.
Photo coming soon
Tadpole / Larva
The aquatic larva (a tadpole in frogs/toads, a gilled larva in salamanders and newts) breathes through gills and feeds and grows in water. Frog/toad tadpoles are limbless at first, then sprout hind then front legs as metamorphosis nears.
Photo coming soon
Juvenile (froglet / eft)
At metamorphosis the animal develops legs and lungs and typically leaves the water as a froglet or, in many newts, a terrestrial eft. It resembles a small adult but is not yet sexually mature and its coloration may still be changing.
Adult
Adults reach full size and breeding condition, with the species' mature skin coloration and pattern. Many amphibians return to water to breed and can show seasonal or sex-specific changes such as nuptial coloration or crests.
Color & pattern variants
Natural variants occur in the wild; selectively bred (man-made) variants were developed in captivity.
Natural
representative
Standard tricolor
Red-brown to maroon body with three pale cream to greenish longitudinal stripes.
Habitat & enclosure
Provide a planted glass terrarium; a 45x45x45 cm (18 in cube) comfortably houses a group of three to five. Maintain 80-100% humidity with daily misting and temps of 22-26C (72-79F), staying below 28C. A drainage layer with false bottom prevents a swampy substrate. Offer leaf litter, cork bark, broms, and a shallow water feature; this terrestrial species appreciates ground cover and several hiding spots.
Substrate
Bioactive ABG mix over a drainage layer with mesh barrier, topped with deep leaf litter and live moss. A springtail and isopod clean-up crew handles waste and supplies micro-prey for the abundant froglets this species produces.
Equipment & setup
Sealed glass vivarium with controlled ventilation, LED plant lighting on a timer, daily or automated misting, and a digital thermo-hygrometer. Optional low-level UVB. No deep standing water needed beyond a shallow dish or film. Keep the room cool enough to stay below 28C in summer.
Diet
Feed dusted flightless fruit flies (melanogaster and hydei) as the staple, plus springtails, isopods, bean weevils, and pinhead crickets for variety. Dust every feeding with calcium/D3 and rotate a vitamin-A multivitamin. Feed adults daily to every other day; froglets daily. Reliable supplementation prevents MBD and vitamin-A deficiency.
Behavior & temperament
Diurnal, active, and notably social; it tolerates and even thrives in groups, making it a great communal display species. Males give a pleasant bird-like trilling call and are only mildly territorial. Wild frogs carry potent alkaloids (epibatidine, studied as an analgesic), but captive-bred frogs are non-toxic. As with all darts, do not handle bare-handed; their skin readily absorbs contaminants.
Health
One of the hardiest and most forgiving dart frogs, ideal for beginners. Still susceptible to overheating, dehydration, and nutritional disease without proper supplementation. Quarantine and fecal-test new frogs for parasites and chytrid (Bd). Because they breed readily, watch for overcrowding; thin out froglets to maintain water quality and reduce stress.
Tips, DIY & hacks
An excellent first dart frog and a strong breeder; provide film canisters, coco huts, and petri-dish caves for egg deposition. Keep robust back-up fruit fly cultures since a group eats a lot. House in groups for natural social behavior, but expand enclosure size and cull/rehome froglets to prevent crowding. Note the long-running taxonomic confusion with E. anthonyi; verify locale provenance from your breeder.
