History of dendrobatid frogkeeping

Dendrobatid frogs have been maintained in captivity since the 1970s.

The first documented successful captive propagation of dendrobatids in the USA is an account by David Grow that describes breeding success for Dendrobates auratus at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas. By the 1980's frogs had leaked out to hobbyists from zoos and scientific institutions forming the nucleus of the present hobby.

Domestic frogkeepers were also active in Europe at this time. The 1977 International Zoo Yearbook states that Stuttgart Zoo bred Phyllobates bicolor bicolor and Basle Zoo bred Dendrobates auratus that year.

In the UK, the British Dendrobatid Group (BDG) was set up in the late 1980's by Bob Davies Malcolm Peaker. Despite its name, the BDG was an international group of people all of whom are concerned with one common subject: the conservation and captive breeding of a small group of South American frogs belonging to the Dendrobates, Phyllobates, Colostethus and related genera such as Mantella spp.

There is evidence from publications that these frogs may have been maintained by private individuals in mainland Europe considerably earlier than this:

References

• Oeser, R. 1932. Die Zucht des Baumsteigers Dendrobates tinctorius. Bl. Aquar. Terrarienk. 43, 196-200.
• Poulder, W.N. 1974. Pflege und Fortpflanzung von Dendrobates azureus an anderer Dendrobatiden II. Aquarien Terrarien Z. 27, 28-32.
• Ensinck, F. H. 1980. De kweek van Dendrobates tinctorius. Lacerta 38, (10-11):102-106.