DartFrog vs Pitcher Plant

Marty

MistKing
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This is a repost from a dart frog forum, but I thought some of you may enjoy these pics as it's a pretty rare occurrence.

It's pretty bizarre, pitcher plants are carnivorous but some frogs use them as hiding spots and even lay eggs and develop their tads in them. Most tree frogs and dartfrogs can get out of them with no problems. If the pitchers are too small they can't get in if pitchers are too big they get in and out. If you happen to die inside you get digested.

This little guy got a bit greedy and started going after the freshly fallen fruit flies.

He could barely squeeze into the pitcher and I wonder if it would have spelled his end or if he'd manage to get out of it. He was sort of stuck, but if the hips would have gone in, the pitcher would have been so cramped that I doubt he'd be able to turn around and get out.

IT happened at the right time too, so I grabbed the camera and took a few frames of what went down in a sequence. He lived to see another day!

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He is a beautiful frog. I thought that you couldn't touch them or you get sick.
 
Neah... only few species and only in the wild. In captivity even the most toxic ones are harmless.
 
even ants... whatever bugs they consume have to have alkaloids needed to produce batrachotoxins. That's for the P. terribilis, aka the terrible frog

Cool fact about batrachotoxin...1g can kill 15,000 people!
 
That is so funny. I used to have dart frogs. And your right they are harmful in captivity. Because what makes them toxic is the bugs they eat. Because the bugs ate a toxic plant. But it does amaze me that they are so deadly in the wild.
 
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