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Atlas / Library / Frog (poison dart frog) / Green-and-black Poison Dart Frog
BeginnerCITES IIIUCN LC
Frog (poison dart frog)

Green-and-black Poison Dart Frog

Dendrobates auratusกบลูกศรพิษเขียวดำ

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. joshsfrogs.com

Photograph: Matt Felperin · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

Terrestrial · temperate · humidFrom the sheet: 22–26°C, humidity 70–100%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

CITES II is a global listing and holds in every country. National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 123 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/dendrobates-auratus

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature22–26 °C
Humidity70–100 %
Enclosure45×45×45

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
22–26°Ambient

One ambient band, 22–26°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states22-26 °C; tolerance 18-28 °C; one of the most thermally tolerant

Humidity

70–100%Target RH

The sheet states70-100%; occasional tolerance to 50% with water access; misting 1×/day

UVB

2–5%optional

The sheet statesPhotoperiod 12 h; UVB 2–5% optional

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m3–4 cm
1520100400 cm
3–4 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Adult size
3–4 cm SVL; juvenile ~0.8–1 cm
Lifespan
8–15 years in captivity
Legal status
CITES II (CB + permit)
Difficulty
Beginner / intermediate (one of the most robust dart frogs)
Origin / habitat
Cohabitation
Groups or pairs; monitor egg consumption among adult ♀; low-aggression species

How common this animal is

56,013Live individuals in declared US trade filings

NOT a measure of how many are kept. These filings count animals shipped for any purpose, including the food trade and laboratory supply, and they are United States records only. The three largest volumes in the source belong to a food frog, a bait species and the standard laboratory amphibian.

US Fish and Wildlife Service LEMIS declared wildlife import and export records, as compiled in the received dataset

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

water70–100 % RHUVB tube45 cm45 cm
waterUVB tube
50100150200 cm
45 × 45 × 45 cmWidth × depth × height
20dm² of floor
Substrate: not in our dataWarm side: not in our dataHides: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet statesBioactive vivarium 45×45×45 cm for 2-3 individuals; horizontal orientation preferable (terrestrial); optional water zone appreciated (Costa Rican locale)

Terrarium / aquarium
Bioactive vivarium 45×45×45 cm for 2–3 individuals; horizontal orientation preferable (terrestrial); optional water zone appreciated (Costa Rican locale)
Temperature
22–26 °C; tolerance 18–28 °C; one of the most thermally tolerant
Humidity / water
70–100%; occasional tolerance to 50% with water access; misting 1×/day
Lighting / UVB
Photoperiod 12 h; UVB 2–5% optional
Substrate / setup
ABG bioactive + mosses + leaf litter; film canisters or philodendron leaves as spawning sites; little climbing — terrestrial
Feeding
D. melanogaster (juveniles) and D. hydei (adults); mini crickets; calcium × 4/week, vitamins × 1/week; bioactive substrate renewal every 3–5 years

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
8–15 yrLifespan in care
8 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Sexing
♀ larger (up to 4 cm vs 3 cm ♂); ♀ tilts head during courtship ('head bobbing'); ♂ calls
Maturity
10–14 months
Triggering
Increased misting; hidden film canisters; active mixed-sex group
Spawning
3–7 eggs every 10–21 days; ♂ guards; hatching ~14 days
Tadpoles / metamorphosis
Individual rearing in deli cup; spirulina and algae; metamorphosis 60–90 days
Juvenile rearing
Robust at water exit; D. melanogaster and springtails from day 1; one of the easiest species to wean

Common health problems

Chytridiomycosis (Bd)
Signssame sensitivity as other dart frogs; quarantine and PCR at acquisition
Bacterial skin infections if humidity stagnates
Signsimprove vivarium ventilation
Egg consumption among ♀
Signsremove eggs or separate ♀ during spawning
Quarantine
Signs30 days minimum; robust species — good standard quarantine candidate; observe active fruit fly hunting

Good to know

  • Naturalised in Hawaii since the 1930s (deliberate introduction to control insects): proof of the species' robustness
  • Costa Rican locale appreciates a small shallow water zone in the vivarium: semi-aquatic behaviour observed
  • More than 15 locales with distinct patterns: note the locale at purchase (genetic integrity)
  • Naturalised in Hawaii since the 1930s (deliberate introduction to control insects) — proof of the species' robustness
  • Costa Rican locale appreciates a small shallow water zone in the vivarium — semi-aquatic behaviour observed
  • More than 15 locales with distinct patterns — note the locale at purchase (genetic integrity)

Common questions

Is it poisonous?

Not the captive-bred ones we sell. The toxin comes from wild insects they never encounter in a vivarium, but still wash your hands after working in the tank.

Is this a good beginner dart frog?

Yes, it is one of the two or three we usually recommend first. It is hardy, forgiving, and less shy than most.

How long do they live?

With good care, commonly ten years or more, so treat it as a long commitment rather than a short-term pet.

Can it live with other frog species?

No, we never mix dart frog species or mix them with other frogs. Different species can pass problems to each other and may interbreed.

What it needs

Enclosure at least 45 × 45 × 45 cmbecause enclosure — Bioactive vivarium 45×45×45 cm for 2–3 individuals; horizontal orientation preferable (terrestrial); optional water zone appreciated (Costa Rican locale)
A thermometerbecause temp — 22-26 °C; tolerance 18-28 °C; one of the most thermally tolerant
A hygrometerbecause humidity — 70–100%; occasional tolerance to 50% with water access; misting 1×/day

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

Sources

Josh's Frogs — D. auratus Costa Rican Green and BlackExo-Terra — Dendrobates auratus careReptipedia — Dendrobates auratusDendroboard (dart frog hobby reference)

Others in this group

AxolotlAmbystoma mexicanumYellow-banded Poison Dart FrogDendrobates leucomelasMimic Poison FrogRanitomeya imitatorDyeing Poison Dart FrogDendrobates tinctoriusGolden Poison Dart FrogPhyllobates terribilisStrawberry Poison Dart FrogOophaga pumilioAfrican Clawed FrogXenopus laevisAfrican Dwarf FrogHymenochirus boettgeri

What this sheet states

77%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

This sheet states 5 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: day/night engine and awake count on the globe, the diet section. We show the gap rather than fill it with a plausible number.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.