Yellow-banded Poison Dart Frog - Husbandry and Conservation Status

Husbandry and Conservation Status

This species' relative ability to withstand broad variations in humidity and temperature, combined with its comparatively bold nature, make it a popular choice for those enthusiasts and amateur herpetologists involved in the exotic pet community. It is widely seen as being an ideal starter species for amateur hepetologists wishing to keep poison dart frogs for the first time.

The species' robustness, relatively common numbers in the wild, and widespread natural distribution has helped maintain this frog's status of "Least Concern" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's conservation red list, despite some overharvesting of wild specimens for the exotic pet trade. The species' ability to be easily bred in captivity has led to a fall in prices within the exotic pet trade, which is an alleviative factor to the problem of overharvesting.

Once in captivity and removed from their natural sources of food, Dendrobatidae lose much of their toxicity. Dendrobates leucomelas, however, is not one of the three main Dendrobatidae species used for poison darts by native South American tribal hunters, so toxicity levels are somewhat lower in wild-caught specimens than in the Phyllobates genus.