Malagasy Rainbow Frog — Fact Sheet

Scaphiophryne gottlebei · Malagasy Rainbow Frog · Rotes Marmorkrötchen

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Indoor, escape-proof terrestrial vivarium; at least 60 x 45 x 60 cm for one adult
• 15-20 cm graded sandy soil: damp and fine below, partly dry and sandier above
• Place heavy rockwork on the base before adding substrate
• Avoid pure coconut fibre, calcium sand, small gravel, fertilised soil and abrasive concrete

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Secure climbable slabs, cork tubes, narrow shaded crevices and leaf litter
• Cool humid burrow, partially dry surface and clean shallow water dish
• Low fall height around hard decor; no access to false bottom or pump chambers
• House singly outside a controlled expert breeding programme

💡 Lighting

• Low-output Ferguson Zone 1 UVB recommended; about UVI 0.5-1.0 at exposed usable surfaces
• Complete darkness in caves and no night lamp
• Replace UVB by measured output or manufacturer schedule
• Photoperiod: 10-13 h with gradual seasonal change

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: No dedicated basking spot

• Warm zone: 20-25 °C

• Cool zone: 17-21 °C

• Night: 17-21 °C

• Exposed Isalo air maxima are not enclosure targets; preserve cooler humid canyon-like refuges

• Measure air, burrow and decor temperatures with separate probes

• Avoid under-substrate heat; a digging frog moves closer to it

💧 Humidity & water

• Overall 60-85% RH; wet refuges 80-90% during active season
• Allow the top sand and leaves to dry partially while deep substrate stays damp
• Shallow dechlorinated water dish, changed daily; deep water only in an expert breeding system
• Strong cross-ventilation; never combine high heat with stagnant saturated substrate

🪱 Diet

Feed regularly:

• Flightless fruit flies, pinhead crickets, springtails and small roach nymphs

In moderation:

• Bean beetles and other soft captive-cultured micro-invertebrates

Avoid:

• Wild insects, oversized hard beetles and fatty larvae as staples

Supplements:

• Gut-load 24-48 h; regular plain calcium; amphibian multivitamin about every 1-2 weeks according to label and UVB

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Weakness, sunken appearance or daytime exposure → heat or desiccation
• Red skin, sores or poor righting response → bacterial dermatitis; urgent examination
• Abnormal shedding or sudden decline → chytrid or ranavirus
• Weight loss despite eating or abnormal faeces → parasites or poor adaptation
• Weak limbs or deformity → calcium/UVB/supplement imbalance
• Compacted mud or bone-dry sand → substrate and hydration failure

Consult an amphibian-experienced exotics veterinarian promptly; do not use salt, antiseptics or fish medicine without direction.