Starter Kits Special Offer! -50% OFF ALL LIVESTOCK

Due to its immense popularity last year, we are continuing with our 50% OFF ALL LIVESTOCK when purchased with one of our full starter kits. This covers any animal/group of animals up to £300 in value, for animals over £300 you still get £150 off their standard price when purchased with a full starter kit. Offer valid 01/01/26 until 30/04/26.

Mantella aurantiaca (The Golden Mantella) is a tiny (2cm) amphibian species native to Central Eastern Madagascar. In the wild they are highly endangered due to their limited geographic range which is restricted to just three small areas of high altitude wetland north of Moromanga and Andasibe. They are an active and attractive amphibian species that exhibit bright colouration that is somewhere between a deep orange and golden yellow. This is an example of aposematic colouration (warning colours) designed to discourage predators from eating this toxic species. Previously they were collected from the wild for the pet trade which added further pressure on wild populations that were already under serious threat from habitat loss. Thankfully they proved to be relatively easy to both keep and to breed in captivity meaning the illegal trade in wild caught individuals has been almost entirely eliminated. Now they are the subject of a successful community run conservation strategy (alongside the NGO Mitsinjo association) where they run conservation projects both to protect the natural wetland and also ex situ breeding for reintroduction and legal export as a means of generating money for local communities. One of the Ex Situ breeding facilities is located at the Mitsinjo Community reserve in Andasibe and can be seen by the public.

Just like Poison dart frogs (their South American counterparts) Mantella make superb occupants for live planted “Naturalistic” and “bioactive” enclosures as you can create a little slice of rainforest for these to hop around in and due to their small size they wont destroy the environment crashing around all over it like some larger amphibian species would.

They will thrive on a diet of fruit flies, micro crickets and springtails, if kept well, it is possible to encourage them to spawn on wet leaves in the terrarium.

Keeping Mantella can be thought of as being like keeping tropical fish, it takes a considerable amount of time and resources to craft the ideal living environment for them but once the environment is in place they are one of the easiest and lowest maintenance reptiles or amphibians possible to keep. With all the automated systems such as automatic misting systems and the automated lighting such as the arcadia LumenIZE range they can be simple in terms of ongoing maintenance.