Code of Ethics and Conduct

All businesses and individuals listed on our Reputable Business and Breeders lists are considered members of the Reputable Dart Frog Business and Breeders Association. As such, all are expected to abide by our code of ethics and conduct, the breach of which will cause expulsion from our association. The outlined standards below must be followed to ensure the success of the members of our community in their husbandry, to ensure the health of the animals sold by members of the association, and to maintain the integrity of our community as a whole. 

To be followed by both business and individual members:

Animal Health Standards:

1. All Dart Frogs must be of proper age when sold, ~3 months out of water or older with the exception of large oophaga, which are suggested to be sold ~6 months out of water or older

2. All Dart Frogs must be of proper weight (slight bulge to the stomach, not skinny)

3. All Dart Frogs must have proper bone structure (no spindly leg or metabolic bone disease)

4. All Dart Frogs must be free from neurological defects, visible major injuries, chytrid, and ranavirus. Buyers should additionally be aware of proper quarantine procedures for new frogs and should be referred to a laboratory such as VetDNA or RAL Labs for chytrid/ranavirus testing if they feel this is necessary.

5. Any Wild Caught Dart Frogs must be quarantined for a minimum of 1 month and tested for chytrid, ranavirus, and parasites with treatment provided to ensure healthy, disease-free animals of a proper weight that have been acclimated to captivity. There will be NO selling of freshly imported animals or untested/untreated animals to the general public, who likely neither have the knowledge nor the means to properly care for these animals.

6. All Wild Caught Dart Frogs must be Clearly marked so that any customer with little to no knowledge can easily decipher that these animals are not captive bred.

 7. Any sellers of dart frogs must have extensive experience in breeding dart frogs with supplemental inventory coming from other experienced breeders.

9. If selling tadpoles, instructions must be provided to ensure the success of the buyer.

10. No dart frog hybrids of any type may be shown or sold

11. No cohabitation of different dart frog localities may be promoted or condoned to the public

Husbandry Information Standards:

Care guides, website information, and in-person advice concerning care must align to these standards:

1. All buyers are to be expressly told that no localities may be mixed under any circumstance

2. All buyers are to be expressly told that supplements are necessary for dart frogs

3. All buyers are to be expressly told that dart frogs must be kept in a naturalistic vivarium

4. There will be no recommendations of the archaic method of underlaying sphagnum moss under leaf litter or keeping the leaf litter constantly wet (These conditions lead to bacterial infections!)

5. All dart frogs advertised to buyers or brought to expos must be of the proper size and weight with proper bone structure.

Shipping Standards:

1. All amphibians are to be shipped UPS or Fedex Overnight, Never USPS and Never 2-day or ground!

2. All animals must be properly packaged with the proper thickness of insulation, heat packs, cold packs, and phase packs depending on the origin and destination temperatures.

3. All packages must be properly labeled to ensure the proper and careful handling by carriers

4. Shipping/receiving dates must be confirmed with buyers before shipping

5. All sellers must have a DOA policy, which includes a reshipment of DOA animal packages, a refund of any DOA animals (Full refund if all animals arrive dead), or a store credit for DOA animals where multiple animals are sent and there is only a partial DOA.

6. All animals must be "packaged with care"

General Conduct Standards:

In general, sellers (both businesses and hobbyist sellers) have a responsibility to ensure the success of those they sell animals to. In the health of the animals, the method of delivering the animals, and the information or materials provided for the animals, the success of the buyer must be paramount. Sellers must ensure that buyers receive "exactly what they pay for" and if issues arise, that those issues are resolved swiftly and amicably to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction. As with any industry, there will be some unreasonable customers and a business's standing within the RDFBBA association will not be affected by these outliers.