honestly I can pretty strongly recommend dart frogs, with a couple caveats. Depending on the species (and the individual frog) they can be quite active and fun to watch, and they’re also just really pretty.
Do your research. This is a basic “I love dart frogs” overview, not a care guide
CAPTIVE BRED. One, the wild populations are nearly all heavily endangered, two, wild dart frogs are very poisonous (they get their poison from their food so captive-bred are completely nontoxic). They breed readily in captivity though, so they’re usually pretty accessible!
They require bioactive terrariums with plants, leaf litter, and wood for climbing. They don’t have to be fancy plants though! Dart frogs will be perfectly happy with hardy greenery like spider plants and pothos, which I’m pretty sure would grow happily on the surface of mars if you watered occasionally (the frogs would not be happy on the surface of mars it is too cold and dry)
They have strict temperature/humidity requirements. It depends on the species a bit, but on the whole they can’t tolerate temps outside of a 17-25c range or humidity below 70% at the *absolute* driest, with ideal conditions being 18-23c and 90+% humidity. If you live somewhere temperate and humid (I’m in the pnw) this is easy to maintain! If you live somewhere dry, hot, or cold, it will take more work.
They are not for handling. If they’re captive bred they’re not dangerous to you, but they’re very small, delicate, and sensitive to chemicals: catch them in a cup, only when absolutely necessary.
Dechlorinated water only. Depending on local water quality tap is probably fine as long as you treat it first
…That sounds like a lot, but once you get their homes set up and stable with good environmental conditions their maintenance is extremely simple, it’s just, spray lightly once a day or so (or use an automatic mister), drop in some fruit flies ~3 times a week, go in with a brush/cloth once a month or so to clean the glass and spot-clean the substrate. Fruit flies can be tricky but they can also take teeny crickets and a couple other micro feeders so you have options.
They don’t need heat, they don’t need a water feature, they don’t need special lighting, they can be kept in same-species groups, and they’re really small, so you can give them a nice roomy enclosure without taking up that much shelf space: depending on species, a pair or trio will generally do really well in a 18x18x24 terrarium, with the smallest species even being happy in a 12x12x18.
Frog tax: this is my buddy Mint, he’s a Ranitomeya vanzolinii. He’s super brave and active, I’ve got at least one vid on here of him doing a full-on circus routine around his tank and he actually comes out of hiding when I come by to see if I have treats for him! He’s too small to easily hand-feed but he’ll take big springtails off the edge of a spoon it’s really cute.
