It is among the most variably colored and largest species of poison dart frogs, typically reaching snout–vent lengths of about 50 mm (2.0 in).

The dyeing poison dart frog exists in discrete patches of the eastern Guiana Shield, being found at altitudes up to 600 m (2,000 ft).

A study shows that Dendrobates tinctorius tadpoles can survive in pools having a high level of KH, vertical height of 15 mi (79,000 ft) and salinity up to 955 ppm.

The "Matécho" morph from Saül, French Guiana, is mostly yellow and with some black, with only a few specks of white on the toes and sometimes whitish on the underparts.

While pumiliotoxins are weaker than their derivative allopumiliotoxins and the batrachotoxins secreted by Phyllobates species, they are sufficiently toxic to discourage most animals from feeding on them.

As it is such a variable species, different color variants of D. tinctorius have varying degrees of toxicity[citation needed] and many can cause serious effects on humans including death.

However, 20 minutes after the first contact, the photographer who initially handled it began to feel numbness in his right arm, mainly at the height of the forearm.

The other photographer, who after taking photos had touched his mouth without first washing his hands, felt a slight numbness in his lower lip.

PTX interferes with the muscle contractions by affecting the calcium channels, causing locomotor difficulties, clonic convulsions, paralysis or even death.