Although it spends a significant amount of time in trees or bamboo forests, this frog species is not fully arboreal and actively seeks areas with a water source.

The climbing mantella consumes a variety of small insects, and its diet changes dramatically with varying seasons.

Climbing mantella engage in unique reproductive behaviors that revolve around arboreal oviposition sites.

Considered a small frog, adult climbing mantella range from 24–30 millimetres (0.94–1.18 in) and weigh 1.2–2.0 grams (0.042–0.071 oz).

[2] The climbing mantella is found in the northeast coastal region of Madagascar in lowland rainforests and bamboo groves.

Climbing mantella can withstand a 17–30 °C (63–86 °F) temperature range, which is relatively large compared to other amphibian species.

Greater demand for cattle grazing areas, farmland, and space to build cities may jeopardize the climbing mantella’s natural habitat.

Unlike similar frogs from the family Dendrobatidae, the climbing mantella is not an ant specialist; its food consumption volume and diet composition vary dramatically based on seasonality.

Climbing mantella do not seem to prefer a specific type of prey and consume whatever is readily available in leaf litter.

Wet-season frogs consume significantly more insect larvae, mites, and other arthropods (including spiders and small beetles) compared to dry season counterparts.

[8] Males are highly territorial, claiming a given area of approximately 2 square metres (22 sq ft).

Each territory contains at least one water-filled well (phytotelmata; often found in tree holes or broken bamboo stalks), and male frogs defend these possible oviposition sites from their rivals.

[10] Climbing mantella usually only lay one large egg (3–3.5 millimetres (0.12–0.14 in)), characteristics common among frogs with a high degree of parental care.

Female frogs lay their eggs at the side of wells or above the water line, exhibiting a form of terrestrial oviposition–another indicator of high parental investment.

It is also possible that male frogs discourage land crabs, which have been observed from eating climbing mantella eggs, from entering wells.

Any fertilized egg resulting from the courtship subsequently serves as food for tadpoles that are only related to the male.

Female frogs develop mechanisms to defend themselves against parasitism and avoid laying their eggs in wells containing other tadpoles.

Captive frogs lose their toxicity over time, indicating that the climbing mantella’s wild diet of arthropods contains the chemicals needed to construct the alkaloids.