[5] The diet of O. pumilio causes the skin of the amphibian to become toxic in nature when certain subspecies of mites and ants are ingested very similar to many other poison dart frogs.

This toxin has a negative stimulating effect on cardiac function and is a severe disruptor of the sodium potassium ion channels within cells.

[8] It has been found that once O.pumilio reaches sexual maturity, their granular glands significantly increase in size and their diet shifts.

[12] There is a variability of alkaloid profiles among populations and individuals of O. pumilio, which is indicative of varying levels of available prey within their infraspecific habitats.

[9] During tadpole-rearing, mother frogs feed their young an unfertilized egg from their ovaries after dropping each individual tadpole into a repository of water usually found in a bromeliad.

Oophaga pumilio is diurnal and primarily terrestrial, and can often be found in leaf litter in both forested and disturbed areas.

Studies have shown that the optimal habitat is determined by the male, considering the resource benefits and defense costs.

However, in the O. pumilio species researchers have determined that these frogs call out at a lower rate to limit their energetic expenditures.

[16] Though brightly colored and toxic, these frogs are relatively small, growing to approximately 17.5–22 mm (0.69–0.87 in) in standard length.

[3] In captivity, tadpoles have been raised on a variety of diets, ranging from algae to the eggs of other dart frogs, but with minimal success.

Due to the low level of genetic divergence between the species analyzed in this genus, it is estimated that they speciated relatively recently, after the formation of the current Panamanian land bridge in the Pliocene (3–5 million years ago).

[17] Strawberry poison frog, O. pumilio, shows extreme variation in color and pattern between populations that have been geographically isolated for more than 10,000 years.

When divergent phenotypes are mostly restricted to separate islands, the biogeography of color polymorphism suggests a major role for neutral process.

Based on Tazzyman and Iwasa's study that involved collections of samples from main islands in the Bocas del Toro archipelago, its results proved that female preference on male calls led to call divergence and therefore divergence was driven by sexual selection.

In a study done by Rivera and Nowakowski, they discovered that in many cases O. pumilio is experiencing greater temperature stress in converted habitats than forests.

[32] Oophaga pumilio is a popular frog in captivity, due to its striking colors and unique life cycle.

A select number of hobbyists and breeders are successfully reproducing these frogs in captivity, and healthy, captive-bred individuals have become much easier to find (in the 21st century).

[citation needed] Recently, O. pumilio has been exported from Central America again in small numbers from frog farms.