The symptoms may be more severe if the frog is ingested, but unlike the Phyllobates and Oophaga species, R. sirensis secretes the comparatively mild pumiliotoxin C in very small quantities due to its tiny size.

As a result, sirensis mostly rely on their agility, speed, and ability to take shelter in the leaf litter or in dense foliage for protection.

Scientists have determined that members of the genus Phyllobates derive their dangerously potent toxins from local melyrid beetles.

[5] As R. sirensis is much less toxic than the Phyllobates species, the source of its toxin is not thought to be melyrid beetles; instead, it is likely an invertebrate that remains undiscovered.

This frog has also been found on some plantations that grow less intensive crops, such as coffee, but it does not live on farms with densely planted monocultures.