The top of their shell, or carapace, is flat and rough with each scute having irregular growth layers and grooves, because the scutes are not shed annually. This is unusual for most turtles, as shedding the scutes helps to keep a healthy and uniform shell. Back of the carapace is flared and serrated and often black with yellow or black striping within each scute. The underside of the shell, or plastron, is a pale yellow color.

They have soft, dense fur covering their body to keep them warm in their high altitude environment, including a bushy tail that helps with balance and acts as a blanket. They are approximately the size of a housecat and resemble a raccoon more than a giant panda.

Depending on where these dart frogs live, the color of them can vary. The most common natural colorations are the metallic golden color, their namesake, and a minty green. Some of the frogs also have small, black marks on their noses and toes, but this isn't always the case! When they are young, they are fully black except a small pair of golden stripes down the back and belly of the frogs, as they mature, their stripes spread over their body and they take on their full coloration. They have 4 unwebbed toes on each foot (they don't swim like other frogs!) and a bony, teeth-like plate in their upper jaw (unlike most other dart frogs).