He's normally pretty active and loves his food, but he's been sitting in the same spot for a few days now. He has eaten only 3 crickets in a week. I got his temp up and he doesn't mind the light anymore. I had to poke him just now because his breathing stopped after I just checked on him 30min ago. He felt super dry even though the humidity is up there and fine just like his temp. His temp is 80-81F and humidity is 69%. I've been feeding him the darker field cricket because all the petstores in my area suddenly switched from the brown cricket. My pacific is doing fine on them, but could they be hurting Jr in some way? He has pooped just fine, super stinky and large, but he's doing it. I sprayed him with the squirt bottle which he normally hates, but he just sat there and did nothing, not even close his eyes. He has shed once last week, it's the only time he's done it in a large quantity unlike his little bits he looses in the water. He normally puffs up too when I open his lid or drop a cricket in, but he didn't budge, not even to get the cricket. Any advice? I really don't want to loose him...
His humidity needs to be higher. Try and keep the temp at 79. Try and give him a soak in some luke warm or just alil bit warmer. If you have honey put about 2 or 3 drops in the water and mix it in. You say he's lethargic and listlis? When did he start acting this way?
He's been slowing down the past couple weeks. I thought it was just the colder weather, but I got him a light to help heat the tank and he's not getting any better....I've been raising the heat and humidity, it starts low in the mornings and takes a couple hours to get right. He used to be soft and damp/warm to the touch, but now he's dry and cold. He doesn't puff up anymore either when I touch him. I added cal-stron with D3 to his crickets, so besides the light and that, there's nothing new added to his tank. He went from eating about 5 med crickets a day to 3 in maybe a week.
Does he still look of normal weight or does he look like he's lost weight? Check his substrate and make sure its plenty moist. Don't spray him directly if the water your misting with is distilled. The light will dry him and his substrate out that's why I suggested a fake plant preferably with large open leaves for shade. Soak him in the luke warm water. Make sure you do it somewhere warm as he needs to be warm. He should urinate in the water. After he does check to make sure his weight looks normal. You may have to start force feeding him if he doesn't eat. How low does it get in his tank at night? If there are too many degrees from day to night it can stress him and make him not eat. No more than a 3 to 5 degree drop or it could possibly stress him. Try the luke warm water and honey. If you need to force feed I can instruct you if you need help.
I saw him pounce on a cricket about 10min ago, but he didn't eat it. My house still doesn't have insulation yet, so even with the heater up to 80 it's still about 60 in the warmest part of the house, which is my room; his tank can get as low as 70-75 at night, but never any lower. Sometimes I think he may be too skinny, but he he looks okay, not hefty, but not tree frog kind of skinny either. He's only 1.5" long and about 1" wide. He isn't growing as fast as he did in the summer. He's kicking his dirt and staying very close to the light. He hasn't been aiming very well since winter set in. My pacific is a native species, so she seems to be doing well that's why I was worried. She swims and hunts and hops around just fine and burrows into her moss at night. He doesn't even burrow anymore. He just sits on top and looks like he's dying. He scared me half to death when he stopped breathing! I want him to catch a cricket before I try to handle him needlessly. He hates being handled unless I'm not moving. I'll try to avoid having to take him out of his tank and stress him more, but if he doesn't eat by bedtime, I'll soak him.
I think he may be getting cold if he stays around the light. You have a UTH don't you? Maybe you need another. There could be a draft of the cold air coming from the glass of his enclosure. 2 UTH could raise the temp of the glass a little more and help keep temps more normal. If he is cold and its cold in your house it could harm him. Don't take him out. Use something that will fit in his enclosure and soak him in there. You could put the warm water in his dish. 70 is too cold for a baby. Its making him weak and stressing him. He needs no less than 78 degrees at best. An occasional drop to 70 wouldn't hurt but many drops that low will harm him. 80 to 82 during the day and 75 to 78 at night. If you can get a 2nd UTH I would. He needs the warmth.
Cover 3/4 of the lid of his tank with plastic wrap. Put the light in the center. Cover on either side of where the light goes and poke some holes in the plastic for extra ventilation. And it should hold heat and humidity in better.
I have his lid covered with tinfoil. I'll have to wait on the heater, I started a new term at college and I'm strapped at the moment. I'm considering moving him closer to my fishtank since it gets so warm that I'm always turning the heat down.
Why not just add a red heat bulb so he can keep it on 24/7? My room is similar to yours and usually stay at about 68. I use a space heater, and I use the red type heat bulbs on my enclosures. My tanks are 80 degrees all the time. Just make sure you use the right wattage. I would say 60-75 watts depending on the size of the tank. I've been doing this to keep my enclosures warm with no issues at all. I have a compact fluorescent that I use by both my tanks that provide a good photo period for them too. Keep the tin foil on there to hold that humidity. Try to shoot for 70%. The heat mats can be expensive, and to me aren't as effective. Also, when they aren't regulated by a thermostat they can get into temps above 100 degrees. If the frog decided to burrow all the way down to the bottom where the heat mat is he can burn himself. I use heat tape for all my snakes, but I have it regulated by a Ranco. If you go with the mat, just make sure to adhere it to the side not the bottom.
Heat mats go on the side for Pacmans not the bottom. None of the ones I have ever get that hot. 75 is too high for Pacmans also. 60 is really pushing it. 50 is the max that should be used as the higher wattages get too hot. A infrared on all the tim is a good idea but the moisture of the substrate and frog will be lost quickly if not monitored carefully. 2 heat mats will warm the glass so that therwe isn't a cold spot in the tank. The glass cooling from the ambient air in the house is causing the same affect as if the house was air conditioned which is very bad and also causes drafts with in the enclosure.
I use a 60 watt for mine during the day, but it's placed away from his cage and angled to hit only one side. His red-bulb for night-time is a 40 watt, and that goes directly over him. You def. have to be careful with the higher watt ones.
Hm.. Maybe try cling-wrap instead of foil? The foil itself will get quite warm and keep the tank a little warmer, but it doesn't let much light pass through. With clear cling-wrap, the light rays can pass through pretty easily, but they tend to get trapped when they reflect off the inside of the cage, making it warmer than foil would. It's only a slight difference, but if you're having trouble getting your tank at the right temp, every little bit helps. It also works better keeping humidity in since it fits more closely to the mesh lid.
Well, I'm using a 75 watt on my pac's 10 gallon setup and the temps are 80-83 at all times. 50 watt max? I can't see that doing anything if his room is cold. I remember using one for my KSB's 5 gallon setup a while back, and it didn't do anything lol. I think I may have gotten a 2 degree increase. 60 or 75 are really the only ones that will make any kind of significant boost. Buy a piece of plexi that is as long as the tank, cut however much leaves a 25% opening, and then cut a hole in the center for the heat lamp. That way you can keep the entire tank warm, and have some ventilation on the side. I would fan it every day to allow some nice air circulation so no kind of mold starts. I had this problem with my whites back in the day but as long as I fanned the tank and cycled the air it was fine. I've just never had any kind of luck with heat pads. I just use them as basking spots for my snakes. I never found them to be good at raising the temps of ambient air.
The foil is only on a little more than half of the lid and the hood/lights cover the rest. I wasn't sure about using plastic wrap then setting the light on top of it. I thought it'd melt. I'll look into the low watt red bulbs since my heat mat only made a difference by 1 degree. Do any of you prefer a specific brand and type of red bulb over another?
As a temporary fix you could also try wrapping a blanket or towel around the sides of the tank. It won't raise the heat, but it will insulate it a little. It will help keep the outside air from cooling down the tank as much. Every little bit helps.
Zoomed 75 watt red
What size tank are you using? 75 watt will be too much if your using a 5 gallon or something.
I have him in a regular 10gal tank. He has live plants, I'll be adding more soon. and he has a shallow water dish. I also have a breeding population of iso's in his tank that eat any mold that may grow and any of his dead skin. They leave each other alone. i have his land at different levels, so he can choose how wet he wants it. I have a blue bulb and a coralife bulb for the plants.
Not only will higher watts burn off the humidity faster, too much intense light can damage their skin and eyes. You can essentially cook your frog to death. Even if the temperature gauge reads in a normal range, the frog could be getting too much concentrated light; this can stress them out and led to other health problems. There are variables such as the dimensions of the tank that should also be taken into consideration when selecting a light. For instance, two tanks could both be 10 gallons, but one is taller and skinnier and the other is shorter and wider. The same light will dry usually dry out the substrate of the shorter tank because the light beams have less distance to travel and thus are more concentrated. Unless you are using a method like DVirginiana mentioned (having the light suspended away from the tank) then anything over 50 is not recommended for pacmans. Having a higher watt is not going to completely solve your problem if the surrounding air is cold. The glass will remain cool. (Think about ridding in a car on a really cold, cloudy day.) Having such a temperature fluctuation seems to really stress these frogs out. You can experience the same problem in the summer if the air conditioning is too high. It may not seem noticeable to humans but it affects them. Simply increasing the light won't always solve the problem. I also always recommend using a light with a dimmer switch so that you can tweak the temperature.
If you use plastic wrap, never put it directly under the light. The wrap should cover about 2/3 of the top leaving the rest open for ventilation. You should also poke a few holes for more air flow. The light goes over the section not covered by the plastic wrap.
I use Zoo Med and All Living Things, both 50 watts; never had any problems with either.
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