I think my Pacman is dying.

[catieo]

So, this is my first post-- hellosauce! I've been trolling for awhile but now I have a question, so I figured I'd ask you guys!

The timeline here is important.

Last year I bought my boyfriend a Pacman frog for Valentine's day. (So almost a year next week I've had Falstaff).

I adopted him from the pet store I frequent-- as it was explained to me, he was brought in that day because the owners were moving and didn't want to transport him long-distance. I was told that he was only ever given white feeder mice, so he might not be used to other food, but it shouldn't be a problem feeding him other things if I approached it carefully.

So I bring Falstaff home, give him a sweet new cage (I keep it right around 75-80) with water, dirt, rocks, all the good stuff.

And he sat there, as pacmans do so well.

Couple weeks later, I bought him a small mouse to eat. He ignored it. I tried for 3 or 4 days to get him to eat it, no dice.
Rinsee and repeat process SIX #$(%#*(#$ times until July, when he FINALLY ate a mouse.

Rinse and repeat process 3 times a month until today.

There was a two or three week period of time in between where he went into estivation, but we adjusted the temperature and he snapped right out of it.

I have tried mice, pinkies, crickets, worms, fish-- all no goes. Every so often he will have periods of SUPER activity, and I try to feed him whenever he is up and about, but he ignores everything I set in front of him. I've tried simply putting the mice in the cage, I've tried dangling them right in front of him, I've tried force-feeding him crickets and nothing seems to work.

Falstaff was HUGE when I got him-- he has lost a ton of weight and I'm getting worried. He looks like total hell. I called our vet that we go to for our other pets, and she basically said "who knows?"

Can anyone advise?

[S13]

First of all welcome. Second, the definition of "trolling" In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. The noun troll may refer to the provocative message itself, as in: "That was an excellent troll you posted". So basically you were just browsing the forum. No trolling was detected

Okay on to the frog. Was this behavior detected from when you first got him a year ago? Did it just start recently? What's the humidity at through out the day? From what I have been reading, Pacmans are pretty picky about eating if the temps/humidity aren't suitable. Also do you have 3 sides of his enclosure covered? I just recently did this and it makes a world of difference.

[GrifTheGreat]

So, this is my first post-- hellosauce! I've been trolling for awhile but now I have a question, so I figured I'd ask you guys!

The timeline here is important.

Last year I bought my boyfriend a Pacman frog for Valentine's day. (So almost a year next week I've had Falstaff).

I adopted him from the pet store I frequent-- as it was explained to me, he was brought in that day because the owners were moving and didn't want to transport him long-distance. I was told that he was only ever given white feeder mice, so he might not be used to other food, but it shouldn't be a problem feeding him other things if I approached it carefully.

So I bring Falstaff home, give him a sweet new cage (I keep it right around 75-80) with water, dirt, rocks, all the good stuff.

And he sat there, as pacmans do so well.

Couple weeks later, I bought him a small mouse to eat. He ignored it. I tried for 3 or 4 days to get him to eat it, no dice.
Rinsee and repeat process SIX #$(%#*(#$ times until July, when he FINALLY ate a mouse.

Rinse and repeat process 3 times a month until today.

There was a two or three week period of time in between where he went into estivation, but we adjusted the temperature and he snapped right out of it.

I have tried mice, pinkies, crickets, worms, fish-- all no goes. Every so often he will have periods of SUPER activity, and I try to feed him whenever he is up and about, but he ignores everything I set in front of him. I've tried simply putting the mice in the cage, I've tried dangling them right in front of him, I've tried force-feeding him crickets and nothing seems to work.

Falstaff was HUGE when I got him-- he has lost a ton of weight and I'm getting worried. He looks like total hell. I called our vet that we go to for our other pets, and she basically said "who knows?"

Can anyone advise?

Ok well having a staple diet of mice is extremely bad if that is all that was given. You need a vet that specializes in Amphibians, but since your frog is sick and not eating I will provide some info for you.

Your frogs day time temp needs to be 80 to 85 degrees F you need to stay within this range during the day. No 70s. At nigt temps can be 75 to 79 degrees F. Preferably kept at 78. Humidity levels must be 70 to 80% and maintained.

Are you using de-chlorinated water or spring water? I ask this because you must.

Never and I mean never have rocks in your Pacman's enclosure unless they are so big that there is no possible way for your frog to swallow them. They can be eateb by accident causong impaction(severe constipation) which can cause death.

Do you use de-chlorinated water or spring water to expand your frogs substrate?

When was the last time your frog pooped? Was it runny or normal?

Raise his temps up to near 85 and you will have to force feed, but not mice or crickets. Use night crawlers.

Do you dust your Pacman's food with calcium and a multivitamin?

Answer my questions and let me know.

[Heatheranne]

It is tough to tell for sure without answering the questions posted above.

You need to make changes quickly and let us know if you want him to live though. It sounds as though he doesn't have any reserve, esp if he has lost a lot of weight already.

Good luck!

[catieo]

Hi, thank you for the fast replies!!
Okay, so to answer the questions I have been posed:

Right-o on the vet. However, I live in bum-f-corn-town-Illinois, so amphibian vets are few and far between. I have to drive a couple of hours for my Jackson's Chameleon to be cared for as well.

Your frogs day time temp needs to be 80 to 85 degrees F you need to stay within this range during the day. No 70s. At nigt temps can be 75 to 79 degrees F. Preferably kept at 78. Humidity levels must be 70 to 80% and maintained.

--I apologize, I was not clear in my original post. Falstaff stays right around 80 degrees during the day, we drop him to 75 at night. Thus the range. My humidity is exactly between the level you mention above.

Are you using de-chlorinated water or spring water? I ask this because you must.

--We get properly treated water from the local pet store for exorbitant prices for all of our pets.

Never and I mean never have rocks in your Pacman's enclosure unless they are so big that there is no possible way for your frog to swallow them. They can be eateb by accident causong impaction(severe constipation) which can cause death.

--Falstaff's rocks are quite large, I am aware of the dangers too-small substrate can pose.

Do you use de-chlorinated water or spring water to expand your frogs substrate?

-- I use the same treated water from the pet store for all purposes, including rinsing/cleaning/hydrating/humidifying. We live in a town with a lot of minerals in the water so I don't want to risk injury or sickness with my pets.

When was the last time your frog pooped? Was it runny or normal?

--It was in July a week or so after he ate the mouse, and it was normal.

Do you dust your Pacman's food with calcium and a multivitamin?

--I have in the past, but as he is not eating, it doesn't do much good.

Thank you so much!

[LIZZIE82]

He hasn't eaten or pooped since july?

[catieo]

He hasn't eaten or pooped since july?

We think he may have possibly eaten a worm around September 22nd, 2011, but other than that possibility, the last time he ate was the second week of July. ( I keep a tracking calendar of all of my pets' eating habbits- it may be overkill, but I've caught more than a few troubles by keeping records, so I do it).

[LIZZIE82]

I'd force-feed a booster. My pac quit eating a few months ago and I had good luck with repta-boost. I got it at the petstore. I gave it daily and then I started to force crickets, worms, etc. mine just had an intestinal prolapse the other day so he's back on the repta-boost. i was told that I can give him some dog/cat food that's made for malnourished dogs or cats. He got his first feeding today and he really liked it. I got the royalcanine brand. Make where it's the pate kind with no shredded meat. (got all this info from grifthegreat!) And it's been very helpful! Just use a syringe and force the mouth open with a credit card and give him a little at a time. I'd go slow since it's been so long since he ate.

hopefully you can get him to a vet really soon! Best of luck!

[GrifTheGreat]

Use the advice that I gave Lizzie that she mentioned in the post above. Its easy for them to swallow and digest. You'll have to do it everyday and occationaly skip a day. It will be stressful for you and your frog, but it may be the best bet for you right now. Use the booster that she mentioned and also go out and buy Fluker's Repta-Aid. Its for sick and malnurishe reptiles and amphibians.

Keep us posted.

[LIZZIE82]

How is the frog today? Were you able to give.him some booster or canned food? Keep us posted!