New Pacman!!!

[Tori Savage]

Hey guys. I am back!!!!!!! I've actually read posts here and there since I kind of left. But I'm sure my absence was understood. But anyways. Onto the real news... I went to a reptile expo this past weekend (3/4). My kids were super excited when they seen all the different animals. Well, anyways, I ended up picking up a few more critters, even though I was told not to! I think me being told not to was more or less of the reason why I had gotten them. LOL!!! I picked up an albino pacman, 3 yellow/red eared slider turtles, and a Kenyan sand boa. All the animals I got, they are doing great!!!

Now, onto the pacman issue... It is nameless. lol...... But I dropped 2 crickets in as soon as I got its home situated. They were gone within a few hours. And its like that daily. So far, I havent had to take the crickets out because they were eaten. I'm really shocked that it ate the first day here. And daily. The breeder that had it was feeding daily. Now I haven't started dusting yet. I'm still in the process of it being here and used to it's tank and whatnot. I was going to start dusting tomorrow. I do still have all the vitamins and stuff I had from my last pac, beings that I use some of them with my iguana. It is Calci-Max and Reptivite. How do I go about the dusting?

Also, he stays no higher than 85 during the day, that's what the breeder kept it at. And the high 70's at night. He gets misted about 4 times a day. And he burrows daily. He does get treated water. I use Aquasafe I think is the name of it. Also, it isn't in a tank yet, due to it being really small. It is in a medium Breeder Box.

So have I missed anything?? If I have, please let me know.

[S13]

Sounds like you're off to a good start. The way I dust is toss the crickets in a ziplock sandwich bag with the calcium and shake'em around a bit. One thing I will suggest. If you haven't yet, I would recommend covering the back and sides of the tank, and a fake plant for security. Other than that, sounds like you started out with a bang.

[Sue H]

Congrats! Post pics!

[GrifTheGreat]

Some don't take long to adjust and eat while others take over a week.

About the dusting. Dust with the Reptivite once a week and with the calcium every other feeding. Be sure not to use both at the same time in the same feeding.

Do post some pics.

[Tori Savage]

Thanks guys. I'll post pics of all my new animals as soon as I can get some good ones. But thanks for all the advice!!!

[Tori Savage]

So here is my new pacman.





But in this one, it's sides are turning darker colors. Should I be worried about it completely changin colors or is it due to undigested food or what? (pic below)




My snake...


And the 3 stooges....

[Sue H]

Awesome! Gorgeous animals! What kind of snake is that, love the colors.

[Heatheranne]

Some of the discoloration may be due to the substrate staining him. He looks good . Great start!

Great critter choices! Of course, I especially love the PAC .

[Tori Savage]

Sue, he is a Kenyan Sand Boa. He won't get any longer than about 24 inches long. If that. He will stay relatively small. That's part of the reason I got him. He will stay relatively small and I have 4 munchkins running around lol.

Heather, what else could I put it in, that it can burrow in that won't stain it? Rightnow it's on plantation soil. When I got it, they had it in moss. Now I don't know if they kept it in moss. Like I said, I got it at a reptile expo. And the little deli cup they had it in had moss in it. Same with the turtles. They put them in a deli cup with moss. Don't know if it was just for transport or what. And the pacman is eating up to 3 crickets a day. For it being so small is that too much??

[Tori Savage]

Also, I forgot to ask. The breeder didn't introduce nightcrawlers/earth worms yet. When do I need to start offering, and how often beings it already gets crickets daily?

And I do have some moss that I was going to but in my snakes tank to help with shedding and so on... If I have to or if it would help with the staining, I can use it.

[toxxxickitten]

Kenyan Sand Boas are kind of fun. They like to bury a lot and I barely saw them when I had them.

You could use EcoEarth. It comes in a brick that you expand with water and it makes a LOT of substrate. I use that for all my froggies and I have never seen any staining and if they happen to ingest it then it won't cause impaction. It's completely digestible. The deli cup was just for transportation and to display the frog at the show. He didn't actually live in that deli cup - hopefully! The moss was probably put in to keep them moist during the show. If they are large crickets, then 2-3 I think would be sufficient.

Congrats on your new additions!

[toxxxickitten]

Also, I forgot to ask. The breeder didn't introduce nightcrawlers/earth worms yet. When do I need to start offering, and how often beings it already gets crickets daily?

And I do have some moss that I was going to but in my snakes tank to help with shedding and so on... If I have to or if it would help with the staining, I can use it.

You could start offering at anytime. You can switch it up from crickets to nightcrawlers, etc. It's up to you how you want to feed your Pac.
You don't really need the moss in the KSBs enclosure until you see it about to shed. Then I would stick the moss in a "humidity box" that it could slither into if it wanted to help him shed. Other then that - the moss isn't needed. They like to be kept fairly dry. The humidity box could be a small food storage container with a hole cut into it for access.

[Heatheranne]

I use Eco earth. It stains them also. My orange fantasy is now a lovely brown, lol! Damp paper towel works, but they are happier burrowing. I'd leave the plantation soil and let him be happy with a little staining . Stay away from the moss...unless you feed out of his home. The risk of accidental ingestion when eating is not good...the moss causes impaction if eaten. I'm not sure about snakes though. I don't own any snakes. I keep my anoles and long tailed lizards on Eco earth too.

How big is your baby? Some say let your baby PAC eat for 15 minutes as much as he would like. Food should be no larger than the width of the area between your frog's eyes.

I do not use the 15 minute rule myself bc my first PAC was and is an eating machine . He would eat til he'd bloat. So I'd let him eat about 1/2 of the area of his body size in food amount and he's grown like a horse, haha! He grew about 1/2" every two weeks. My fantasy is doing the same . I feed mine crickets, dubia roaches and red wigglers.

Red wigglers, earth worms, and night crawlers are fine so long as they are cut to small enough pieces. They are even easier to digest than the crickets . Cut from either end of the worms and they will live longer (less waste). Be careful where you purchase your worms. Be sure there are no dyes, chemicals, or unsafe scents added to them.

I lightly dust mine with Flukers calcium/vitamin D3 powder every other day and herptivite every Sunday. I do the same powdering for my retf's.

And I rinse and refill their water bowls every night with slightly warm dechlorinated water and set them in for a nice drink (soak, lol) after their meals .

Hope this helps .

[Tori Savage]

The breeder didn't tell me anything about the humidity box or anything. And they don't know the last time this particular one had shed due to 3 snakes being in one tank on display in the shop. The only reason how I had found out was reading the internet. And then I had asked the breeder. They said with the hide box I was given, to put a small piece of moist paper towel, and that would work just fine.

And with the pacs substrate, I don't think my moms store sells EcoEarth. I will have to really look. The main reason why I don't buy any of my animals things from Petco or PetSmart, is due to them having the same thing at my moms work, but at my moms work, whatever I need is about half price than other pet stores. So I try not to shop anywhere else for my animals things due to over pricing, and what not. And sometimes, depending on what it is, I can get it ordered through the store. But my next trip to my moms work will probably be Friday. I will look then, and go from there. As of right now, I have it on Exo Terra Plantation Soil.

A slightly weird question... As stated before, pacman eats daily. I try to offer smallish sized crickets. I put 3 a day. The past 2 days or so, there has been 1 cricket left over. How often would he produce feces with this eating schedule? The pacpan is maybe a little bit bigger than a quarter.

When can I find out the sex of the frog? I'm waiting to name it untill the sex is confirmed. I don't want to name it Frank and become Frances. Or vice versa. lol....



(Heather, while I was writing this reply, your reply had come in, so I didn't see it until after I had posted this reply. Sorry if I repeated myself or anything lol)

[Tori Savage]

Also another question.... I've seen posts about giving warm honey soaks, the warm pedialyte baths and so on... Beings that my pac is so small, would it be wise to do a honey soak or the pedialyte soak both about once a week or so? Or do that only if it gets sick or whatnot?

[toxxxickitten]

What kind of substrate do you have your KSB on now?

The ExoTerra Plantation Soil is basically the EcoEarth already expanded in a bag, so that is fine to use. I have an Apricot Albino Pacman and have never noticed any staining on him and I use the EcoEarth. That's just slightly weird?

If your Pac isn't eating all 3 of the crickets then I would remove the one that is left over so no harm comes to your frog. If left in too long the cricket may decide to chew on your pacman.

You won't be able to determine the sex of your PacMan for quite some time if it is only just a little larger then a quarter.

[toxxxickitten]

Also another question.... I've seen posts about giving warm honey soaks, the warm pedialyte baths and so on... Beings that my pac is so small, would it be wise to do a honey soak or the pedialyte soak both about once a week or so? Or do that only if it gets sick or whatnot?

Those are only if your Pacman is sick. There's no other reason to do those soaks.

[Tori Savage]

The breeder I got the pac from, said its food. WHEW! Big big sigh of relief. I use the bricks because I have a really large setup for my other frogs, and it takes about 2 bricks for that one tank.


The KSB is on aspen bedding. I've had snakes before so this isnt my first go round lol

[Heatheranne]

Hey Tori!

No worries on the cross-over posts.

Toxxic is right. Plantation soil is just fine.

If your baby is an inch or so in size one or two crickets a night is perfect ( I'm presuming they are about 1/2" or so ).

Pedialyte soaks are used when frogs stop eating and need the nutrients and electrolytes. Honey baths help them to pass feces and give a bit of energy. Regular soaks help them relax and pass feces also and also hydrate them.

So long as the humidity in the tank is about 80% and a water bowl is available to them, that's all they need. They'll get the nutrients from dusting and gut-loading their food.

[Heatheranne]

Yep, I agree on removing what your PAC doesn't eat. They do bite the frogs. In my large retf viv I had a few I couldn't catch and there are now tiny baby crickets in there that are not fun to remove.

Pacs don't generally pass feces everyday. Every few days is fine. Mine go about every 3 to 4 days. If there bellies bloat up after that and still no poo it's time for a bath, haha! They usually go fine though. A nice soft worm dinner usually helps .