Information overload!

[Beep617]

I’ve mentioned a few concerns here and there in a few posts, and I’ve talked to a bunch of people locally who have Pacmans and am getting all kinds of different information. I got Le Bud on December 23^rd as a gift. For about a week before that he was being cared for by a neighbor who raises/rescues iguanas. Not sure yet if it is male or female, so I am just calling it him. When he was purchased, they said he was about 2 months old. I’m not sure exactly how big he is because I haven’t really handled him much, but he’s a good few inches. I live in Connecticut, so it’s pretty cold and dry in the winter (right now). I’ve filled out the “trouble in the enclosure” questionnaire, and my questions/concerns are after that. Sorry so long, but thanks in advance for any tips!

Size of enclosure –10 gallon tank
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences--- 1 pacman frog
3. Humidity ---20-30% daytime, 50% overnight
4. Temperature-- 85 daytime, 70 overnight
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish--- distilled. I have read that this draws the vitamins out of them, but was told by locals not to use our tap water because it is extremely high in fluoride and the purifiers don’t clean it out.
6. Materials used for substrate--- Eco earth
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials.
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv. ---1 artificial plant. Have background paper, but haven't gotten a chance to put it on yet.
8. Main food source--- large crickets
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often)--- Zilla calcium supplement food spray, once a week
10. Lighting---- 100 watt day light heat(daytime), 13 watt UV (daytime), 60 watt red (24 hours)
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure--- The above lighting, as well a small heat mat on the side of the tank used on cooler nights
12. When is the last time he/she ate--- 1 cricket yesterday, 4-6 the day before
13. Have you found poop lately--- No, unsure of what I am looking for.
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)

15. How old is the frog--- Got him 2 weeks ago, store said about 2 months old
16. How long have you owned him/her ----Received as a gift about a week ago. Cared for by neighbor (raises iguanas) for a week prior.
17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred--- captive bread
18. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats--- Large crickets. Still trying to figure out a feeding routine. Tried tong-feeding nigh crawlers yesterday and once today, but refused.
19. How often the frog is handled ---- I haven’t picked him up yet. I’ve handled him to unbury him a few times when I hadn’t seen him in a while and while rearranging tank
20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area ---low traffic
21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc) Have only had about a week, so haven’t changed anything yet. Using only distilled water, cleaning water dish 1-2x a day. I have a taller water bowl under the heat lamps for humidity, which I add water to once a day. Misting multiple times to try to keep some humidity. Adding some water to substrate each morning when putting on the daytime lights. When I add to substrate, I mix it around with my hands to make sure it’s not too wet, so I may have unknowingly broken up/mixed up feces.

My biggest concern is the humidity level. It stays around 20-30% during the day, and when the heat and UV lights are off it goes up to about 50%. I haven’t seen it any higher. I was told that moss will help, but also heard more often that it’s no good for him. Thought of maybe packing down the substrate tighter to hold the moisture better, or putting moist paper towels underneath? Also was told to put small UTH on bottom to draw moisture up, but know that it’s not supposed to be on the bottom because of the burrowing. The little one I have doesn't throw off much heat at all.

I’ve only seen him completely uncovered twice. The first time was when he hadn’t eaten in a few days and he was on his hind legs (in the picture I’m posting) and appeared pretty small. Last night, he looked HUGE. Very fat on both sides. Almost looked inflated like a balloon and was jiggly, not hard like I expected. Was he still full from the 5 crickets the day before and the 1 he had just eaten?

I throw crickets in front of him, he doesn’t usually eat right away. I leave them in there and scoot them in front of him a few times a day and eventually he eats them. I think he’s eaten 2-3 times since I’ve had him. Should I try feeding in a tub of some sort? If he doesn’t eat them right away, do I need to take them out? I know certain lizards get used to them being there and don’t realize they’re food. Does feeding time (day/night) matter?

[danfrog]

1. Need to cover three sides of the enclosure
3. Humidity needs to be around 80 percent. Try covering even more of the top with tin foil. Plus you have a **** temp/humidity reader. Get and electronic reader with a probe.
4. Shoot for 82-84 degrees during the day and 77-78 degrees for night. No higher no lower.
5. Do not use distilled. If you have to go out and buy jugs of spring water and treat them with your dechlorinator.
8. Crickets are fine as long as they are gut loaded. But nightcrawlers are better.
9. Get powdered calcium dust with vitamin d3. Also you need to buy multivitamins. Calcium dust twice a week and vitamin dust once a week. Skip a day in between dustings. Never calcium dust and vitamin dust on the same feeding.
10. Lights should not be over 50 watts. Remove the uvb bulb you have.
18. Watch ivory reptiles youtube video tong feeding 101
Do not place a UTH under the tank. If the frog needs to cool off he won't be able to when he diss deeper. These guys can and will puff themselves up with air. You can feed in a separate enclose if you want. Try feeding at night time. The frogs are nocturnal so they have the best feeding response about an hour or two after lights out.

[Beep617]

Thanks! I actually just watched the tong feeding videos earlier, that's what made me think of feeding outside the tank. I had lower wattage bulbs (i think 60), but couldn't get it much warmer than 75 and at night it was below 70.

I'm curious as to why no UV? I've heard both yes and no on here. I was told they need it for aid in digestion of the calcium/d3?


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[Beep617]

Oh, and where do I put the probe for the thermometer?


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[Louis Charles Bruckner]

To answer both questions.

On the no UV lights, These frogs spend 90% of their lives burrowed up to there eyes in the substrate waiting for the next meal to come to them.
So no sunlight gets to their skin.

On where to place the sensor, the best place is on the opposite side of the enclosure of your heat source and about in the middle from the top.

If it is a humidity / temperature sensor , avoid misting the sensor or it will not function properly.

[Beep617]

That makes a lot of sense. So, since I have the double light hood, should I try 2 lower wattage bulbs? It is that the same as having the one high wattage?


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[Louis Charles Bruckner]

If you have the EXO terra light hood , I am pretty sure it is made only for CFL bulbs.

I put in mine the lowest wattage bright white CFL bulbs I could find.

And put a plexi glass sheet cut to the same size as the screen on top of the screen under the light hood to keep in
humidity and heat.

On the front I use one Zoo med deep dome light fixture with a 75W Ceramic heat emitter that is controlled by
a zoo med hygrotherm HT-10 controller set to 85F for day and a 5F drop at night.
The hygrotherm has a light sensor on it so I put it so it can switch to night time when the timer on the CFL hood goes off at 5PM.
I also have a LED strip light that can be any color I want but I set it to red so I can see what the frog is doing.
In this case not much LOL.

[flybyferns]

Beep617.......great title for this post.
Great effort on your part!
This is the kind of 'digging' you have to do !
All of your efforts will pay off

[Heatheranne]

You can use the uth pad heaters, but use it on a side wall, not the bottom. Try creating a warm side of tank and a cooler side where the water bowl is. This allows them to choose the temp they desire.

[reptileszz]

Hi there, I am in CT too and it is wicked dry here with a wood stove going. I dump treated water into the substrate quite often and cover most of the tops with saran wrap or foil to keep the humidity up. I have been pretty successful. I also have my frogs in a very warm room and only use narrow heat tape along the bottom of the back (sideways didnt do anything and this tape is pretty weak). I do have a very weak red light on my ornate all the time. I think it is like 30 watts. It is on a 10 gallon so it doesnt dry it out too much at all. She spends a lot of time under it so she must like it.

So my advice is more water dumped into the substrate, cover the top more and get a decent sized heat mat to put on the side of the back and/or some narrow heat tape to put along the bottom of the back.

Are you going to White Plains this weekend for the expo? I will be there.

Carole

[Beep617]

If you have the EXO terra light hood , I am pretty sure it is made only for CFL bulbs.

I put in mine the lowest wattage bright white CFL bulbs I could find.

Thanks, Louis! I have a zoo med mini deep dome lamp, it doesn't say anything about CFL. You use bright white bulbs.. like regular old light bulbs? I have a daytime heat bulb from Zoomed or Zilla. Just curious.. why do you prefer the ceramic heat emitter? Yet another thing I keep hearing totally opposite opinions on.

[Beep617]

Hi there, I am in CT too and it is wicked dry here with a wood stove going. I dump treated water into the substrate quite often and cover most of the tops with saran wrap or foil to keep the humidity up. I have been pretty successful. I also have my frogs in a very warm room and only use narrow heat tape along the bottom of the back (sideways didnt do anything and this tape is pretty weak). I do have a very weak red light on my ornate all the time. I think it is like 30 watts. It is on a 10 gallon so it doesnt dry it out too much at all. She spends a lot of time under it so she must like it.

So my advice is more water dumped into the substrate, cover the top more and get a decent sized heat mat to put on the side of the back and/or some narrow heat tape to put along the bottom of the back.

Are you going to White Plains this weekend for the expo? I will be there.

Carole

Thanks Carole! I'm not sure what the heat tape is.. how does that work? I'm jealous of your wood stove! We have an older house on the shore, so there's no such thing as a warmer room, that's part of the problem here. I didn't know anything about the expo.. how is it? Do you know where I can get information? I'm only about an hour from White Plains. I'm all new to this, and really enjoying learning about it all!