newbie looking for help

[ronaldo97]

first of all, greetings from Indonesia.
recently i got 2 pacmans, albino and strawberry.
both is still small, probably less than 2 inch..
i fed them every 2 days with 2crickets each of them. (i also dusted the crickets with calcium which i bought from a nearby place)
i am using filter pad as substrate for the enclosure, with mineral water.. (picture coming as soon as i can)
this is what concerned me, its been two weeks since the last time my albino pooped, usually they pooped nearly together (1-2 days gap maximum)
the strawberry pacman already pooped twice, and for the albino not even once.
i also found that these past few days they have been shedding. (i dont know since when)
and one more thing that's been bothering me, they got a little swollen under their mouth. its look like its full of water, but when i tried to see what's wrong, they made the swollen disappear.
can someone tell me what's wrong with them?
is the food i gave them too little? is it too much water? (i gave 3 kinds of place in the enclosure, full water, a little wet (mushy) and dry. but they chose to stay in the wet place and sometimes in the water)

Best Regards,

ps. the pacmans picture and their enclosure as well as the swollen picture is still not available. however i will try to upload it as soon as i can.
Update : Picture



Picture 1 :
I : Water place
II : Wet (How wet it is can be seen on the 3rd picture as i pressed it with my hand)
III : Dry (No water at all)

Picture 2 : its really not clear in the picture, usually it swell bigger than that.

Picture 4 : Albino

Picture 5 : Strawberry

[ronaldo97]

i just saw this, so i am gonna post it here.

1. Size of enclosure : 35cm x 25cm x 27cm
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences : 2 aquariums, every frog lives alone.
3. Humidity : i dont know. (gonna check it as soon as possible)
4. Temperature : i dont know. (gonna check it as soon as possible)
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish : i didnt do misting, nor my enclosure got any soaking dish. but i use mineral waters.
6. Materials used for substrate : Filter pad
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials. : plain. only filter pad + mineral water.
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv.
8. Main food source : crickets dusted with calcium
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often) : every feeding
10. Lighting : no lighting, however every fewdays i took the aquariums outside for 'sunbath'
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure : nothing, indonesia is quite hot already, they re gonna burn to crisp if i heat it more
12. When is the last time he/she ate : 2 days ago, tonight gonna feed them again
13. Have you found poop lately : 3/4 days ago for the strawberry and more or less 2 weeks for the albino
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine) : as soon as possible
15. Describe frog's symptoms and/or recent physical changes; to include it's ventral/belly area. : swollen in under the mouth for both of them
16. How old is the frog : i dont know, but young for sure.
17. How long have you owned him/her : a month more or less
18. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred : from what i heard, captive bred
19. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats : only crickets.
20. How often the frog is handled : every time i need to change the water
21. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area : my bathroom actually, the other rooms in the house is way too hot for them.
22. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc) : full water changes and clean the filter pad.

[Lija]

Can you please take a pic of a front leg thumb, so the inside side of it ( the one closer to the body ) is visible.

you gotta cut off their sunbathing, they're albino, thus very sentitive to sun light, you don't want they to go blind.

mineral water is concerning me too, is it bottled spring water? As well foam as a substrate, I know people keep them like that in US too, it works, their colours are pooping out more this way too, but i don't aprove. It's my personal opinion, it's not natural for them, deprives them of possibility to live as close to their natural surroundings, stresses them out every day, as you need to rinse that foam every day.These guys are cb and all their life they have to live in a prison cell ( captivity), it is my personal
belief you have to make them not to feel like it and provide their natural habitat condition with a possibility to burrow where and how deep they choose and to soak when needed in a water body.

[ronaldo97]

how to take a front leg thumb? i am still new in these frog world.
sunbathing's going to stop, thank you.. alternative on how to make them warm??
i dont know what kind of mineral water is that. however ppl here use it for drinking. i suppose it is safe?
i hear if we use those kind of substrate, the pacman could die because impaction? perhaps other alternative to make it more natural?
and is it okay if i only rinse the foam once a week?
thank you for your quick response Lija

Best Regards,

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

I will agree with Lija 100% I am also not a fan of keeping pac's in this way,
Keeping the temp at the proper levels is critical. 80 to 84F during the day and 75 to 78F at night is the best for young ones.

If kept in too cool and too moist of conditions can cause edema (excess fluid under the skin) and lots of other heath issues
that will shorten the life span of your frog.

Here is the care sheet for these frogs.
Pacman and Horned Frogs - Ceratophrys - Care and Breeding

Good luck

[ronaldo97]

so what happening to my pacman is this condition called edema?
how to treat it? Thank you for your response Louis.

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Relax,
This condition happens over time if the frog is kept in the wrong conditions.

Read the care sheet.

so what happening to my pacman is this condition called edema?
how to treat it? Thank you for your response Louis.

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Renaldo,

Eco earth is the best substrate I have ever used.
it is finely shredded coco husk fiber. I looks a lot like dirt but it is not.

The best setup for your frogs while they are small is a small "critter keeper"

With about 2in deep of eco earth.

You can use a desk lamp with a ceramic heat emitter a 60w model should be good.
you will also need a rheostat or some kind of thermostat or controller.

I like the zoomed HT-10 it can keep the temps set and even do a nighttime off set.

and when you get a larger enclosure it can control both the humidity and temp.

Hope this helps