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Thread: New Owner - Frog Not Eating

  1. #1

    Exclamation New Owner - Frog Not Eating

    Okay I'm probably just being paranoid, but my poor pacman frog has gone under some serious stress in the last 7 days.

    I have a juvenile albino pacman frog and I brought him home yesterday morning. 4 days before bringing him home he had just arrived at the pet store. So he's been moved around a lot in the past week. He went from being shipped to a pet store to being brought to my house.


    I've only had him for around 30 hours, but I cannot get him to eat. I understand he's probably just stressed, but I have to ask because the only other amphibian I own is an axolotl and he had no issues eating upon the day I brought him home. Basically, I've never owned a frog before this little guy. (Unless you count aquatic frogs, I've had one of those for a few months in one of my tanks)

    He's in a 10 gallon tank with a heating pad and a 40W red night bulb. I'm using eco earth as his substrate and it's about 4-5 inches thick. Topped off with some moss and a very shallow water dish. I mist his cage down twice daily and use foil on top of his cage to help trap the humidity (read this trick online not sure how well it works)

    I added the night bulb today because his tank wasn't hitting 80 degrees without it.

    I've offered him dusted crickets, non dusted crickets, nightcrawlers, and a prepared food called "pac-attack". He's refused all of it.

    Not sure if this means anything, but the second the food touches him, he shakes his head or wipes his face with one of his legs. Almost like he's shooing it away. I've yet to see him even open his mouth. He's spent 99% of his time since he came home buried in the substrate. He did come out once though late last night and moved to a new spot. I understand he'll spend most of his time buried, but since he hasn't eaten that's why I'm concerned.

    Is it normal that he hasn't eaten yet? Any tips for encouraging him to start or should I just leave him alone and let it come naturally?

    I had a friend recently get a pacman and hers passed away the day after bringing it home. She had gotten it at a reptile show and all the movement and change in scenery I guessed stressed him out and caused him to overheat? this is what the person who sold it to her told her.

    I just wanna make sure he settles in well! Don't want to literally stress him to death and also want him to eat.

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  3. #2

    Default Re: New Owner - Frog Not Eating

    Bumping this because I'm now getting advice to switch the night bulb to a UVB bulb and that the 76 degree temp is fine for him and that he doesn't need 80 degrees??? I'm getting so many different opinions I just don't know what's best!

  4. #3
    100+ Post Member monster's Avatar
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    Default Re: New Owner - Frog Not Eating

    Hello,

    Your frog is more then likely very stressed and is haveing a hard time digesting his food thats in him already due to the temps and this is more then likely makeing him not want to eat. if your tanks to cold he will almost go into dormant state makeing him not want to do much. Who ever told you 76f is ok no offence doesnt know what they are talking about. You want your temps to be up around 82f, as i mentioned if its not warm enough the old food just sits in there stomach un digested and if left to long it could make him go septic. And at night you want the temps to drop a few degrees and this will trigger natural instincts to come out and feed. Night time is when they eat in the wild. Also if its albino you dont want any uvb over him, its very bad for there eyes and isnt very good for their fair skin. If you want something for daylight you could use a low wattage LED bulb and this should be ok. I would give him a day to himself with no one around his enclosure unless misting and just let him settle. Stress is the leading cause of death in captive amphibians, it lowers there immune system and makes them vulnerable to other illnesses.

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    Default Re: New Owner - Frog Not Eating

    Just leave it be. Make sure the environment is good and it will come around. Temps need to be 78-82F and humidity I would suggest around 80. Cover 3 sides of your tank and give it some cover it should come around.

  6. #5

    Default Re: New Owner - Frog Not Eating

    He's albino which is why I was scared about the lighting. Will a heating pad due for the temp he needs? For an albino I don't know what else I can use for heat since I'm worried any lighting will hurt him. I'll cover up the sides and try that out. I still haven't seen him eat yet. He moves around at night a little, but no signs of eatings

  7. #6

    Default Re: New Owner - Frog Not Eating

    Quote Originally Posted by Pyru View Post
    Just leave it be. Make sure the environment is good and it will come around. Temps need to be 78-82F and humidity I would suggest around 80. Cover 3 sides of your tank and give it some cover it should come around.

    I'll try that out! Only thing I'm worried about when it comes to heat is how I should go about keeping it warm in there. Main issue is since he's albino I don't know if I can use any lighting at all, even the red bulbs worry me cause I don't want to hurt him or dry him out. The heat pad keeps the bottom of his tank warm, I just don't know what to use for the air temp

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    Default Re: New Owner - Frog Not Eating

    If that's a concern use a ceramic heating element. I would suggest a cheap dimmer to fine tune it.

    I use a hygrotherm to control things but honestly with a screen top covered in aluminum foil with only a hole cut 1/4" bigger than my heat lamp diameter my temps/humidity stay pretty steady. I use a false bottom and mist 2x a day.

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  10. #8
    100+ Post Member monster's Avatar
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    Default Re: New Owner - Frog Not Eating

    The low wattage led wont hurt him, as I mentioned I have been using one for over year with no ill effects. And as Pyru mentioned a CHE will work for the heat. If the room the frog is in is bright enough to light the terrarium up enough to let him know its daytime that's fine too. And my setup is almost the exact same as Pyrus and the temps and humidity stay pretty steady and I also only need to mist 2xs a day. Those Hygrotherms are amazing and save you a lot of headaches in the future, I use them on all my horned frog tanks.

  11. #9

    Default Re: New Owner - Frog Not Eating

    Quote Originally Posted by monster View Post
    The low wattage led wont hurt him, as I mentioned I have been using one for over year with no ill effects. And as Pyru mentioned a CHE will work for the heat. If the room the frog is in is bright enough to light the terrarium up enough to let him know its daytime that's fine too. And my setup is almost the exact same as Pyrus and the temps and humidity stay pretty steady and I also only need to mist 2xs a day. Those Hygrotherms are amazing and save you a lot of headaches in the future, I use them on all my horned frog tanks.
    Is a day bulb necessary? My current setup up only has the infrared bulb.

  12. #10
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    Default Re: New Owner - Frog Not Eating

    It seems you are getting great advise already. I'll just add a bit.
    you have albino, that means you can not use any UVB! Bright light is not the best either, but as mentioned low voltage dim light is ok. No. You do not need day light if there is some sort of ambient light round, a frog needs it to know when is day or night.

    The other issue is you have tiny frog in 10 gal tank, as mentioned you need to cover 3 sides of the tank and add decor to minimize the space. Frogs get stressed out easily in big open spaces.

    Good luck
    Save one animal and it doesn't change the world, but it surely changes the world for that one animal!

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