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Thread: Pacman Frog died suddenly, and I feel like ****. All needs met. Why?

  1. #1

    Default Pacman Frog died suddenly, and I feel like ****. All needs met. Why?

    So a couple of days back I started getting worried about my pacman. Got him from a friend whom had owned him for a year or two I believe, not exactly sure but either way the frog isn't a juvenile. Healthy size.

    When I got him, I literally changed nothing about his cage, care etc compared to the previous owner as it was all good and simple. I read the care guides and spoke with my friend about how he cared for it. Fed him about 1-2 times a week depending on how much/what. Gave him a varied diet - mealworms, superworms, dubia and the occasional darkling beetle.

    At first he was very inactive but that is to be expected, being moved and all (though still the exact same enclosure so no big deal). Then, one night, he actually jumped around a bit. Great, I thought. He feels safe.
    Then he started climbing and headbutting the glass, a bit freaky. As if he was trying to get away from something. He would do this for several minutes up to an hour straight before realizing that he can't headbutt glass. Then went back to hiding, walking around or just blindly staring through the glass. He did this several evenings, even once in the morning at around 9 AM. Yesterday, he finally stopped. Found him chilling in his water bowl, breathing fine and all. I was relieved.

    Woke up this morning. Stone dead. In his water bowl. Just lying there. Relatively hard to the touch, no reaction no matter what I do. Eyes half open. Poking his eyelids (not his eyes obviously) very lightly? No reaction. Just completely stone dead.

    I feel like **** and I have no idea why this happened. All his needs were met. Nothing out of the ordinary at all. Sure I may have misted the tank a bit too often perhaps, but never to the point where it would get wet. Just very damp, which as far as I know, it's supposed to be. Kept in standard room temperature as he had been his entire life. Regularly fed. Water bowl. High humidity. Yet, still started freaking out and suddenly died. A standard 40x30 exo-terra cage complete with lots of burrow-able substrate (peat mix). A "wall" to hide behind should he wish. Some slight decoration mostly just for the eye candy.

    Seriously, I feel so terrible for letting him die but I have no idea what killed him or why. Could it be illness? He had no signs of MBD, all food was properly dusted with vitamins and calcium. He had a healthy run-of-the-mill size.
    I only had him for about a week so I don't have any emotional attachment or anything like that, I'm mostly just shocked and worried that it was something I could have prevented.

    EDIT: Read today about how some live frogs are mistaken for dead ones as they apparently protect themselves in a hard outer skin when food is scarce or the enviroment is dry. Thing is, neither of those are true here. He has eaten and the cage is misted daily. And even if this outer-layer situation was the case, surely they would react to touch!

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  3. #2

    Default Re: Pacman Frog died suddenly, and I feel like ****. All needs met. Why?

    Sorry about your loss, dude (I lost my male African Bullfrog of 7 years last year). Did you dechlorify the water? That could have been the issue or the headbutting may have given him brain damage. Either way that is not normal behavior for a pacman. If you get a new one and he acts like that, take him to the vet.

  4. #3

    Default Re: Pacman Frog died suddenly, and I feel like ****. All needs met. Why?

    Not sure why he died, but the head butting the glass trying to escape is not that uncommon from my experiance. Every pacman that I have had has done this at some point. I don't think this is the cause of what happened to him.

  5. #4
    Moderator GrifTheGreat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pacman Frog died suddenly, and I feel like ****. All needs met. Why?

    I'm sorry for your loss.

    These frogs are not very active. They are nocturnal and Occationally love around at night. If the frog is consistently jumping against the glass, something is wrong. This is usually stress behavior. Sometimes you may have one that does this when hungry, but it isn't normal behavior of a stress free animal.

    You said the substraight was a peat moss mix. Might I inquire on what the full bedding mix is and when the last time you can recall the frog deficating?

    They can suddenly die from forms of illness that are not externally visible.


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