PacMan Advice

[Joe9252]

OK so I have had my pacman for about 2 months now and it is still pretty small, or at least I think he is. My main area of concern is that it doesnt eat much I was told this could be to the temp in the tank. As of right now its in a 10 gal tank with a heat pad on one side and the temp is 70. Now I have been told by 2 different places how to care for him one said use the coconut bark as bedding and get a heat lamp. The other place where I purchased it said no heat lamp and not to use the coconut but instead use the moss... Which is the right was to go??? I also have a small water bowl in there but I have never once seen him go anywhere near it at all....Also the place were I purchase it said it is ready for pinkies. And one of the reasons it is so small is because I wasnt feeding it enough. I gave him a pinkie and it bite it and held it for awhile and after about 15 min just let it go and never went back to it. Right now he is back on crickets but i cant even tell if he is even eating them. (Really hard to tell how many are left due to the moss) Here is a pic I took last week when I had the coconut bark in the tank next to him is a cap off a soda bottle is he norm size for being over 2 months or is he small?

Pic when I 1st got him


Pic after 2 months



I was thinking perhaps he has gone into "hibernation" but im not sure doesnt seem like his skin is hard or that he is burying himself done here are a few pics that i jsut took now.... sorry for all the questions but i would really just likeas mush hell as I can get... Thank you!

[demeteraurion]

You need to get rid of the moss ASAP. He may have developed an impaction from the moss if you are just tossing the crickets in with him. Get him on Eco Earth or something similar soon. And yes, 70 is much too low, needs to be at least 80 and a cooler area. I would soak him in warm dechlorinated water for a few days, unless you are sure he is going to the bathroom. Hope your frog improves!

[LizardMama]

Eco Earth or Bed-A-Beast is the best substrate for a Pacman Frog as if your frog does eat it it will pass his or her system without a problem, anything else though could become a problem with impaction. I've heard and read that you do need a water dish in case moisture in the cage isn't right and the frog can go to it for that reason. As for decorations such as plants or hides. So far with my frog he prefers to be out in the open, he doesn't like the hide I have in there for him for some reason. The heat for your frog should be between 78 and 82-85 degrees, dropping a few degrees at night

[Joe9252]

You need to get rid of the moss ASAP. He may have developed an impaction from the moss if you are just tossing the crickets in with him. Get him on Eco Earth or something similar soon. And yes, 70 is much too low, needs to be at least 80 and a cooler area. I would soak him in warm dechlorinated water for a few days, unless you are sure he is going to the bathroom. Hope your frog improves!

Oh ok tom ill get rid of the moss and get the coconut fibers back in there what should i do for more heat because I guess the heat pad on not strong enough? Lastly you said soak him in the water maybe i need a different water bowl how deep should the water be? Also am I correct in saying he is too small or is he norm size for 2 months?

[frogmike]

1. use wet coco fiber substrate.
2. if you want to have a little moss, its ok, as long as you remove it during feeding. or feed him in a separate tank
3. get the temp up to 80f, and he should eat.
4. put in 6 calcium covered crickets, and monitor him feeding for an hour or so. then remove the remaining crickets. 2x a day
5. enjoy your growing healthy pacman frog!

[Joe9252]

1. use wet coco fiber substrate.
2. if you want to have a little moss, its ok, as long as you remove it during feeding. or feed him in a separate tank
3. get the temp up to 80f, and he should eat.
4. put in 6 calcium covered crickets, and monitor him feeding for an hour or so. then remove the remaining crickets. 2x a day
5. enjoy your growing healthy pacman frog!

ok so while i was cleaning the tank and taking out the moss i soaked him in warm water and put a cricket in with him for about 20 min... he didnt eat the cricket but he did poop so that must be a good sign that there is no impaction I also purchased a heat lamp for him and put it towards one side. The bulb I got was a 50w red blub is this ok or is the red color that the blub is giving off going to stress out the frog? As soon as i put the light over the tank he went right over to that spot he norm just chills in the middle so i can only assume he like the light no? Right now temp on the cool side is 75 and the Humidity is 50 is that ok?

[demeteraurion]

Humidity should be at least 70, what type of lid is on your tank? If its screen, you can put aluminum foil or plastic wrap on it to help seal humidity in the tank. Glad to hear he went to the bathroom. There's a lot of different opinions on heating, I use a heat mat but I have an albino and they have very sensitive eyes. You could also try feeding him a nightcrawler, most frogs love them.

[GreenLeader49]

You've got to try and crank that humidity up in the 70 range.

With the red light, my frog has never been bothered by it, so as long as the temperature is above 75 you should be set with that.

Hopefully now that the temp is up and once the humidity goes up your little guy will finally find his appetite! Best of luck!!

[Joe9252]

OK well I just gave the tank a really good misting about 2 spay bottles worth and with and right now it is @ 70H the gauge is also located on the top corner of the "cool" side so under the lamp it is prob a little better... As of right now I have a screen lid on top of the tank with the heat lamb resting on top of it... is this ok or should I get a glass lid? and so far he has not eaten any of the crickets i put in (4) but he was moving around a lot especially while i was misting so im assuming that is good

[demeteraurion]

I'd move the gauges so they are close to the ground where the frog is because the temp/humidity will be different near the substrate. A screen lid is fine and so is a glass one, but if the humidity won't stay up there you should put some foil or plastic over most of it, except where the lamp is of course.

As for his size, I dont know really. I've had my frog a month and he hasn't grown at all and hardly eats. Guess we should work on plumping are little guys up!

[IvoryReptiles]

You are on the right track as far as the temps & humidity go. The advice given so far is excellent.

As for feeding & plumping them up......please try NightCrawlers. We purchase ours at Academy and make sure they are NOT the ones with the dye injections. You can also purchase them at Petsmart or Petco. I cut an appropriate sized piece off of one worm and dangle it in front of the frog. We used these as a staple food for our first 4 broods of metamorphed forglets and they did well on them. Make sure to offer dusted crickets 2 to 3 times a week as well. They should be offered food daily until they are about 3 inches in diameter and then offer food every 2 to 3 days. Pinkies should be a TREAT offered once every 1 to 2 months. They cannot process mammalian proteins as easily as they can fowl or invertebrates.

In my opinion, a 10 gallon is too big for such a small froglet. We keep ours in deli cups until the hit 3 inches or so and then move them into a small critter keeper. They are kept on damp paper towels in the deli cups & on bed-a-beast (coco fiber) once in a larger container. The water dish should be large enough for them to move around in a bit and shallow enough for them to crawl in & out.......water depth should be no higher than the frog's chin.......these are not swimmers!

Make sure ALL water used for the frog is de-chlorinated!!!!!!!!!

I hope my advice helps! Keep us posted!

[Joe9252]

1st off thank you guys for all your help. With the heat lamp the temp on the cool side is 70 i just placed the thermo on the warm side gonna check the temp in about 20 min now I just got back from work and it seems while i was gone he ate 1 cricket he def must like the heat lamp because he buried himself right underneath it so that's good. my only problem is when I got home the humidity was only 20% i did a quick 2 bottle misting and got it right up to 70% I also just put foil around the top to see if it helps ill do a final misting before I go to bed tonight. Im wondering if tom I should place him in his water bowl and feed him a night crawler or is it pointless because he has only eaten one cricket? Also you said it is best to cut the night crawler up or should i just place it in the tank in front of him? Lastly what is best to just put the food in the tank or do you dangle it if front of him with the tongs? also you said offer food daily... is putting 12 crickets in the tank once a week bad or should I put in 2 or 3 daily?

[IvoryReptiles]

When feeding crickets, we place a couple in at a time and add more until the frog stops eating. We remove any remaining crickets because given half a chance, they will bite the frog and chew on them.

I cut the night crawlers to an appropriate size for the frog to handle getting down easily. I only ever feed whole worms to sub-adults or adults. The ones we get are fairly large. You stated that your frogs was still somewhat small, so I assume the worms need to be cut.

I tong feed the worms to our frogs, but remember that we are breeders and have over 200 froglets to feed on a daily basis. Time consuming, but I refuse to skimp on their care. We usually wait 2 to 3 days after the tails are fully absorbed to offer the first meal and then offer food daily.

Seeing as you only have the one frog, it is up to you just how much you want to spoil it....

[Joe9252]

So I went out and purchased some night crawlers and no luck tried tong feeding him and he didnt go for the night crawlers should i maybe move him over to the water bowl and try in there? I left the pieces of the worm in the tank figured id see if see would he eat it on his own also just got a glass top humidity is now @ 90 on the hot side and 70 on the cool side also temp is 75 on the cool side so im thinking tank conditions are right at his point

[IvoryReptiles]

He will only attempt the worms if they are still moving. So yes, try placing them in the water dish. Just keep an eye on them because they can & will drown.

I am really surprised that he didn't go for it......I have never had one of ours refuse an earthworm/nightcrawler......ever!

Our frogs prefer them over all other foods.

[Joe9252]

ye no go on the worms ill leave him alone tom and try feeding him the worms again on friday and see how it goes..... he really just doesnt eat much

[Joe9252]

Ok just wondering it is possible that it is too hot or humid in the tank here is a pic of it as you can see tons of condensation on the sides. current temp on the cool side is 80 and the humidity is 75. Hot side had a humidity is 90 and the temp is 85 now im assuming this is ok because still he never goes on the cool side or in his water bowl he just basks under the light so are the temps ok?



pic of the tank

[demeteraurion]

Sounds/looks good! If I were you I would take the lid off for a little while everyday just to let the tank air out and ventilate.

[Joe9252]

So i really just dont understand I just tried feeding him another night crawler tonight and nothing he just wont eat!!!??? I really dont understand for a frog who is just supposed to eat everything in site mine doesnt eat a thing... both temp and humidity are all up to standards what else do i need to do to get him to eat? Im honestly under the impression that there are issues with him he doesnt do anything that a norm pacman does he never goes in his water bowl he never eats lol im legit confused here lol could it be too hot now? when i feel his skin it doesnt feel moist it feels somewhat tacky... is that norm?

[demeteraurion]

My frog kind of sticks to me when I touch him too. You can try to gently open his mouth and place a small piece of the worm in it, this usually works for mine and he will finish eating it. Just be gentle!