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Thread: My young pacman isn't eating.

  1. #1
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    Default My young pacman isn't eating.

    Hey guys! I've had my little pacman frog, Button, for about 5 months now having got him in December 2014. Anyway he's about the size of an egg right now, maybe twice the size of a golf ball but it's hard to tell because sometimes he grows and shrinks. He's nowhere near close to even half adult size. Anyway, for the past week or so I've had some trouble feeding him. Normally he eats like a cat, he'll just pounce on passing crickets and eagerly swallow them whole, provided he often misses the first time. He loves his crickets but he just stopped eating or at least he seems to have. There have been two crickets in his cage for a few days now and I think I put at least 3 in there. I know frogs are naturally gluttonous and will take advantage of food when it's plentiful so I'm a bit concerned as he's still growing. Maybe he's getting bored of crickets but the thing is he's quite a picky eater. He really likes crickets but I've tried offering him nightcrawler pieces but he won't touch them. I bought him some very small roaches that my local Petco sells as "spotted roaches" but they seem to just burrow into the coconut fiber and quickly disappear so he might not be able to catch them let alone see them. At this point in time a varied diet almost seems out of the question. Another problem with offering him crickets is that while he will eat calcium dusted crickets, he much prefers natural crickets, sometimes he won't even eat crickets covered in calcium. (I wonder if I could put the calcium dust in the water in his bathing dish since they absorb water through their skin.) Now I know that I'll have to wean him off crickets eventually in favor of earthworms and hissing roaches but since he's refusing anything but crickets, I wonder if I can continue feeding them until he's about baseball sized. I'm getting a tarantula, a chameleon, a jeweled lacerta, 2 tomato frogs and a bearded dragon soon so I will have lots and lots and lots of crickets on hand that I can give him. Now assuming that he stopped eating for a reason other than getting bored with crickets. Maybe it's the temperature and humidity, I accidentally made a mistake I'm never making again, I forgot to mist his tank (he lives in a basic 10 gallon with a screen lid.) and he shriveled up a bit and looked a lot smaller so I put him in his water dish and he swelled back up like a sponge. Could it be some left over low metabolism from that? He's eaten a few crickets since then so I have my doubts. His tank is pretty much at a constant 60 degrees, I don't use heat lamps since they hurt his eyes and dry out the tank but I do have an under tank heating pad that helps keep him warm. Lower temperatures don't usually seem to bother him but he's been acting a little more lethargic than usual and is hanging around the cooler side of the tank. You almost never see him because he buries himself on the cool side. Could it be the changing weather? This is Wisconsin and it's been fairly cold in my room during the winter, is he adjusting now that the weather is gradually warming up and it's becoming more naturally humid in his tank? One thing that I think I should mention is that due to his burrowing habits I have been forced, for the last several months, to dig him up, wash him off in his water dish and put him and his dish into a small, substrate filled bucket where I release some crickets. He usually eats all of them when I do that but for the past 2 weeks I've been trying something different and have been just digging him up and putting him in his bowl inside the tank and releasing the crickets in order to teach him to stay above ground for feeding. Is he just used to the bucket? Should I go back to it? I'm getting really worried, the last time I can confirm he ate was more than a week ago. Thank you so much, I'm sorry it was long. I gladly appreciate any answers. Have a great one!

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  3. #2
    Super Moderator Heatheranne's Avatar
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    Default My young pacman isn't eating.

    Hello and welcome!

    Warm the little guy up .
    Ceratophrys species need daytime temps of 80-82'F. Lower temps will decrease their metabolism and thereby decrease their appetite.

    Heat pads on the floor of the tanks can cause burns. Move his heat pad to a side wall. Be careful when removing pad as to not bend the wires inside. You could use two heat pads and create a warm corner.

    Try adding a 50watt red or black night bulb to one side of the tank.

    Keep his water bowl on the cooler side of the tank in case he wants to cool down.

    Mist his tank well 2x/day. The coconut fiber should always be moist. Not muddy, but nice and moist.

    If you can't keep the humidity in the tank up around 75-80%, try adding foil to the screen top.

    I soak my pacs twice a week no matter what.

    As for calcium...
    The powdered calcium supplements will not dissolve in water. They are insoluble. Unfortunately calcium carbonate is not absorbable through their skin. The flukers liquid calcium replacement might help some, but absorption is not optimal and it does not have vitamin D3, which is needed. The oral powder is the best choice.

    Hopefully he'll get hungry enough to eat them once he's warmed up .

    If he doesn't start eating after you get his tank warmer, please let us know.
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    Default Re: My young pacman isn't eating.

    Thanks so much Heatheranne! I'll use the night light during the day for him. I'll be sure to mention if his loss of appetite continues. I'll start tonight, he's in his bucket with 3 large crickets as we speak. Maybe he'll eat them. Thanks again!

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    Default Re: My young pacman isn't eating.

    Any luck?
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