Questions about crickets and dusting them with calcium

[Ebenezer Frothingham]

I have a new Pacman- i assume female, as it never makes a sound. She has a good appetite, and ate all the crickets I fed her, plus a couple earthworms-

I have a couple questions-I bought a container of 'Flucker's Calcium ' powder, and was told to dust the crickets so my frog (named Frog) will get calcium. i don't want him to Od- how much calcium dust do I use? The guy at Petco told me the powder can kill crickets after a short time, so make sure my frog eats them right away- but my frog won't eat crickets from the forceps-If the calcium dust can kill the crickets- can't it do the same to my frog? She'll only eat the crickets that wander by, and seldom right away. Also, as a young frog, should I be feeding her every day? Ive been told 15 crickets a week minimum. She likes the big crickets, and hasnt touched most of the small ones.

[LilyPad]

You will not hear any noises from a male either until they are a little more grown up (not sure of the age, someone else should know) Because she is still a baby, I would dust daily and feed daily. As she gets older, you can start dusting a couple times a week. You could try bowl feeding. You can put the crickets in a clear glass bowl and put it near her, that should get her interest.

[IvoryReptiles]

Dust the crickets every other day. Only offer a few at a time until they have been eaten (3 at a time). Offer food daily.
I would need to see the frog to judge the age at all but Amy is correct in that males won't start calling until they are a little more mature and the nuptual pad is showing.

If you soak the frog while cleaning the enclosure, try spraying a squirt of liquid calcium into it's soaking water. Frogs absorb through the skin and it's sometimes easier than trying to get them to eat a powdery cricket.Just be sure that if you use this method to use it at a very light spray.....too much calcium can be just as detrimental as not enough.

Also, change things up by offering appropriate sized chinks of earthworm/ night crawler as well. Variety in diet keeps them active & healthy! Just make sure your source of worms is a good one. Petco, Petsmart & Academy Sports stores carry them (NO worms with dye injections please!!!!!).

[Ebenezer Frothingham]

Dust the crickets every other day. Only offer a few at a time until they have been eaten (3 at a time). Offer food daily.
I would need to see the frog to judge the age at all but Amy is correct in that males won't start calling until they are a little more mature and the nuptual pad is showing.

If you soak the frog while cleaning the enclosure, try spraying a squirt of liquid calcium into it's soaking water. Frogs absorb through the skin and it's sometimes easier than trying to get them to eat a powdery cricket.Just be sure that if you use this method to use it at a very light spray.....too much calcium can be just as detrimental as not enough.

Also, change things up by offering appropriate sized chinks of earthworm/ night crawler as well. Variety in diet keeps them active & healthy! Just make sure your source of worms is a good one. Petco, Petsmart & Academy Sports stores carry them (NO worms with dye injections please!!!!!).

Here is a picture I snapped of my frog named Frogg.- i put a quarter next to him to give an idea of size- i just misted her/him, so the flash relects a bit off his/her back. My camera batteries just died, so next time I'll put up a better in focus image.

[Ebenezer Frothingham]

Here are a couple pictures I snapped of my Pacman 4 days ago- He's grown a bit since then:

[Ebenezer Frothingham]

I wish i could figure out the gender...He/she seems to have gotten used to their new home, but is not comfortable enough to eat bugs/worms from tweezers or forceps.

When feeding my frog worms, should the entire worm be covered with the calcium powder (ditto with crickets), or should I just dash one area with powder? I do not want to poison my frog..I'll look into that liquid calcium. Thanks for the advice on chopping up worms- i was feeding my frog whole worms, and he/she did get them down

My frog has a total aversion to being touched- he/she will immediatly jump if touched- so i haven't picked him up. It would be nice though if he/she could be trained to be hand fed (via forceps/plastic tweezers of course)

[GrifTheGreat]

Make sure to keep your frogs substrate moist but not mud. You don't want it to be water logged. There should never be standing water beneath the substrate. Also be sure to give the little guy/girl a tempreture gradient so it can decide whether it wants to be cool or warm.

[IvoryReptiles]

Your frogs are still young. let them at least double in size and then look for Nuptual pads on the thumbs.

First pic is a female's thumbs.....no pads



And here is a male's thumbs with Nuptual Pads



Hope that helps!

[GrifTheGreat]

Your frogs are still young. let them at least double in size and then look for Nuptual pads on the thumbs.

First pic is a female's thumbs.....no pads



And here is a male's thumbs with Nuptual Pads



Hope that helps!

So that dark spot on the thumb is the pad?