Some questions about food for my pacman.

[Camden]

You may or may not have seen me before, but if you have, you probably have heard me moan about my frog not eating!
WELP. I THINK he may have ate. I dusted some crickets with some calcium and just tossed them in there, and he got out of his bedding on his own, and when I stood up I saw him standing beside his water dish.
Now that I know he's eating, I have some questions.
Baby pinkies/Fuzzy/Hopper mice. If I buy just one for my pacman frog, will it do okay? Or is it absolutely essential for live baby/juvi mice to have mothers with them?
I would really like to try the live mice because he didnt eat the dead ones.
But now that I know that HE EATS AT NIGHT TIME. Could I just throw a dead mouse in there and leave it over night? Or would it go bad and rot?

Thank you!!

[gundam009283]

he wouldnt be able to see it. they track motion but leave alone the not moving one. if you gonna leave it over night leave the live one. once he settle in and start eating more regularly you can prob try feeding him with tongs, so the dead/frozen one wouldnt be a problem.

[Sublime]

Sift through the dirt and check behind the water bowl or plants to make sure the crickets didn't burrow or are hiding. If he ate them, then that's good. How long has it been before you got him to eat. Only if he didn't start eating after a couple weeks would a mouse be applicable.

For feeding a mouse, it depends on how large your pacman is. Mouse rule: Half the size of your pacmans svl length (snout-to-vent). You're not going to be able to keep baby mice (Pinkies and fuzzies) unless you have a setup for them and a mother for them to nurse from. If you choose to buy a live mouse, you need to feed it the day you buy it right out of the bag.

I opt to feed my frog with a frozen thawed out mouse; cheaper and holds nutrients without having to worry about a mouse like a hopper or bigger to bite your pacman. Fuzzies or pinkies you won't have to worry about them biting your pacman though. Don't throw a dead mouse in with your pacman; it won't provoke any feeding response out of him. They like something moving or right in front of their face.

For thawing out mice I like to use this method: Take frozen mouse out of freezer, put in a sandwich bag sealed, fill bowl with lukewarm water, put the sandwich bag with the mouse into the bowl with a spoon to hold it down for thawing out, let it thaw for 1-2 hours, empty bowl and fill it with warm water, and let the mouse soak in that for 15-20 minutes to warm the body up.

After that's all done; get some reptile tongs and dangle the mouse in front of the pacmans face or rub it up against his mouth slightly. That should get him to grab onto it and watch him do the rest. Some people prefer to feed live, but frozen/thawed is a lot better in my opinion.

[Camden]

Mark-I got him nearly 2 weeks ago, and he just ate the crickets tonight. I've tried feeding him the dead/frozen fuzzies, held him infront of him, made sure he had the scent, but he just wouldnt take it. I put 4 crickets in the tank, I only saw one in the tank, he is now in his water dish.
I might try the frozen ones later on, but even just few days ago, I tried a frozen one, and there was no response.

[Sublime]

Oh ok; so he hasn't eaten for 2 weeks until now, correct? Get some night crawlers or red wigglers and supplement those up to feed him. The crickets that you're feeding, dust all of them with calcium w/ D3. Do you have a multivitamin to use as well? If you get the worms, dust 1 or 2 of them with calcium w/ D3. Do this everyday and then taper back down to supplementing only every other day after a week. Use the multivitamin once a week dusting his food.

You can either try the advice given about the frozen-thawed mice, or try a live mouse no bigger than a fuzzy. If he's still not accepting mice, then hold off on feeding him one till he becomes more accustom to your feeding schedule. *Just make sure he's getting plenty of supplements and occasional vitamins dusted on his food - to get him back up and healthy since he hasn't eaten for a few weeks.

If he still wouldn't of eaten anything from you, I would say force feed a mouse to him... Since he did eat for you though, refer back to *.

[Camden]

I have some night crawlers I believe, and yes I dusted the crickets with calcium. and yes I have some multivitamin. I'll try this out, thanks mark.

[Sublime]

No problem, update us.

[GrifTheGreat]

he wouldnt be able to see it. they track motion but leave alone the not moving one. if you gonna leave it over night leave the live one. once he settle in and start eating more regularly you can prob try feeding him with tongs, so the dead/frozen one wouldnt be a problem.

Not true. They do track motion but also use smell. My baby Loki will eat wax worms that I lay in front of him/her even if they don't squirm. They will eat by just sight if they know its a food item that they are looking at.

[GrifTheGreat]

If you're positive that your frog ate for you then that is good. He/she may have just taken a little longer to adjust than most. If for any reason you believe that he/she hasn't eaten then you must act quickly and force feed. I feel like I push this method too much but them not eating is a matter of life or death in cases like this where the frog may have gone more than 14 days with out food or vitamines. Their health declines very rapidly in this case. Make certain that he/she ate. Watch him/her tonight when you feed. No bright lights as they may stress him/her. Also make sure the crickets are of appropriat size. If it comes down to force feeding and you need to know how just ask. We are here to help.

Keep us posted.