packman hibernating in its first year?!

[hanhaoran]

hi everyone,

our packman mona was bought as a baby in late april and this is her first winter.

we live in beijing and it gets quite cold, even inside the apartment, so we set up a heating lamp on top of mona's tank which keeps the temp up, still, after redoing mona's tank and giving her more substrate (since she has grow a lot bigger) she dug in pretty deep right away, and is now completely covered by the substrate.

unlike before she is not coming out (not even at night) and she also stopped eating. she's been 'under ground' for more than a week now, (she moved to a different spot after one day in the first hole) and now when i take a look she seems fine, but sleeping. The soil is starting to dry out now, so i am not sure if i should leave her there, remove the lamp (room temp around 17 to 20 degrees) and stop watering the substrate.

I read before that pacmans wouldn't hibernate in their first year, but despite the temperature and availability of food, mona seems to be doing exactly that.

this is our first packman, so we are not quite sure what to do.

your ideas and suggestions are very much appreciated!

thanks

[Spedly4life]

Pacmans do hibernate, but only if the conditions are perfect. your temps are low, but i dont know if they are low enough to trigger hibernation. when you see her does she have a thick outer skin, this is a surefire way of telling. Also id recommend getting a under tank heater because heat lamps can dry out your tank. If your humidity isnt high enough, your frog may be to dry and trying to bury itself to moist. id also look at the care sheets, they are just full of infromation that will be very helpful.

[GrifTheGreat]

The temps are too low but not low enough. He/she may become sick. You need to keep humidity up and the temps. Do not let the substrate dry out and when they arwe less than a year old they can die prematurly if you allow him/her to try and hibernate. Keep the temps up try and use a space heater in the room where your frog is to help keep it warm. How long has it been since your Pac ate last? Inexperianced owners should not allow there frog to hibernate without researching very heavily on the process. To try and bring him/her out of it you should soak him/her in luke warm de-chlorinated water with 2 to 3 drops of honey disolved in the water. Soak the frog for 5 to 10 minutes. You need to maintain temps of 26 to 27 degrees Celcius during the day and 23 to 25 degrees at night. Keep the humidity at 75 to 80%. You don't want to let your frog hibernate the first year. They need to be atleast a full year old before you even think about that. Keep us posted.

[GrifTheGreat]

What size is your frogs tank? Do you have a heat pad on the side of the tank? If not get one now.