Not eating, skin thinning

[GrifTheGreat]

Thank you all very much for your help! I have been using water conditionners including Stress coat. I brought in my aquarium test kit this morning and tested the water. There is no chlorine or chloramides, nor ammonia, the pH is neutral, the one thing I did test for is copper and there's about .25-.5ppm in the water. Would this be a problem? How do I get rid of it if it is? He's about a year old, he's in a 15 gallon tank with a 50 watt bulb on one side that I can dim. Since he's not been looking good I've put a dark, damp cloth on one side of his tank so he feels more secure. I think I jumped to conclusions with the feeding days, I put crickets in the tank and will often find one or two dead bodies when 6-10 where put in so he must be eating. I used to feed him meal worms and he's stopped eating those. How often do you feed your frogs? I was doing 2-3 meal worms, twice a week and then started with the crickets.

Thank you very much for the responses. I should also mention he's a class pet but is never handled, I also have a white's tree frog who is eating and acting fine and lives in similar conditions to the pacman frog (not the same tank obviously).

Pacmans need temps of 80 to 85 degrees during the day and 75 to 79 at night. They must be fed at night because they are nocturnal. Also can be stressed very easily by loud children/noise/etc. Humidity levels must be kept at 70 to 80% at all times. The substrate needs to be moist or heavily damp not muddy. He needs to be fed crickets or earth worms as a staple food. Meal worms can cause impaction(severe constipation) if fed too often. They should only be given as atreat once a week if that. Also if its a young frog it needs food daily to every other day. A Pacman frog is not a good classroom pet. The noise and not to mention that I'm assuming that you teach during the day wjen Pacmans sleep not at night makes it difficult to keep an eye on him. Being tropical frogs they need a consistent climate and day night cycle of 12 hours day 12 hours night. Water must be changed everyday no excptions. Substrate must be changed no less than once a month. Also between. Changes once a week you need to toss the soil(mix it up and mist it) to reduce the chance of fungal growth and keep the frog fom sitting in his own urine which will make them sick. There is a lot of responcibility with Pacmans that most people don't realize until they have one and an issue like this one occurs.

If there is no one there to keep humidity up by misting and feed him properly he will die. Humidity helps with their bodily functions and prevents dehydration. Feeding him proper food and being sure to dust it with a multivitamin once a week and with a calcium supplement every other feeding is key to keeping him healthy. Also be sure to use a calcium supplement that contains vitamin D3 so he can metabolize the calcium for use in the body without losing most of it.

About the copper which as you know is a heavy metal and can build up in our systems as well as the frogs can be reducedd with a different water treatment. There are other de-chlorinating products that also remove heavy metals. Use Tetrafauna Aqua Safe for reptiles and amphibians. It removes chlorine/chlorimines/and heavy metals. Switching to this conditioner should help a lot.

Keep us posted on his condition and ask any questions you need answering.

[MsLockwood]

Thank you, he seems to be doing better today, I put chickets in with multivitamin powder and he's been moving around. I really appreciate all your help and suggestions. I'm taking him home for the weekend until he's better but possibly indefinitely. I should have thought of the nocturnal part and feel dumb that I didn't.

[GrifTheGreat]

Thank you, he seems to be doing better today, I put chickets in with multivitamin powder and he's been moving around. I really appreciate all your help and suggestions. I'm taking him home for the weekend until he's better but possibly indefinitely. I should have thought of the nocturnal part and feel dumb that I didn't.

Its an easy mistake. A lot of people think that because they saw someone on Youtube feed their Pacman during the day that its ok when it really is not. Also pet stores lable them as a beginner pet when they actually require more care than that. The frog may cost 15 bucks, but after buying everything the frog needs you're up to $250 to $275 or more depending on how you have their setup. Everything needs to be kept perfect and scheduled on climate and housing. Not too many fluctuations or they can become stressed or ill. Only handle them when necissary and before you do always wash your hands thoroughly with hot water and a very mild cleanser. Nothing with strong odors. Then rinse well dry your hands completley then rerinse with de-chlorinated water and leave your hands wet. This way you don't harm their very sensitive skin.

Poop must be cleaned out weekly right as soon as you see it. Hopefully once you get him home hell purk right up and be back to normal.

Still keep us posted. We like to know how everyones frogs are doing and we love pictures so as soon as you can put some on the forum

[MsLockwood]

I can't figure out of to post pictures but will as soon as I do.

[GrifTheGreat]

I can't figure out of to post pictures but will as soon as I do.

You can upload them to albums in your profile or upload them into a thread by selecting (Go Advanced) then scroll down to (Manage Attachments). You should be able to upload them in these two ways.

[GrifTheGreat]

Good luck with the little guy and you're welcome. Forgot to say that and felt rude. :P