My first Pacman frog...

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I bought an albino C. ornata about a week ago. He appeared healthy and active with nothing about him that would cause me alarm. He was on coir, had a small water dish, and tryed to escape when he was being collected and packaged for sale. He pooped on his way home and it appeared like normal frog poop (we have lots of frogs and toads locally that leave poop outside). I have him in a 10g tank with about 3 inches of moist coir, a small water dish, some fake plants, and three sides of his tank covered with awesome pics from old Nat Geo mags. His first night with me he ate 3 medium B. dubia (roach) that I culture for my Lasiodora parahybana (tarantula). Since then I hadn't scene him for a few days and his tank looked like there was no activity. I found him at the very bottom of the substrate hybernating. I plopped him in his water dish and about 5 mins later he was sloughing off his cover and ate it. Since then Ive added more treated water to the coir (too dry) and he hasn't burrowed deep, but instead is hanging out just below the surface with the top of his head poking out. He is in my herp room with ambient temp of approx 78f.

Everything I have read tells me to feed the baby frog, he is about the size of a half dollar, every other day. Since his first feeding and short hybernation he has refused to eat. I dust the B. dubia with vitamin and calcium as instructed on the jars and tong feed but he won't take the roaches. I will continue to offer him food every day but I am curious how long of a hunger strike he can have before I should worry. 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month ect??? This is my first pacman and my first amphibian. I really wanna make sure he is as healthy as I can keep him in captivity. I don't want to be discuraged from further caring for amphibians due to a bad first experience. I've read most care sheets I could find and ordered 2 books on horned frogs and finished reading one e-book i got the other night. Thanks in advance for your advice.
I like frogs

[riles]

Well, congrats on your first pacman frog! I just rescued mine from a Petsmart about 2 months ago, so I might not be the best of help, but mine wouldnt eat for the first 2 weeks. I think it was because of impaction though. He had rainbow pebbles in his stomach from when he was in Petsmart. But one day I found some blue and pink pebbles in his bath. Thinking his belly was now empty I tried feeding him and he ate within the second I dropped the cricket in. So basically, after my story time, I would say he can go on hunger strike as long as something is in his stomach, which can be for up to a month. Good luck to you and your frog!

[IvoryReptiles]

Hello & Welcome to the forum!
There could be a few factors......it may be that he is intimidated by the large enclosure. It may simply be re-location stress. As for the burrowing, that is normal, they are ambush predators and this is how they prepare in case food comes along. Have you tried feeding earthworms/nightcrawlers? Cut appropriate sized bits off the worm and try tong feeding.
Pictures of the frog & enclosure would help us give some advice.

[lumpbump]

Hello & Welcome to the forum!
There could be a few factors......it may be that he is intimidated by the large enclosure. It may simply be re-location stress. As for the burrowing, that is normal, they are ambush predators and this is how they prepare in case food comes along. Have you tried feeding earthworms/nightcrawlers? Cut appropriate sized bits off the worm and try tong feeding.
Pictures of the frog & enclosure would help us give some advice.

No I have not fed worms. I have seen your tong feeding 102 video. I dangle the roach like you do the worm bits for up two to three minutes and wiggle it too. Here's some pics .

[JIvoryII]

welcome to the phib world.. nice C. cranwell you have.. at silver dollar size he may take a bit to get to tong feed..

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welcome to the phib world.. nice C. cranwell you have.. at silver dollar size he may take a bit to get to tong feed..

Thanks. He was labeled as C. Ornate but if you say he's C. Cranwelli then it must be! How can the novice tell the difference?

[JIvoryII]

petsmart or petco I assume, only C cranwelli have albino morphs as of current, C ornata have false eye spots right behind the eyes and the others dont.. an albino C ornata would be worth well a whole lot of money and I dont see a breeder letting one slip out when it does happen...

[GrifTheGreat]

petsmart or petco I assume, only C cranwelli have albino morphs as of current, C ornata have false eye spots right behind the eyes and the others dont.. an albino C ornata would be worth well a whole lot of money and I dont see a breeder letting one slip out when it does happen...

Yep!! I'd say that an Albino Ornata would be worth a few thousand dollars.

[lumpbump]

Well im happy to say that early this morning around midnight or so I found my lil green buddy out an about and I figure maybe I should try and feed him. Dusted one medium sized dubia roach nymph and dangled it Brian's face (hahaha brian got his name after the bird in disneys Up) but no feeding response so I plopped it down on the ground and watched as the roach uprighted himself and ran away. Brian gave chase but the roach was too fast. This went on for about an hour or so then I was about to give up and decided to flick the lil roach towards Brian and gulp! He got it. One bite, one swallow later, im happy.

[GrifTheGreat]

Well im happy to say that early this morning around midnight or so I found my lil green buddy out an about and I figure maybe I should try and feed him. Dusted one medium sized dubia roach nymph and dangled it Brian's face (hahaha brian got his name after the bird in disneys Up) but no feeding response so I plopped it down on the ground and watched as the roach uprighted himself and ran away. Brian gave chase but the roach was too fast. This went on for about an hour or so then I was about to give up and decided to flick the lil roach towards Brian and gulp! He got it. One bite, one swallow later, im happy.

This is one of the main reasons we recommend that babies be kept in a smaller enclosure- the larger the space, the harder it is for them to catch their food. Your frog is going through a vital growth stage and it is very important that he get as much nutrition as possible. Keep trying to tong feed. I find it helpful with picky eaters to offer food from the tongs first; if they won't take it then I'll drop it right in front of them. Eventually, they make the connection that tongs bring food and it's easier for them to just take the food directly from the tongs. They are mostly inactive by nature so the less they have to do to get their dinner, the happier they usually are! :-D Keep offering food every night. He may not eat every night, but at least offer food. And definitely try nightcrawlers. Most pacs Love them! Keep us posted.