Somethigns not quite right

[morgan2341]

1. Size of enclosure 20 Gallon
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences 1 Pacman frog, young about 2.5 inches
3. Humidity 70-80%
4. Temperature I have a warm side and cool side, the cool side is 72 and the warm is 78-80
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish I buy purified water from the store
6. Materials used for substrate Coconut fiber
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials. One plant to hide under and a small log to hide under, very minimal
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv.
8. Main food source He was a rescue and they were feeding him crickets, we switched him to night crawlers, but lately have tried to entice him with roaches
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often) Vitamin dust once a week and calcium once every 2-3 feedings
10. Lighting I was not able to maintain a higher temp on the warm side with just a UTH on the side so he has an overhead red bulb, just for heat
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure, see above
12. When is the last time he/she ate 7 days ago, 1 night crawler
13. Have you found poop lately No, last poop was 4 days ago, when cleaning out the enclosure
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)
15. How old is the frog young, but really no clue
16. How long have you owned him/her 2 weeks
17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred captive bred
18. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats see above
19. How often the frog is handled, only once since we got him and that was to clean his enclosure
20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area low traffic area
21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc) We have only had him 2 weeks but we clean and change his wading pool every day and since having him we have only cleaning the top layer of his substrate to remove the poop. We have not done a total cage clean yet. But poop is cleaned when we see it.

Ok so here is his behavior, he was doing really well when we first got him, I posted on here and followed the advice I received. All of a sudden 5 days ago he just stopped eating, and I know they can stop eating for a period but, then he became lethargic, I know they are lazy but he would not even burrow himself into the coconut fiber, he just sat on top. I mist the cage 3 times a day now because of the 50 watt infrared basking light we use to keep the heat up. But yesterday I helped him burrow in so that he would not dry out. I am a lizard mommy but my husband wanted a Pacman for Christmas so I did the reading and took him off a family who didnt want him because he bites!!?? If they would have done the reading they would have seen that they bite and they dont like to be handled. Is there anything else I can do that Im not doing??

[MatthewM1]

Cover 3 out of the 4 side of the tank with something they can't see through(aquarium background, realistic cork background, cardboard). But also I believe your day temps are a couple degrees under the ideal, most shoot for 82-83 during the day. Insulating the tank with some Styrofoam or thick cardboard should help you get it just a tad warmed

[Heatheranne]

Hi Morgan,

I have a few suggestions for you.

Switch your water to either spring water or dechlorinated tap water. I think purified water has chlorine in it. I would replace your substrate with new substrate moistened with either or spring or dechlorinated tap water just to be safe.

Try and get his warm side of his tank up to a steady 80 to 82 degrees. The warmth stimulates their appetite. You can try adding another UTH heater the the right side wall. I put both of mine near a corner and create a warm corner. Mine love it there.

Use the calcium with vita D 3 every other day or every other feeding.

I would temporarily give him crickets if he prefers them and then try and sneak in the night crawlers in between, since he likes crickets.

His house looks nice. It's a bit big for a baby, but he has nice hiding places and I'm glad you covered the sides and back. Could try a darker covering if he continues to not eat.

I think if you warm it up a bit he'll get hungry . He may also just be adjusting. How well did he eat for you when you brought him home?

[morgan2341]

He ate really well when we brought him home and has been slowly declining. I will add the cricket back in.
Also with the water I dont use my tap water that is filtered because it is so hard it leaves white residue all over the sides. I will buy spring water and change it today.
As for the heat, the infrared bulb is ok, just add another UTH on the warm side? And I will switch to black background if he dosent improve. Thanks so much for the advice!!

[Heatheranne]

Calcium deposits can be quite unsightly. Understandable. Yep, just place the UTH on the right side near the back corner. The infared bulb is fine. It should be a 50 watt bulb or less. You're welcome .

Grif (Grifthegreat) will likely have some more great ideas for you and I'm sure will be here soon to help .

[GrifTheGreat]

Its the bottled water. Purified water still contains small amounts of chlorine which is poison to the frog. Did you also use this purified water to moisten the substrate? If so then you will have to change the substrate and clean the enclosure.

Switch to either Spring water or De-chlorinated tap water. If you plan to use de-chlorinated tap water you will need to buy a de-chlorinating agent like Repti-Safe or Prime. There are many others. Follow the instruction on how to treat the water. You can use distilled water for misting and it will not leave spots on the glass, but you can only use distilled for misting or humidifyers/foggers not for the substrate or water dish.

Go out and buys some Unflavored Pedialyte and a bottle of honey. Prepare a bath at a 10 to 1 ratio so for every 10 ounces of luke warm de-chlorinated tap water add 1 ounce Unflavored Pedialyte. The bath should be no deeper than up to the frog's chin. I want you to also dissolve 3 drops of honey in this bath. Soak the frog for 15 to 20 minutes or until the bath cools. As the bath cools prepare a second luke warm bath of just de-chlorinated tap water and soak the frog again until the water cools. Then place the frog back home. This soak should provide an energy boost and help flush some of the chlorine out.

Try these suggestions and keep us posted.

[morgan2341]

Im heading out right now to get the stuff, I will keep you posted. Thank you so much!!

[Heatheranne]

Thanks Grif .

[morgan2341]

Ok I went out and got the spring water and did all the necessary steps to help him. He perked up pretty quickly and was jumping around in his bath. I cleaned his enclosure completely and put in new stuff soaked in spring water. He burrowed in pretty quickly which I was pretty happy to see since just the day before he just stayed on top. Should I repeat this procedure if say he dosent seem hungry in a day or so?
Thanks again everybody for all the great advice!

[GrifTheGreat]

Ok I went out and got the spring water and did all the necessary steps to help him. He perked up pretty quickly and was jumping around in his bath. I cleaned his enclosure completely and put in new stuff soaked in spring water. He burrowed in pretty quickly which I was pretty happy to see since just the day before he just stayed on top. Should I repeat this procedure if say he dosent seem hungry in a day or so?
Thanks again everybody for all the great advice!

You can repeat as necessary, but you want to keep stress levels low. Tonight just uncover his head so he can see then offer food.

[morgan2341]

So it has been 2 days since the treatment, and still no interest in food, after work I am going to buy him some crickets to put in his cage and hope they wander by, maybe that will spark some interest. Is there anything else or should we play the wait and see game?

[GrifTheGreat]

So it has been 2 days since the treatment, and still no interest in food, after work I am going to buy him some crickets to put in his cage and hope they wander by, maybe that will spark some interest. Is there anything else or should we play the wait and see game?

Repeat the baths.

[Heatheranne]

You did well in helping him. Sometimes ailments are beyond our abilities. Know you did your best and remember he would thank you if he could. Hugs!

[trkyhntr]

sorry for your loss

[Lija]

so sorry for your loss, not long ago i also lost one of my rescue pacs, it still hurts

you tried, you did all you could and as Heather said, Thor would thank you if you could, however there is just so much that we can do to help, but while doing so you were getting loads of information and experience that will help many more frogs in the future, so his death was not for nothing

Rest in peace Thor

[morgan2341]

Thanks everybody, we still kinda cant believe and came home from store and ran to his aquarium before we remembered. But yes it was super sad we learned a lot from him and will take this and use it on our next pacman frog!!