My first pacman frog rescue

[Rumbler]

Hello all this is my first frog of any kind. I keep ball pythons and geckos and other reptiles though.
There has been a pacman frog at the pet shop where I get my rats from, and I have always thought they were really cool. They have had it in an enclosure with moss for a couple weeks. But for the last week now, it has just been in one of those plastic critter keeper totes with some water in it. Nothing else, just water. So I asked what the deal was, and they said the moss it was in had dried up and got like cemented to his skin and when they peeled it off he bled a little and all kinds of horribleness so I instantly bought him and went home to set up a spare 10 gal I have. Well he/she is in there now and doing good so far my questions are what kind of pacman? And can you tell if its a male or female? And also, it was labeled strawberry pacman at the shop, but I see red eyes I think? So what morph does he/she look like to you guys? Thanks for any help






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Heatheranne]

Awe, what a cutie. It looks to be a strawberry or apricot albino, and a cute one at that . Nice save. He looks to be a bit thin. Has he eaten for you? I hope. There is a great care sheet in the care articles tab at the top of the home page. Read through and ask any questions.

He/she should be housed on eco earth / coco fiber (not husk), no moss, can use moist paper towels. They love to burrow, so the coco fiber is nice.

Be sure to dechlorinated all tap water for his water bowl and misting.

You'll need hygrometer and temp gauges. 80% humidity and 80-82'F during the day.

His food should be no larger than the distance between his eyes. Safe foods: crickets, cut earth worms, very small dubia roaches. Never meal worms. Wax worms are fatty and bad for them, but can be given as a rare treat. Pick up some reptile/amphibian calcium with vitamin D3 powder and some multivitamin powder. Dust his food once a week with the mvi and every other day with the calc/vit D3. Do not use the mvi on the same day as the calcium, it limits absorption of the calcium. If he has any twitching, dust with the calc/D3 daily until resolved, and then resume the every other day schedule. Without the calcium and vits he will develop Metabolic Bone Disease, which is deadly. Easy to prevent.

Use a small baggie or cup and put in a small pinch of the powder and give a gentle shake, like the shake-and-bake method .

Tong feeding - it's a great time to start teaching your baby to tong feed . Scroll through the pacman section for the Tong Feeding videos by Ivoryreptiles. They are also on YouTube. I recommend only following their videos, some other videos on there are not necessarily proper and some tease the frogs, which I would avoid.

Congrats on your first pacman frog . He/she's a beauty and one of my favorite colorations .

[Rumbler]

Awesome. Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it. I woke up this morning and he burrowed himself in the ecoearth I am gonna try giving him some crickets in a little bit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Heatheranne]

Awe . I hope He eats for you tonight.

[Rumbler]

Unfortunately I put some crickets in and he showed no interest. How long should I leave the crickets in his tank? I dont want him to get irritated or stressed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rumbler]

And also, do albino pacman a have sensitive eyes? I have a 40watt bulb over his enclosure and I just checked him after it had been on for about an hour and he had like a film up over his eyes and they were like down inside his head? So I quick turned the light off and he popped his eyes back up and lowered the film.
Is there a certain type of light source I should be using if this is the case?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GrifTheGreat]

And also, do albino pacman a have sensitive eyes? I have a 40watt bulb over his enclosure and I just checked him after it had been on for about an hour and he had like a film up over his eyes and they were like down inside his head? So I quick turned the light off and he popped his eyes back up and lowered the film.
Is there a certain type of light source I should be using if this is the case?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes Albinos have sensitive eyes and skin. Don't use bright lights or any daylight, basking, or UVB bulbs. Only infrared.

Don't worry about him not eating yet. Probably still adjusting to the new surroundings. Keep offering food and be sure to dust with a reptile/amphibian multivitamin once a week and with a reptile/amphibian calcium powder with Vitamin D3 every other feeding to every 2 feedings. Offer food daily. They are nocturnal so you should offer food at night. Remove any uneaten crickets the following morning.

Keep day time temps at 80° to 82° like Heather said and night time temps 76° to 79°.

[Herpguy]

A word to the wise. "Rescuing" a reptile from horrible petstore conditions is not helping the problem, it actually only makes it worse. Now that store sees that they can treat their animals like **** and still sell them.

[Heatheranne]

A word to the wise. "Rescuing" a reptile from horrible petstore conditions is not helping the problem, it actually only makes it worse. Now that store sees that they can treat their animals like **** and still sell them.

It is a shame that we see this over and over. I wish we could just teach the stores to care for them better.

[Rumbler]

A word to the wise. "Rescuing" a reptile from horrible petstore conditions is not helping the problem, it actually only makes it worse. Now that store sees that they can treat their animals like **** and still sell them.

No, actually I know the owner. This was the first time he has ever had pacmans in there. He mainly sells reptiles. After what happened with this albino guy, he has no urge to sell pacmans or any other amphibian as far as I can tell. He is one of the few "pet stores" I can honestly say that takes great care of what he sells. He breeds his own bp, boas, beardies and other reptiles and basically only sells animals he knows how to properly take care of.
And if I had just left it there to die like you suggested, that would have been better? The animal dies for the cause?? I don't think so, I love animals too much... and if he had planned on selling more pacmans after this he would have lost my buisiness.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rumbler]

And for the record, I don't mean to get defensive and testy about it, I apologize. but I just couldn't imagine leaving him there like that. I understand what you are saying though and most pet stores like what you are describing are horrible and that's why I only bring my business to this specific guy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rumbler]

And heather I really appreciate all the help and advise you have given me. I just want him to live a happy healthy life now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Heatheranne]

And heather I really appreciate all the help and advise you have given me. I just want him to live a happy healthy life now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You're welcome. It's his lucky day, either way you look at it. Chain stores are bad news...it is what it is. Now your baby has a caring home .

[Rumbler]

Yes I agree I wouldnt even buy a goldfish from a chain store...but yeah I hope he's happy and grows up big and strong I think it's gonna be pretty cool to have an amphibian a beautiful as him that will eat a mouse once a month or so.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Heatheranne]

He's going to be really pretty. Really nice markings .

[Herpguy]

Well I'm glad the owner learned that frogs were not his forte. As for in a regular situation, it is a horrible truth that leaving the frog is the best option in the grand scope, because then the store would simply order another frog and treat it the same way, not learning a lesson.

[GrifTheGreat]

Well I'm glad the owner learned that frogs were not his forte. As for in a regular situation, it is a horrible truth that leaving the frog is the best option in the grand scope, because then the store would simply order another frog and treat it the same way, not learning a lesson.

I have a habit of grabbing the manager, showing him/her the poor conditions the frog is in, and then commencing to tearing him/her a new one.

Verbably of course.

[Heatheranne]

I have a habit of grabbing the manager, showing him/her the poor conditions the frog is in, and then commencing to tearing him/her a new one.

Verbably of course.

Lol! Mhmm!

[Lija]

And for the record, I don't mean to get defensive and testy about it, I apologize. but I just couldn't imagine leaving him there like that. I understand what you are saying though and most pet stores like what you are describing are horrible and that's why I only bring my business to this specific guy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would have done exactly same thing! and actually i did a few times, one of those times i took pictures on how it was kept and reported it to spca. It wasn't a frog though and it didn't make it, but i tried. You did a right thing and I'm so happy that there are people like you who care.

if you know the owner have you tried to explain husbandry? just in case he would have another frog for sale.

You got an excellent advice already, your frog will be fine, i would however keep an eye on possible infection if his skin was damaged and bleeding when the guy was trying to peel the moss off him. I would also do a pedyalite bath for him and reptiaid to help with minerals that he is probably lacking due to improper care.
on the other note, he is totally gorgeous, little skinny, but with proper care he should be round and happy pretty fast!

[Lija]

I have a habit of grabbing the manager, showing him/her the poor conditions the frog is in, and then commencing to tearing him/her a new one.

Verbably of course.

lol just wondering if the owners/managers try to disappear when you walk into the store? I mean they should know you guys by now
lately i noticed that it is happening to me i wonder why lol