Big Pacman frog trouble

[phiblife]

Okay so I had done complete research about Pacman frogs for one week.
I went to get one with my brother yesterday. It's a beautiful albino pacman frog. It's still very young, a little bit bigger than a two dollar coin.
The pet shop people told me I didn't really need a heat source only room temperature. My brother told me the same thing. So I bought the frog and its in a 5.5 gallon tank FOR NOW. I bought a dozen crickets, a mixed calcium and D3 powder, a hiding spot, a little water bowl for him to be in and eco earth coconut fiber. It got all set up yesterday.
I gave him two crickets and I saw him eat one and I'm not sure about the other because it just dissapeared so guess he ate it. Then when it was still day he burrowed very deep as I gave him ALOT of substrate. He stayed there over night for over 12 hours. I dug him up and he was okay. Then I just had a bad feeling inside so I went to buy a heat pad, and humidity and heat gauge thing. It said the temperature was at 60 and the humidity at 50. I then installed a heat pad on the side and misted the tank. The heat went up to 70 and the humidity to 80. Then I put a cricket in and he ate it.
I then put him in a container with crickets to see if he'd eat them and he didnt so I picked up and he fell a few centimeters face first on a rock hiding spot. There was no damage visible but I still freaked out. Now I just left him in there with about 5 dusted crickets. He or she still hasn't made one noise or croak even when I mist him or pick him or her up. I'm probably just freaking out but I just don't have a good feeling and I'd love to hear what someone thinks.
He or she looks completely healthy but I don't know. I also keep picking him up and digging him out of his little burrows consistently out of paranoia and I feel like my stress to him is probably the biggest problem right now. Oh and the water is spring water and not tap.

[Gnag the nameless]

I'm not an expert on Pacmans, but I can offer you this much info:

A 5.5 gallon is sufficient for a young frog, but I'd get a 20 gallon for when he's an adult.

Plants (No moss) to hide by could relieve stress. Also, a jungle/forest/green wallpaper on the back and sides of the tank works magic in relieving stress in frogs. Coconut fiber is safe. Make sure the water in his bowl is no deeper than his neck, or else he could drown.

All that handling of the frog is definitely stressing him out. And most frogs take a while to settle in to their environment. Mine started croaking about 2 months into captivity, and didn't eat much in the first few days. Now, Gnag and Bumpy eat like little hogs.

I would not have put him into a different container to eat, and digging him up will stress him out badly.

The temperature was definitely too low. 80-85 Fahrenheit (27-30 Celsius) is good for daytime. A heat lamp may help in warming up his tank. You can buy 3 varieties at Mr. Pets or your local petstore. The Red heatlamps are the best, in my opinion.

Spring water works, but buy a water conditioner, specifically made for frogs and reptiles. You can get maybe 200 liters out of that for the same price as you'd buy a 10 liter jug of spring water. Trust me, I used to use spring water, but conditioned tap water is so much more efficient and so much cheaper.

Don't feed him anything bigger than the space between his eyes. Oh, and earthworms are good supplementary foods for Pacmans. Don't feed him mealworms, they are high in chitin and could cause impaction or prolapse.

As for his fall, keep a very close eye on him. I'm unsure what to do there.

I'm thinking your stressing him out too much. Leaving him alone for a while, except at feeding, may be the best option.


Hopefully Grif or someone with lots more experience with Pacmans will comment and give you their opinion. There's countless people here on the Frog Forum who keep Pacman frogs, literally all of the experts have.

[ninkyninja]

You only feed once a day. Leave him or her alone give it time to settle in. I would agree that your stress to him is the biggest problem. Your frog might be too young to croak just yet and you shouldnt mist it directly. And only handle your frog when you have too. Sounds to me tht you need to do more research

[Gnag the nameless]

Agreed, Ninja. Research is the key. Stress is almost undoubtedly the biggest problem.

And feeding young frogs on a daily basis is a good schedule.

[GrifTheGreat]

First off anyone who tells you that a tropical species of frog doesn't need a supplemental heat source obviously doesn't know what they are talking about.

Please post pictures of your frog's setup and tell me how many inches of substrate you gave the frog. You only need enough so that the frog can cover itself.

These frogs need 80° to 83°F during the day and 76° to 79°F at night, but hover around 78°F.

Get some pictures up.

[phiblife]

Thank you all for your advice, I really love every single one of my pets and usually my anxiety gets the best of me and I myself become the biggest problem when I start overthinking.I've never had a frog before only turtles and rodents. I left a few crickets with him/her and it's eaten another one. I left them there because I'm studying next to the tank right now and keeping an eye out. I won't leave them in there unsupervised because I know they can bite and harm my Pacman. I'm going to go buy a background for 3 sides soon I guess and possibly a ceramic heat emitter. I just didn't want a heat lamp seeing as how he is albino it may harm him. The temperature is at 78 F ( 26 C) right now. The humidity is also at 80 right now. There is about 5-7 inches of substrate on the far right side of the tank and 2-4 throughout the rest of it.

[emandkel]

I'd get a DIGITAL thermometer, they are much more accurate. As Grif said, you only need enough substrate for him/her to bury itself. They can and often will bury to the bottom.

5.5 gallons seems too big for a baby -- they can get stressed by being in too big of spaces. Usually a medium Kritter Keeper is what is recommended. You can buy an infrared heat lamp and that is fine for an albino, but keep a careful eye out on the humidity as that can dry out the substrate fast.

Actually 5.5 gallons is fine for adult pacman frogs, especially males. They do not move much. I house mine in tubs that are about the size of 5.5 gallon aquariums.

[GrifTheGreat]

Thank you all for your advice, I really love every single one of my pets and usually my anxiety gets the best of me and I myself become the biggest problem when I start overthinking.I've never had a frog before only turtles and rodents. I left a few crickets with him/her and it's eaten another one. I left them there because I'm studying next to the tank right now and keeping an eye out. I won't leave them in there unsupervised because I know they can bite and harm my Pacman. I'm going to go buy a background for 3 sides soon I guess and possibly a ceramic heat emitter. I just didn't want a heat lamp seeing as how he is albino it may harm him. The temperature is at 78 F ( 26 C) right now. The humidity is also at 80 right now. There is about 5-7 inches of substrate on the far right side of the tank and 2-4 throughout the rest of it.

If looks ok. You should go digital as Emandkel recommended and get a lid for that tank ASAP. You will also want to cover 3 sides with some dark construction paper or some static cling terrarium background go make the frog feel more secure. A smaller enclosure is preferrable, but this is not terrible.

You can buy a Fluker's 5.5" clamp lamp with dimmer switch and a 50 watt and under infrared heat bulb to assist with the temps as well. When uou get a lid just cover 3/4 of it with plastic wrap to hold heat and humidity in just make sure that yoj leave a space for the lamp so tbat it isn't sitting on the plastic wrap.

When offering food just uncover the frog's head so that it can see that there is food in there. Also break the hind legs off the crickets to make them easier to catch.

[DeeDub]

Gnag gave great advice for not being an expert.

I agree with almost everything that's been said.

Your LPS owner is an idiot. Keep temps at around 80. Feed once a day in the evening if possible (that's when they are naturally active). Leave the little fellow alone...lol. I know I get worried about them too. Your tank size is perfect as long as there is good cover (foliage, hides). Nightcrawlers are my preferred staple diet. I supplement crickets and roaches as a treat.

Griff. What's the problem with substrate too deep? Never heard that and am curious what your thoughts are?

I'd really like to see pics of your frog.

Congrats on your new frog and welcome to the forums!!

-----------------
Thanks
DW

[DVirginiana]

I didn't think substrate being to deep was really a problem, just it'd make it harder to monitor the frog, especially for a little one, so just enough substrate to cover up in would mean you didn't have to dig around and stress him just to check on him.

There may be some other reason, but that's what I was thinking :P

[GrifTheGreat]

Gnag gave great advice for not being an expert.

I agree with almost everything that's been said.

Your LPS owner is an idiot. Keep temps at around 80. Feed once a day in the evening if possible (that's when they are naturally active). Leave the little fellow alone...lol. I know I get worried about them too. Your tank size is perfect as long as there is good cover (foliage, hides). Nightcrawlers are my preferred staple diet. I supplement crickets and roaches as a treat.

Griff. What's the problem with substrate too deep? Never heard that and am curious what your thoughts are?

I'd really like to see pics of your frog.

Congrats on your new frog and welcome to the forums!!

-----------------
Thanks
DW

Substrate being too deep can cause the frog to want to aestivate sometimes. The glass at the bottom may be a few degrees colder than the ambient air and if the frog burrows down deep and becomes cool it may not want to emerge and thus got to sleep. Babies are far less likely to do this. Adults will burrow to the bottom of deep substrate and stay there for long periods if allowed to. Adults only need about 3" to 3.5" of substrate. Babies should be given ust enough to cover themselves. About 1.5". This allows you to keep tabs on the younster more easily since it will be easier to find.

Babies must have access to a lot of food and nutrition for healthy growth. This is a crutial stage in their lives so they need daily feeding. Keeping the substrate at the right depth also keeps the frog from wanting to sleep all the time and makes it easier for them to catch their food without ingesting too much substrate.

They should only be given large quantaties of substrate when you plan to aestivate/brumate adults. Plus this allows for more opportunities to view you frog.

[DVirginiana]

Ever since Trevor's health scare this summer, I've been keeping her substrate just deep enough to cover up in. It seems less stressful on her when I have to dig her out to check on her that way; more like gently walking them forward and out of the burrow than actually digging them up.