new owner

[GscribZ]

hello, i'm a new owner as of yesterday (march 19th) and i just had a few questions to make sure my frog gets the best care it can.

first off i have no idea what type of pacman he or she is and i have no idea if it is a he or she. as far as sexing goes ive read that you basically have to wait till it gets old enough to croak, if it croaks its a male, if not its a female... is this true? I'll post a picture of it as well so hopefully someone can tell me exactly what type it is.

Photo by bethanyzaborowski • Instagram
heres a link to a picture my wife took and posted on instagram


I'm also curious about his/her age, it's very small, especially compared to ones that i've seen online. I'd say it's about 1 1/2 to 2 inches. The woman who sold the frog to us at petco suggested that it was fairly young and we should feed it small crickets covered in calcium powder.

which leads me to my next question, diet...
everyone on here knows i'm sure that pacman frogs are notorious for eating just about anything, but what exactly is a good diet for them? i've read that meal worms are bad because they could possible choke on them, wax worms are fine but only once in a while as they're high in fat. crickets are good when you use calcium powder. I've also read that cockroaches are the best option though, and luckily enough I have someone in the area offering to sell a starter breeding kit for feeder roaches. However I don't know how to tell if the food in question is of good quality.

final subject is the habitat, I have him/her in a small plastic aquarium, I think it's about 2.5 gallons? just big enough for his/her water dish and log, a little extra space he/she uses to dig. I'd really like to get a nice 10 gallon terrarium like this though

Amazon.com: Exo Terra Glass Terrarium, 12 by 12 by 12-Inch: Pet Supplies

they seem really nice. the woman at the store also sold us tropical cypress bedding, woodchips, but i'm reading that woodchips are bad as the frog can accidently get one in it's mouth and choke. what is the suggested bedding? as far as the temperature goes, the woman told us we dont need a heat rock or heat lamp. but my house gets a little cold from time to time and i had an old heat rock so i keep it plugged in and right up against on of the croders on the outside of the cage. sometimes it will go and burrow right by the rock, but i've read that it can be bad for them as they burrow to cool down... so i'm really confused as far as how the frog feels as far as its body temperature. lastly, water... we bought a dechlorinator for the water we spray in the cage and put in its water dish, is there possibly a better option?

also any advice on the optimal environment would be great, i'm not worried about the cost of the habitat, i just figure if i'm going to take care of a living thing i should probly give it the best life i can.

thank you for reading through all this and any information you provide!

[Lija]

oh god..... what are you keeping him on? pet stores advices..... again..... that lady doesn't know much about pacs, that's for sure.

you DO need a heating device ( UTH placed on a side, heating lamp). pacman frogs are tropical species, they do need tropical temps. day about 76-78, night 80-82. never use heating rock, frog might burn.

water - the lady got it right, you need dechlorinator to treat your water and use it for everything, other option would be natural spring water.

substrate - take that thing you have asap, that is bad, very BAD for pacman, you need very fine coconut fiber- eco earth or plantation soil and use it exclusively.

plastic critter keeper is fine for now, when a frog will get bigger you will need to upgrade, i think it a month or two, don't rush now, small one is better for a baby.

be back tomorrow for the rest unless someone chime in sooner. the above that i noticed you need to fix asap, those are the most important things now.

[DeeDub]

Hey! Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new frog. You've got a Ceratophrys Cranwelli (Crannie/Cranwelli)

Here's everything you need to know. Frog Forum - Pacman and Horned Frogs - Ceratophrys - Care and Breeding

Again welcome!

[Heatheranne]

Congrats on your first pacman frog .

The care sheet DeeDub provided is a good one.

Yes, please remove the wood chips. There are 3 reasons they are not good for a pacman frog...first, pacman frogs lunge at their food and will accidentally eat one, cause intestinal impaction. Second, they are rough on their skin. Third, they do not hold moisture well. As Lija has mentioned, coconut fiber bedding is a great substrate for them. It is soft, holds moisture well, and can pass through their intestines if accidentally ingested. Avoid coco husk. Plain plantation soil can also be used. Be sure it does not have any fertilizers, chemicals, or perlite in it.

Be sure to only use the dechlorinated water for moistening his substrate too. It should be well moistened, but not sopping or muddy.

You'll need humidity and temperature gauges to monitor his home. His humidity should be at 80%. You'll have to mist the tank a couple times a day. A fogger is nice to have, but not a must.

There is a UTH (Under Tank Heater) pad made for hermit crab tanks. It's a nice small one. This would work well for his little house. Another option is to place his little house into a 10 gallon (which he can use later), and to put a heat lamp with a dimmer on the screen top of the big tank. Use only a 50watt or less red bulb or ceramic heat bulb. Dim it down enough to maintain the heat, but so it stays at the required temps (see Lija's post above). Keep the bulb to one end. Keep his water bowl at the opposite end of the heat pad or heat lamp. The idea is to create a warm end and a cool end. They like to be able to cool off in their water bowl.

If he won't eat for you and seems stressed, you can try placing a background to the back and side without the heat pad on it, or the 2 sides if not using an UTH. This helps them feel safe.

Food - the best options are small crickets (gut-loaded), small dubias, and small cut earthworm or night crawler pieces. Now is a good time to teach him how to tong feed . His food pieces should be no larger than the distance between his eyes. He will be growing fast at this young phase, so feed him every night. Allow him to eat as much as he'd like in about 15 minutes. If he has trouble catching his crickets, trying pulling off a leg or two to slow the cricket down.

Supplements - use calcium with vitamin D3 every other night, lightly dusted on his food. Obtain a reptile/amphibian multivitamin powder and dust only one day a week with it, not on the same day as the calcium/D3.

There's a few extra tips for you .

[GscribZ]

I appreciate all the responses! I thought the advice on the substrate and Heat was a bit off... We're going to buy that 10g terrarium as he/she grows. A heater pad were getting today for sure, but I'm not sure about the light, since it's a small plastic cage I'm not sure how to put it so it doesn't melt the plastic top of that's even possible. I've read that putting the heat pads under the tank can bother the frog because they burrow to cool down. We keep it by the window though with our plants so it gets lots of warmth and sun during the day, but it has places to hide and cool off though. I was also curious about growing live plants in its habitat? I've here it's great for keeping it humid and fresh.

[Lija]

don't worry about the light, regular ambient light is good, or you can just put the enclosure somewhere under regular low voltage lamp, desk lamp is good for that too, anything that is not too bright and you don't put on a plastic top. whatever you can do to create day/night cycle for him.
for heat get a hermit crab heater pad , those are save for plastic and stick it on a side, NEVER under the tank for pacman frog.

as you were advised, cover 3 sides of a enclosure so a frog would feel safe.

so do all that and after you place a frog in there give him some time to adjust, offer food after lights are off ( about half an hour or about that). if you do it all now, you can offer food tonight, but don't annoy too much, some frogs need more time adjusting. whatever is not eaten take out.

when offering food try not to move tank too much, it is hard to do with those small plastic critters, i know but just try. in a wild they usually don't experience earthquake before eating, so it might scare him.

[GscribZ]

I can understand that... haha
I went home on lunch and attempted to feed him but hit his cage a little and he was not happy... I'm always afraid of getting bit to haha I always expect it though so I don't fling it accross the room in a panic...

will definitely pick all that up, also if anyone else who runs by this happens to be looking for a nice terrarium they're on sale on amazon. only a few left though. 100 in the pet store, 50 on amazon.

what about sexing them?

[Lija]

way too early for sexing.

when s/he is about 2,5-3" if that is a male you might start seeing nuptual pads on his front legs ( thumbs) female don't have that
see that black spot on the inside of his thumb? the mole looking one

[GscribZ]

awesome, thanks!

[GscribZ]

I have another questions, a problem seems to have come up...

the frog seems to be much happier in his new substrate, we got it some moss as well as ive read that keeps it humid in the tank but not it seems to just want to stay buried. Twice we went to go check on him today and though that maybe he got out somehow, we ended up slowly digging for him once. after a little research i read that they do this when it gets to cold for them or if they are about to go into a form of hibernation and shed...

should i be worried?

[emandkel]

I have another questions, a problem seems to have come up...

the frog seems to be much happier in his new substrate, we got it some moss as well as ive read that keeps it humid in the tank but not it seems to just want to stay buried. Twice we went to go check on him today and though that maybe he got out somehow, we ended up slowly digging for him once. after a little research i read that they do this when it gets to cold for them or if they are about to go into a form of hibernation and shed...

should i be worried?

Remove the moss -- it is an impaction hazard. They will stay buried most of the time -- nothing to worry about.

[GscribZ]

i was just reading that... will do

[DVirginiana]

First of all OMG $100 FOR A TERRARIUM?! What size are you looking at? That's outrageous even for chain petstore prices!

You mentioned being afraid of being bitten... How are you feeding? If you're hand feeding, I wouldn't recommend it. First, you're right about being afraid of getting bit if they think your hands mean food Also, your hands will scare the frog. If you don't have them already, you should get a pair of feeding tongs.
Also, for really skittish frogs, you can leave crickets in there with them for a couple hours. Sometimes it takes them awhile to calm down from having their tank messed with. Just make sure they don't stay in there too long.