New Pacman Frog.....he seems to be doing well

[Metdude718]

Hello to all!!!!
First let me start out that I have been a Fish tank person for YEARS... so really did not have experience in caring of Frogs. This is actually a funny story.
I live in NY and work in a Govt building (not going to say exactly which one LOL)
In my office, I have a 10 gallon aquarium with Angel fish, tetras, gouraminis, Pleco fish, that does very well. There is a local pet story near the office.
About 2 months ago, I noticed that near the cash register, they had a terarium with a little frog in it, who most times seemed to be burried. Everyone knew him, as he was in the front of this busy store. Kinda felt sorry for the guy, and everyone in the store said he doesnt come out much, told me he eats crickets , and basicially low manitance.

Well, after about 3 weeks, negotiaioning on the price and stuff, I took him and the terarium. I then started doing my homework, on the internet and discovered all about Pac Man Frogs. He is an albino one. I will post pics of him soon here....

Got the underground heater, water dish, use substrate (earth brand that the pet store recomends) and also got a water bottle and mist him and terrium every day. I keep temp near 80, hummidity at around 80%, and also have light... on timer for about 12 hrs a day.

At first he was staying burried, but now he comes out, has been eating crickets (feed him 2-3 times a week) and even now during the day, his eyes are wide open, he seems to have warmed up to everyone here, and while he stays burried at times, seems to not bury as much... and seems used to people looking at him. I clean the teraium once a week, so far so good. He has gotten bigger and seems healthy. His name is Larry.

Any advice anyone can provide is extremely appreciated. Again, Ill post pictures soon but all seems well with him, he does not seem stressed at all.

Hope to hear back!!

[Metdude718]

Hello to all!!!!
First let me start out that I have been a Fish tank person for YEARS... so really did not have experience in caring of Frogs. This is actually a funny story.
I live in NY and work in a Govt building (not going to say exactly which one LOL)
In my office, I have a 10 gallon aquarium with Angel fish, tetras, gouraminis, Pleco fish, that does very well. There is a local pet story near the office.
About 2 months ago, I noticed that near the cash register, they had a terarium with a little frog in it, who most times seemed to be burried. Everyone knew him, as he was in the front of this busy store. Kinda felt sorry for the guy, and everyone in the store said he doesnt come out much, told me he eats crickets , and basicially low manitance.

Well, after about 3 weeks, negotiaioning on the price and stuff, I took him and the terarium. I then started doing my homework, on the internet and discovered all about Pac Man Frogs. He is an albino one. I will post pics of him soon here....

Got the underground heater, water dish, use substrate (earth brand that the pet store recomends) and also got a water bottle and mist him and terrium every day. I keep temp near 80, hummidity at around 80%, and also have light... on timer for about 12 hrs a day.

At first he was staying burried, but now he comes out, has been eating crickets (feed him 2-3 times a week) and even now during the day, his eyes are wide open, he seems to have warmed up to everyone here, and while he stays burried at times, seems to not bury as much... and seems used to people looking at him. I clean the teraium once a week, so far so good. He has gotten bigger and seems healthy. His name is Larry.

Any advice anyone can provide is extremely appreciated. Again, Ill post pictures soon but all seems well with him, he does not seem stressed at all.

Hope to hear back!!

Heres a pic of him from this morning

[Lija]

nice frog you got here, by the way it seems that many of us here started out with fish tanks Welcome to the forums!

check out this care sheet Frog Forum - Pacman and Horned Frogs - Ceratophrys - Care and Breeding

i must say pacman frogs are not really low maintenance, but once you get hand on it and get all you need it is not that difficult.

first thing that i would like to clarify - what do you mean by underground heater? undertank heater( UTH) I assume, where have you placed it? it must be on a side, never under tank for pacman frog!

next - what kind of light do you use, it is very important because you have albino.

do you use any supplements?

the substrate seems a bit too dry, what exactly is it? it seems to have a lot of stringy things in it.

what kind of water do you use?

[Metdude718]

nice frog you got here, by the way it seems that many of us here started out with fish tanks Welcome to the forums!

check out this care sheet Frog Forum - Pacman and Horned Frogs - Ceratophrys - Care and Breeding

i must say pacman frogs are not really low maintenance, but once you get hand on it and get all you need it is not that difficult.

first thing that i would like to clarify - what do you mean by underground heater? undertank heater( UTH) I assume, where have you placed it? it must be on a side, never under tank for pacman frog!

next - what kind of light do you use, it is very important because you have albino.

do you use any supplements?

the substrate seems a bit too dry, what exactly is it? it seems to have a lot of stringy things in it.

what kind of water do you use?

Its the Undertank heater, made for the terraium... sorry didnt clarify that It is on the bottom, put does not take up the entire bottom. also I made sure, that the water dish is not by the heater.

Im using UV light, that came with this set up. I will try to post a pic later, but its the exco terra mini long. I have it on a timer for 12 on 12 off.

Substrate is moist, I know it looks dry in the pic...its the earth soil type ( might not have the right name... next time Ill have the right name when I post) I usually clean it once a week. Its more soil shall I say.

I use non clorated water.

Any advice is appreciated! I see that its not as simple as feed him once a week and mist him now and then, as instructed by one person in the pet store!

[Mentat]

....Got the underground heater, water dish, use substrate (earth brand that the pet store recomends) and also got a water bottle and mist him and terrium every day. I keep temp near 80, hummidity at around 80%, and also have light... on timer for about 12 hrs a day...

Hi Metdude and welcome to FF! Only thing I see that could cause problems is the under tank heater. Pacman's nature is to bury down to escape heat so when your frog does that.. it will actually get closer to the heat source. Would recommend you relocate that heater pad to one of the exterior enclosure sides or back .

[Lija]

you can not use UVB for albino, absolutely none! that was a reason i asked actually. albino eyes are very sensitive, you can use only dim light and make sure there is some space in a shade if he chooses to hide.

UTH you need to move asap. frogs burry to thermoregulate as well as for many other reasons and if a substrate is heated they can't do that properly, if a frog go deeper it may burn itself. your goal is to heat a tank, not a substrate.

you are treating tap water with water conditioner, did i get it right?


how big is the guy?

[Metdude718]

you can not use UVB for albino, absolutely none! that was a reason i asked actually. albino eyes are very sensitive, you can use only dim light and make sure there is some space in a shade if he chooses to hide.

UTH you need to move asap. frogs burry to thermoregulate as well as for many other reasons and if a substrate is heated they can't do that properly, if a frog go deeper it may burn itself. your goal is to heat a tank, not a substrate.

you are treating tap water with water conditioner, did i get it right?


how big is the guy?

OK movied heater, and also will turn light off. Im not sure if its a UV or not Ill check.....and yes treating tap water to take cloraine out

[Metdude718]

OK movied heater, and also will turn light off. Im not sure if its a UV or not Ill check.....and yes treating tap water to take cloraine out

Just checked its a 5.0 UVB. Guess that is no good... THANKS for the advice. I turned it off.

[Lija]

that's good.

now about supplements - are you supplementing food and do you offer anything other then crickets?

[Mentat]

OK movied heater, and also will turn light off. Im not sure if its a UV or not Ill check.....and yes treating tap water to take cloraine out

Good decision to move the heater! There are enclosure light bulbs called "Moonlight" that look black when off and very dim purplish when on. They come in many sizes and wattage and that's what I use in my Pacman enclosure.

Last thing to look at would be feeding. Crickets are not the best food so you might want to supplement that with night crawlers. Source are pet shops and bait-tackle shops (if later ensure they are not dyed). Can also try Dubia roaches too... yummy ! Seem like a lot of stuff, but once you get the enclosure set-up right, rest is easy, Good luck!

[GrifTheGreat]

Everyone has you covered. I will recommend that if you need a light for a little extra heat just use an Infrared bulb, but make sure that it is no higher than 50 watts.

Routine daily cleaning should be removing poop and changing water in the soaking dish. Other than that you should not fully tear down and clean the enclosure more than every 3 weeks. Too much handling can stress the frog out and you don't want that.

[Metdude718]

that's good.

now about supplements - are you supplementing food and do you offer anything other then crickets?

Read about supplements but so far have given him crickets and meal worms. He didnt really like the meal worms, but ate a few. He loves crickets thought. What do you suggest about supplements and what else should I feed him? THANKS AGAIN for all the advice! How and hes the size of a half dollar now... im going to post alot of pics soon!

[Metdude718]

OK been doing that. I read that change the substrate once a week, so your telling me not to do that? Also I have him in the Mini Nano Exco now... once he gets bigger I will move him into a larger Tera.

[Lija]

you're welcome!

I read that change the substrate once a week, so your telling me not to do that?

yes, that is right, full substrate changes once a month, spot cleaning as you see it, you can stir substrate once in a while too.

Also I have him in the Mini Nano Exco now... once he gets bigger I will move him into a larger Tera

that is a very good plan!

Read about supplements but so far have given him crickets and meal worms. He didnt really like the meal worms, but ate a few. He loves crickets thought. What do you suggest about supplements and what else should I feed him? How and hes the size of a half dollar now... im going to post alot of pics soon!

we sure be waiting for a lot of pics!

ok here is another issue here. food and frequency. at his size you should feed using 15 min rule- feed as much as it can eat in 15 min, every single day! get Ca/vit D3 and multivitamin supplements, use Ca/vit3 every second feeding and multivitamins once a week.

food - best staple dubia and nightcrawlers, crickets while still little. do not feed mealworms, they have high chitin content and may cause impaction that don't want to risk. Smart frog may i say if he didn't like them