New owner! Questions!

[Mallowolf]

Hello all! So I got an albino pacman frog Wednesday and i think i'm a little over worried here! I've done my research but i'm a bit worried!
He's a bit bigger than the size of a quarter. He ate 2 medium crickets wednesday night, and a little piece of a night crawler yesterday. I've been using tongs but i feel i'm being a bit too forceful. He usually only opens his mouth once and once he has the food in his mouth he eats it. But he doesn't seem very interested in actually eating. I know i've only had him 2 days but i'm just a worried new parent! Is it just because he is still getting used to his surroundings? Should i put a few crickets in the tank and see if he eats them?

Here's some info on his enclosure:

he's in a 10 gallon tank with eco earth as the substrate. there's a heatpad on the side of the tank. Temperature is currently 80 and humidity is 78%. the back and one side of the tank is covered with green paper (pretty much a cheap background)

If someone could just let me know if everything sounds ok, i'd really appreciate it! Also i'd appreciate some advice as well! Thanks!

[danfrog]

10 gallons is a bit too big for him right now. Day time temps should be around 82-84 degrees and night time should be about 77-78 degrees. Humidity should be around 80ish percent. Go ahead and cover the other two sides also. Keep feeding with tongs. When he starts to swallow slowly that's usually a sign that he is full. These guys are good at not over eating so you don't have to worry about that. Calcium dust twice a week. And vitamin dust once a week with at least a day in between. With him being young try and feed him nightly. Welcome to the frog forums! Good group here with many experts. Try and get some night crawlers too. Uncented or dyed. Not red worms.

[danfrog]

10 gallons is a bit too big for him right now. Day time temps should be around 82-84 degrees and night time should be about 77-78 degrees. Humidity should be around 80ish percent. Go ahead and cover the other two sides also. Keep feeding with tongs. When he starts to swallow slowly that's usually a sign that he is full. These guys are good at not over eating so you don't have to worry about that. Calcium dust twice a week. And vitamin dust once a week with at least a day in between. With him being young try and feed him nightly. Welcome to the frog forums! Good group here with many experts. Try and get some night crawlers too. Uncented or dyed. Not red worms.

I'm sorry uncented and un dyed nightcrawlers.

[Mallowolf]

Thank you for such a quick response! So should I go and get him a new tank? Or will he manage ok in the one he has now? I'll try to get the tank a few degrees hotter during the day. He kinda seems annoyed when i try to feed him, is this normal because he is still adjusting? I have vitamins and calcium already (which the crickets were dusted in). I have night crawlers I got from walmart. I believe the brand is DMF or something like that, are those ok?

Thanks!

[danfrog]

Yeah I would go for a smaller critter keeper for now. You can place the critter keeper inside the 10gallon till he is big enough for it. What type of lighting are you using? Those worms should be good as long as they arnt chemically enhanced. Oh and make sure every drop of water you use is treated with some type of dechlorinator.

[Mallowolf]

Ok i'll have to go out and buy a critter keeper then. Do you think it will stay hot enough for him in there?
I don't have any lighting on the tank, I have a heat pad on the side of the tank for heat.
All of the water I have used has been treated with reptisafe, so no worries there!

[Lija]

welcome to the frog forums! and congrats on getting a new baby! pics are always welcome you know
Danfrog- 78% is a good humidity, anything between 70 and 80 is good, temps (80) are ok, i would keep it a bit higher during a day with a few degrees drop at night, so day - 80-82 ( keeping closer to 82) and night 76-78. feed about 30 min after lights are off and temps drop for better feeding response.
very important question - lights - what kind are you using? make sure you don't use any UVB and dim light only, that is very important for albino.

tank size - yes it is too big, BUT he is eating ok and from tongs, so keep it this way, if you have stuff in a tank, plastic plants, rocks, driftwood, places to hide and minimize space you should be fine with your tank. General rule- you want a small plastic critter keeper for a baby, but since you have a tank already and he has no problems with that, i would keep it this way.
however you will still need something like that for baths/temp. enclosure while cleaning tank, etc, so that thing is useful to have.

[Mallowolf]

Thanks for the info! I will upload a picture for all of you guys!



I thought that you need only a light or a heat pad? I have a heat pad stuck to the side of the tank, but no lighting. Is that ok or do I need a light too? :/

Do you think he's eating alright? He ate 2 crickets wednesday night and last night he ate a piece of a nightcrawler. Should he be eating more? or is he still getting used to his new home? I feel like when I feed him with the tongs i'm annoying him, but if i don't feed him with tongs I don't think he will find the crickets. Will that stress him out?

Sorry, i just wanna make sure i'm doing things right! I really have gotten attached to the little bugger

[Lija]

no need to be sorry beautiful frog!
what he is eating sound very right! go ahead with tong feeding, you need to reinforce it while he is ok with that so you will have less problems later.

[Mallowolf]

Good! I was a bit worried he wasn't eating enough!
Thanks everyone for all of your help! It's nice finding great people with great information!
Hopefully Miles grows up to be a big chubby froggy!

[danfrog]

Nice frog! @Lija Yes 78 percent is good. I thought that might have come out as "raise your humidity 2 more percent" but was just saying that humidity was good. @Mallowolf. If the little guy is attacking the tongs Great! Your not making him mad, he just sounds like a great eater. And Lija is right. If he is eating good no need to move the little guy. Lighting is very important along with day and night cycles (lights should be on one side so that you have a warm side and cool side of the encloser). Make sure no bulbs are over 50 watts. I use 40 watts just to be safe, and have lots of shade. If you want an example you can check out my old thread from last week (Mojo's new home) might give you a good idea on enclosures.