A Few Questions from a New Owner

[dubbean]

1. I got a tiny baby pacman frog 2 weeks ago and have been feeding him 4 medium crickets 5 days a week. I am dusting with calcium 3 of the days and vitamins 2 of the days. His (or her) name is Camo Frog and has doubled in size in the last 2 weeks. He will not eat anything, including crickets, from tongs but has no problem catching the crickets in the terrarium. He even run after them sometimes which is very cute. He eats all the crickets within seconds of them being in the terrarium. The Frog is currently about 2inches long. How much should I be feeding him?

2. I currently have him on eco-earth but would like to use sphagnum moss; would this be a problem? I have seen Camo get bites of dirt and leafs from his plant in his mouth while going after cricket and he spits out the unintended food items. Would the moss still be dangerous?

3. The pet store had him listed as "green pacman frog". I think he is a c.ornata because of the little spots on the back of his eyes. Is this correct? What do you think he is?
These pictures were taken yesterday. The glass is uncovered so I could get he pictures. I keep 3 sides covered in tinfoil otherwise.

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Welcome to the forum.


Myself I would keep the Coco fiber/eco earth.
And getting a mouthful of Coco fiber/eco earth when he eats is absolutely normal however getting a mouthful Moss is not a good thing it can cause impaction.

The only thing I would advise you to do is to broaden his diet some crickets are a good staple.But you should add dubia roaches, hornworms. And a monthly pinky mouse as a treat.

You can easily start your own Dubia roach colony with very little effort and you'll have a virtual perpetual food source.

Otherwise it looks like you're off to a great start, you're doing just about everything perfectly.
I would also got load the crickets with fresh vegetables and/or fiuckers calcium diet.

[dubbean]

He might go for a roach but I've already tried worms and he is not interested. I am gut loading the crickets with vegetables and oats sprinkled with calcium and vitamins.

[Mentat]

Yes, that is an Ornate ! Would reduce dusting to 2X CA/D3 and 1X vitamins weekly. Good luck!

[GrifTheGreat]

Answer these questions http://www.frogforum.net/pacman-frog...enclosure.html and repost your answers here in your thread.

[dubbean]

1. Size of enclosure: 5.5 gallon. Have 10 gallon standing by for when frog gets bigger
2. # of inhabitants: 1
3. Humidity: misting daily. Do not have gauge
4. Temperature: Termostate keeps it right around 85F give or take a few degrees
5. Water: tap water with fish dechlorinator in it is used for misting and soaking. I also put a singe aquarium fresh water salt piece in the the water for soaking.
6. Materials used for substrate: Eco Earth
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants: 3 small live vine type plants. I can't remember what they are called but I cut them from an existing plant I have indoors that is not treated with anything (see terrarium picture below). There is also 1 small soaking dish.
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv: The frog was in a small 1-gallon terrarium at the pet store with sphagnum moss and Eco Earth with no dish for soaking.
8. Main food source: gut loaded medium crickets
9. Vitamins and calcium?: Fluker's Calcium w/ vitamin D (3 times a week) and Rep-Cal Herptivite w/ beta Carotene (2 times a week).
10. Lighting: natural lighting from the many window in my home (note: frog is not directly in front of a window)
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure: unde-rtank heater stuck to the side of the tank with a Hydrofarm thermostat set at 85F.
12. When is the last time he/she ate: this morning
13. Have you found poop lately: Yes. Yesterday
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure: see below
15. How old is the frog: Less than 1 month old is my guess.
16. How long have you owned him/her: 2 weeks
17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred: captive bred I believe strongly
18. Frog food: 5 days a week. I have also offered meal worms and wax worms but frog was not interested
19. How often the frog is handled: never
20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area: medium
21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc): Water changes twice a week unless there is poop; then it changed as soon as I see the poop. Soil is spot clean daily and changed out every 2 weeks.

[Mentat]

Recommend placing no salt in frog's water dish, change water in dish daily even when not used, and get a hygrometer/thermometer (this is good deal) as soon as you can. Good luck !

[dubbean]

ok thanks

[Lija]

- you need to get a hydrometer, to know the correct reading, anything more then 80 for longer time is dangerous, same as less then 70
-temps - you gotta do a night drop of temps to 78ish, 85f day is fine, i prefer max 82.
- no salt, just use same treated tap water for everything.
- food - remember variety is a key, no mealworms and similar though, keep staple of dubia/crickets and nightcrawlers, with max once a month mouse, occasional hornworms and pacman food.
- dust ca/vitd3 once every second feeding, multivitamins once a week
beautiful frog may i say

[dubbean]

Thanks for all the corrections and suggestions. I want to have a healthy, happy frog. Per your recommendations, I will avoid using the salt, will dust about half as much as I currently do, will get a hydrometer and thermometer, and lower the setting of my thermostat. I really appreciated the help.

[danfrog]

Just so your trackin. When your little guy gets big he might end up murdering that plant lol. Pacman frogs are miniature bulldozers.

[dubbean]

That's fine. I use cutting from a main plant so I don't lose anything if he digs up the plants and kills them. Right now, Camo Frog rarely digs down more then enough to cover his back feet and he loves to hide under the plant leaves so I'll leave the plant in the terrarium for now.