New Pacman Frog C. Cranwelli or C. Ornata

[mpmackenna]

I purchased a pacman frog from PetCo. I originally planned on buying from a breeder but my impatience got the better of me at the pet store. This is day two of owning the frog and he seems to be doing pretty well. I put a few crickets in his enclosure yesterday and a couple were missing this AM. I also found excrement this AM which is a good sign. Tonight I was able to tong feed a chunk of night crawler. I have calcium+D3 and RepCal Herptivite arriving in the mail early next week so I will start dusting as soon as that arrives. The sign at the store said C. Ornata but I am not sure if it's correct or not the two species look fairly similar to me. I snapped a couple of shots while he was eating the crawler piece this evening. I am also using a water de-chlorinator as I have read is required.
I was pleased to find this forum. I look forward to caring for the frog. I have owned a Leopard Gecko and a corn snake before and I have a Tarantula and two dogs but this is my first amphibian.

1. Size of enclosure -- 10 Gallon -- thinking I may insert a piece of plexi-glass to make smaller as some have indicated it's a good idea when they are little.
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences --- just the pacman and a couple of crickets at the moment
3. Humidity -- 80%
4. Temperature -- 80F
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish -- Tap treated with de-chlorinator
6. Materials used for substrate -- Eco-Earth
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials.
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv. -- Water dish and a hide. -- washed and sanitized with a little vinegar (read that is a good idea, please correct if wrong)
8. Main food source -- crickets, night crawler chunks
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often) -- RepCal Herptivite and CalciumD3 supplement. I plan to rotate between the two and dust every other feeding. I think that is what I heard on a IvoryReptile vid.
10. Lighting -- Incandescent black light for additional heat. Some indirect sun light during the day from a nearby closed window.
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure -- Zoo Med UTH... on the bottom but moving to the side when a new one arrives can't get the present to peel off. And the incandescent bulb.
12. When is the last time he/she ate -- about 10 minutes ago.
13. Have you found poop lately --- this AM
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine) I will attach a couple of crummy cell phone pics
15. How old is the frog -- You tell me -- a juvenile of some sort that is a Candian night crawler hanging out his mouth for size reference.
16. How long have you owned him/her -- this is day two
17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred -- Captive
18. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats. Just crickets and night crawler chunks so far. I also order some of the Zoo Med Pacman food to try.
19. How often the frog is handled. -- At this point I have never handled him/her. I am trying to let it get settled in.
20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area. -- Fairly low traffic. It's my office.
21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc). I plan to change dish water every day or so and substrate every few weeks to a month.

Thanks for reading! Suggestions are always welcome.

Mike

[danfrog]

Congratulations on your new froggy! You have done your research. A couple changes are needed though.
1. How big is your froggy? Anything under 3 inches should be kept in a smaller enclosure than a 10gallon. Make sure that you cover the plexiglass also. At three inches you can remove the plexiglass. When your ornate hits around 4 inches you will need a bigger enclosure. I recommend exo terra.
4. These guys need a day and night temp. Day 82-84 degrees and night 77-78 degrees.
9. Calcium d3 dust twice a week. Vitamins once a week. Dont vitamin and calcium on the same day. Give a day in between dustings. I use the Monday Wednesday Friday schedule. Monday and Wednesday are calcium and Friday vitamins.
10. Make sure your lights do not have uvb/uva.
11. Remove the uth immediately. These frogs burrow to cool off. Do not warm the substrate at all.
15. Yes that is a juvi ornate. Congrats you have a soon to be huge frog!
18. Diet is good! Nightcrawlers are the best food hands down. I think I would try the samurai pacman food over the zoomed though. Either is good for a once in a while treat though.

Start reading up on tong feeding. Ivory reptiles has a great video on you tube. Tong feeding 101.

[danfrog]

Forgot to add. Make sure three sides of the enclosure are covered. It reduces stress.

[Mustang79]

I think He's a cranwelli

[Hypnotic]

Also think he's a cranwelli, but he has a little dirt on his back that might camouflage some spots :P

[GrifTheGreat]

Congrats!

It appears you have a nice baby Ceratophrys cranwelli. Ornates have a low to the ground posture most of the time and the easiest way to tell an ornate is false eye spots on the back of each eye like this.

[mpmackenna]

Thanks for all the tips. I appreciate it. I will see about making the adjustments and thanks for clarifying the species. I guess you can put one more screw up on the list for PetCo. Lucky for me I am just as happy with a Cranwelli as an Ornate.

[danfrog]

Blah! Yeah I change my answer to cranwelli. Too much beer last night.

[mpmackenna]

Ha... There is no such thing as too much beer.