R/O water for substrate and soaking bowl

[MikeIsGreen]

Man im really glad I switched his substrate. The last thing I wanna do is hurt him or cause him harm.. I'm still not sure how many crickets he should be eating per day and when I should put them in with him? I've been putting 4 in there when his light turns off and then a couple more before bed then couple more when I wake up before his light turns off. Is this too much? Not enough? Thanks again guys

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Thanks Louis! Not long after I turned his light out he was up above ground munching his crickets! I having a hard time getting a solid answer on how many crickets he should be eating a day. The pet shop said put 6 or 7 in there (easier said than done) lol I put 5 in there and if it's ok I will put 2-3 more in there before I go to bed. He has had 2 maybe 3 so far since 7pm central

Mike,
These frogs will not over eat.
you can feed as many crickets as the frog will eat but I am hesitant to leave crickets free roaming the enclosure
because they can bite and stress out the frog.

also are you dusting your crickets with calcium and gut loading..
I also highly recommend starting a dubia roach colony and feeding dubia nymphs.

[kueluck]

Great points made on the 24/7. Always learning here on FF

He doesn't focus strictly on Pacman Frogs. They spend 24 hours a day 7 days a week burrowed in the substrate. If it is saturated with pure water then it steals their vitamins and minerals. It is no different than using that water for their soaking dish which is not to be done. So if its not ok to use that kind of water for saoking then why in turn would it be safe to use for the substrate too? The frog will lose valuable salts, electrolytes, and minerals, become ill and die. There are far more experienced breeders that can back that up. Philippe de Vosjoli would be one of those breeders. In the world of Horned Frogs he is who most look to for how to house their Pacman's. There is a lot of conflicting info out there and so many disagree with their care, but some things have to be learned the hard way like not dechlorinating bottled water and assuming that it does not contain chlorine.

John has a good thread somewhere here on the forum that compares the various water type available. These are not tree frogs that pend their time up off the ground. The stayed burrowed for days and the constant exposure to that kind of water is fatal. This happenes over a long period of time, but eventually the frog succumbs to the imbalances in its system. Many become bloated once they get sick.

I'm not trying to start a conflict, but I can assure you that it is not ok for these frogs. Distilled and R/O are both pure water with nothing in it unless minerals and salts are added. It will literally leach the life from them.

Here is John's post. http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...hing-else.html

[MikeIsGreen]

Hey Louis! Thanks for the quick reply..that's good news! I am using flukers high calcium cricket diet to feed them and I have dusted the inside of the tube in which they hide. I've been feeding him the crickets that hide in he tube, just tap the tube and count how many fall. I will definitely remove the crickets that he doesn't eat. Also, are the roaches something that should be fed along with the crickets? I've read about people varying their pac mans diet

[GrifTheGreat]

Great points made on the 24/7. Always learning here on FF

We all are.

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Hey Louis! Thanks for the quick reply..that's good news! I am using flukers high calcium cricket diet to feed them and I have dusted the inside of the tube in which they hide. I've been feeding him the crickets that hide in he tube, just tap the tube and count how many fall. I will definitely remove the crickets that he doesn't eat. Also, are the roaches something that should be fed along with the crickets? I've read about people varying their pac mans diet

There is something to the adage "variety is the spice of life." In this case it improves the longevity and health of the frog.

My self I feed a rotation of Crickets , Dubia Roach nymphs and the occasional male when my colony has too many males.
I never feed adult females since they keep the colony numbers up.
Night crawlers and regular earth worms. (never red wrigglers)

I have also started feeding samurai pack man food prepared a little different than normal.
I use breakfast sausage casings and a small amount of natural red food coloring to make the mixture look pink.
I make pinky mouse sized sausages and freeze them.
When I can't get real pinky mice. I just thaw one out the night before and put it in warm water for a 5 min.
Use long rubber tipped tongs and just a few passes around pep's eyes he will almost jump 2-3 inches into the air to get it.

I hav also found that if I mix it with 2X the water it can be loaded into a syringe (no needle) and fed to sick frogs.

Dubia colonies are easy to start and very easy to keep.
and do not stink like crickets.
I have two large colonies in my workshop in two 25g plastic totes.
I have found that using HVAC air filters instead of paper egg crate works great.
and is very cheap and easy to find.
Jut don't get the kind that has metal or is coated with any kind of chemical.
the cheaper the better.

[MikeIsGreen]

Wow!!! That's very intersting! Pepito is one lucky frog...how do you transfer roaches? I assume they are very fast and therefore hard to capture? I'm gonna look into them asap...give my lil guy some variety!

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

I use a small plastic bin.
I can just pick up the roach with my hands they have never bitten me.
they can be kinda fast but that can't climb smooth surfaces like shiny plastic or glass.
I always tong feed them to pep. they will burrow into the coco fiber never to be seen again.

[MikeIsGreen]

Man...I've been looking into getting some dubia roaches and I really think that's the way to go, but I'm unsure as to where I can keep them. I'll keep thinking about that. Oh...I have a question about my little guys water/soaking dish. He has buried down on the opposite side of the aquarium (10gal) than what his dish is on. He knows where it's at, but didn't know if he would venture that far now that he has began to really settle in. Thanks guys...still haven't decided on a name :/

[DesertHeat]

If he wants to soak, he'll go over and soak. Just keep in mind these guys are super lazy, and it isn't uncommon for them to go days without moving

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

[MikeIsGreen]

Hey desertheat...thanks for the quick reply! I'll just go ahead and leave it where it is then. He has already eaten 5 or 6 crickets after lights out. They are hearty eaters! Glad to know if he doesn't leave his nook for awhile that it's completely normal. Thanks again!

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

As long as you can keep the temp above 70F for the roaches you can keep them any where. they don't need any light and prefer it dark anyway.
you can keep the plastic bin in the closet.
I cut 1/2 holes out of the top and hot glued fine window screen over the holes.
They really thieve in 80+F but 70 and above is ok.

I was going in-between two names for my frog one if it turned out to female or male.

it will take at least a month or so until you will start to see nuptial pads on top of his thumbs if it is a male.

[MikeIsGreen]

Dang Dubias are really easy to keep, huh!?! That's great...I have a spot for them in my basement then. I didn't know how to identify sex and I truly appreciate that info! Kinda excited to see what sex it is now! Is it true that pacs can pass coco fiber? I'm not sure, but I think he might have ate a little but trying to get a cricket. Thanks

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Dang Dubias are really easy to keep, huh!?! That's great...I have a spot for them in my basement then. I didn't know how to identify sex and I truly appreciate that info! Kinda excited to see what sex it is now! Is it true that pacs can pass coco fiber? I'm not sure, but I think he might have ate a little but trying to get a cricket. Thanks

The top one is a male.
the bottom one is a female.
you want to keep 1 male to 3 females .

And yes all frogs can pass coco fiber or eco earth that is the main reason to use it since most frogs eat a small amount of substrate each time they go for a
pray item.
so don't worry.

when my pep was much younger his poop was almost all eco earth. LOL but as he got older he got better aim.

[MikeIsGreen]

Haha! That's funny...I always get a good laugh at him during his strikes. Some are spot on and others are a little sloppy lol. Good to know they can pass it for sure..makes me even more happy that I removed the sphagnum. He has one cricket roaming around in there with him. Since there's isn't over feeding problem, what would be considered under feeding?

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

that depends on what you are feeding and how big the frog is.

[MikeIsGreen]

Small crickets is what he is currently eating and he is about 1.5-2" in length. Here is a pick from two days ago..my thumb for scale. My hands aren't big

[MikeIsGreen]

Anyone care to venture a guess on how old my little buddy is? I live in an area where we got hit exceptionally hard by the winter storm and I sure hope I don't run out of crickets. I'm trying to make them stretch. Can he miss one meal if I can't drive over and get some crickets until Thursday/Friday? Thanks guys

[Mentat]

...Can he miss one meal if I can't drive over and get some crickets until Thursday/Friday?

Yes, that will be fine .

[MikeIsGreen]

Thats good news..thanks mentat! It's just worst case scenario though...I hope they get the roads cleared soon. Thanks for the welcome in my introduction thread also! love this forum!