R/O water for substrate and soaking bowl

[MikeIsGreen]

Hey everybody! I love this forum already...I bought a pac man yesterday according to the sales associate and everything (up until now) stated that reverse osmosis water would be just fine for my new little buddy. I just read that it isn't and in fact and eventually end up hurting him. My gut sank when I read that because is used r/o to ready the substrate and fill his bowl/mist the tank. How bad did I screw up?!? I'm really worried right now. If anyone could help am out that would be awesome!! Thank you

[DesertHeat]

Swap out the substrate with new substrate hydrated with dechlorinated tap water, fill the water bowl with dechlorinated tap water. R/O is probably fine for misting as long as you don't directly spray your frog.

I doubt one or two days has done any lasting harm to your frog. Just get everything swapped out as soon as possible

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[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Hi mike,
first of all welcome to the forum and being a new frog parent.

Desertheat is completely correct.

There is a great care sheet here for packman frogs. (click me)

It has a lot of good info.

I am curious of what kind of setup you have and how old is your new frog.
and how big it is.

if it can sit on a quarter and you can still see the quarter the little one might be
a tad scared in anything larger than a small critter carrier.

So pictures of the frog and the current setup would be helpful.
BTW we love pictures!!

[MikeIsGreen]

Desertheat and Louis, thank you for the replies and info! I was afraid that I would have to swap everything out. I don't mind doing it at all. The only problem is that I have to drive 80 miles round trip to get everything and that means he will have to hang out in it until later today. Would that be a problem? Also, should I get everything out while his lights are out or during lights on? He was stressed out for the first few hours then he settled down and dug him a little "nook" to hangout in and I'm hate to dig him out lol. I can't say for sure that he hasn't eaten but I haven't seen him eat and no signs of bathroom so will this switch set him back even further on him getting use to his new surroundings? He is in a 10 gal aquarium with 3" of coco and maybe a 1/2" of sphagnum moss on top. Bought a cheesy little ground cover from Walmart yesterday because I felt like he may have felt too open in there. He is definitely bigger than a quarter, and probably bigger than a half dollar as well. The guy at petsmart said he was under a year old, but couldn't say how old for sure. Any eagle eyes out there that can tell how old he is? I can get better pics if need be. Thanks guys! I feel at home

[DesertHeat]

Ditch the moss, it is a dangerous impaction hazard.

For today you can use non colored paper towels moistened with dechlorinated tap water as a substrate. Best to get him out of the old stuff before the r/o water can leech any more minerals out of him.

What is his SVL (snout to vent length)? That will help guesstimate his age

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[MikeIsGreen]

Right on..thanks for the quick reply! I don't have any declorination tablets here, I have to go to petsmart. Our walmart doesn't have a very good selection at all. The best measurement I could get was about 1 1/2" maybe a bit more but couldn't get exact reading. Also, should I take the crickets out in the morning or just let them roam? They are not bothering him.

[DesertHeat]

For dechlorinating water you can use the same liquid used for freshwater fish tanks, one a lot of members use is seachem prime. You can also use reptisafe which is marketed for reptiles and amphibians.

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[MikeIsGreen]

Oh ok cool...maybe Walmart will have that since they do sell some fish supplies. I'll check there before I drive out of town..plus the roads are super nasty!!

[MikeIsGreen]

Just called Walmart and they do have a big bottle of liquid declorination, so if that will work..I'll just go pick it up here shortly and get him fixed up right away..thanks again guys! I'll try to get a better pic when I'm transferring him/her..? Lol thanks

[MikeIsGreen]

Bought this at Walmart few minutes ago and have water clearing up now the. I'm changing everything and leaving out the sphagnum. I also just noticed the red around his eyes is turning brown...is this something to concerned about? I assume yes but he now looks more like the other green pacman I've seen

[kueluck]

Don't panic RO is ok, I use it on my frogs/toads when I'm warming water for tea and have left over to add to their cold water. Been doing this for over 2 years now. I also found this on Josh's Frog site.
Filtration for pet Reptiles and Amphibians | Josh's Frogs
(R/O) water purification systems remove impurities from your tap water, rendering it safe to you with your pet reptiles and amphibians. Minerals, harmful chemicals, chlorine, and much more is removed from your water after it is forced through a membrane. Reverse Osmosis systems are easy to install and use. Josh's Frogs strongly suggests using water purified by a reverse osmosis system for misting and drinking water.

[DesertHeat]

Listen to Griff, he's the Yoda of Pacman frogs

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[MikeIsGreen]

Griff, thank you very much. I really glad I changed out his substrate. The treated tap water makes complete sense. I use my r/o on my house plants and then I add nutrients to that water. I am all about this little guy and his health/well being. I finally got to see him feed and it was amazing! Two crickets wandered in front of him (with my help) and man he nailed both at the same time! Then ended up eating 3 more in front of me. He is so cool. Oh another dumb question, will flukers high calcium cricket diet hurt him if he gets it on him? I put a cricket in before his lights came on and some flukers sprinkled out of the tube and on him. Not heavily though. I assume he will be fine...? Thanks guys!!

[MikeIsGreen]

Ok something "new" has occurred. He has completely buried himself. I literally couldn't find him. I went to the spot in the tank where he was last and kinda moved the substrate and finally saw a spot of green. I turned off the heat lamp but the temp was only at 81 or so. Normal???

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Don't worry this is completely normal.
Especially after a large meal or low humidity or the frog wanted to cool off.

81F is almost spot on for the warm side of the tank.

You need to have the warm side 82 to 85F during the day and 72 to 75F during the night.

[MikeIsGreen]

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

[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

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[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