Hey guys, so I've had a pacman frog for a week now. For the past week I've been feeding him crickets, but I'm trying to move onto worms. I've tried to feed him a few times only for him to refuse, and now he's sitting in his tank making these swallowing motions and opening his mouth. Is this normal behavior? If it's not, what should I do? Also, any tips onto converting pacman frogs to worms? Right now I'm using cut up nightcrawlers.
Here's a pic of him:
imgur: the simple image sharer
He's not swallowing, he is breathing. Keep at it with the feeding, don't give up easely, they can be quite stubborn!
my frog does the same its just normal behaviour all frogs do that with there throat
Take a deep breath, relax. thats what the frog is doing.
Hey guys, I have another question. On Saturday I ran out of crickets and started buying nightcrawlers. I've been chopping them up into half inch pieces (my frog is a little less than 2" from nose to tail), and my frog has shown zero interest in eating them. They always die before he's interested and dry up. He hasn't eaten since Saturday as far as I can tell. Any tips on getting him to eat? He buries most of the time, and when I try to dig him up to feed he's too scared to eat.
I thought the problem might have been temperature, so I insulated the tank on Monday. He's seemed a lot more active and now buries on all sides of the tank, but he still doesn't eat. Any tips? Insulated with styrofoam board by the way, taped two layers worth all around the back and sides. Pretty sure temperature is good.
First of all don't you monitor the enclosures temperature with some kind of thermometer?
Since your frog is still pretty young it needs temps from 80 to 85F during the day and 75 to 80F at night.
Another reason why it might be a little more active now is that with the sides covered it feels more secure.
And your frog is big enough to eat a entire night crawler. But leaving them on the substrate or in a dish is not a good idea.
Use plastic or rubber tipped tongs to feed the frog. just rub the worm gently across the frogs lips.
be patient it will take a little time.
When it gets hungry enough it will eat it.
Thanks! You're sure he won't get sick from eating the whole thing? They're a good 2-3x his body size. And I do have a thermometer, but it's analog. In the center of the tank (away from the heat lamp), it says 80 degrees. I have rubber tongs and a digital thermometer on the way actually, they should get here tomorrow. It's about 85 right under the lamp last I checked.
You should be ok,
Don't worry if it can't eat it all he will spit it out.
My frog ate this entire horn worm.
It didn't work. I dangled worms in front of him for an hour, he kept his mouth glued shut. He is absolutely terrified of me now though. Any other tips? He's definitely losing weight. He took a bite at the worm (I think) but didn't hold onto it. He's also scratching a lot with his hind legs.
Scratching with his hind legs means he's probably a little scared and trying to burrow away from you. I had one that absolutely refused nightcrawlers, so I waited a while and tryed again when he was older, and it went alot easyer then.
Frogs can be really stubborn, don't give up, but theres no shame in postponing a little.
Like I said it will take time.
Only try it 15min or so at a time at night.
Remember these frogs are also nocturnal.
Have you ever use a red wrigglier if so that might be an issue since those excrete a foul tasting mucus when
injured.
Just be patient and keep trying 15 min at each night or early am.
If the frog gets stressed it is time to quit.
You don't want the frog to associate the tongs with a negative experience.
Also start at the edge of the frogs mouth and go to the center I have heard that this will trigger a strike.
Is your frog still in the 10 gallon tank? Such a large enclosure can stress out a small Pacman and it won't feed while stressed. First thing I recommend is to get an ExoTerra Medium Breeder Box or similar; cover 3 sides with aquarium background or dark paper, and just add a water dish, shredded coco substrate mixed with dechlorinated tap, and a small silk plant. Place frog in it and get the whole thing inside your temperature and humidity regulated 10G tank. You can release frog into 10G once it reaches 3.5-4 in.
In regards to bottled water; there is no telling what is in there. Some companies add chemicals and other over filter it until it's safe for humans; but unsafe for frogs. It's better to get a bottle of Seachem Prime and treat your tap water with it.
Temperature inside the frog's box should be 82F with a slight drop at night. Humidity should be between 70-80%. A combo digital gauge is the best way to monitor these mandatory parameters.
Crickets should be sized same as distance between frog's eyes and gut loaded for 24-48 hours prior to feeding, with carrots, lettuce, oats, and cherios. Night crawlers can be cut from pointy end same as frog's snout to vent length. Would release couple crickets in box half hour before sunset and remove any uneaten ones the next morning. If your frog eats them can add more until it's satiated and stops feeding. For the worms just drop them in front of frog's mouth. Once frog calms down you can try tong feeding; but be aware that some of them won't eat from tongs.
Hope this helps and you can get frog eating soon. Keep us informed of progress and good luck !
Remember to take care of the enclosure and it will take care of your frog !
Thanks! I'll try the smaller enclosure/smaller nightcrawlers. I also turned down the temp a bit for now, because he was slightly buried on the coldest side of the tank when I woke up. Also, I've noticed these little white spots, are they normal? You can see them on the sides. He's starting to look really skinny now, lots of folds where there weren't before.
imgur: the simple image sharer
Can't see white spots on picture. If white specks and moving they are mites and not good for your frog .
Remember to take care of the enclosure and it will take care of your frog !
They weren't moving. They're the little bumps near the edges of his belly. They were probably there before, I just noticed them and thought I'd mention them just in case.
Also, what does hand feeding mean? Apparently he was hand fed at the pet store, I figured that meant with tongs.
Hand fed can mean with tongs or with just hands. While this might seem like a good idea when your frog is small, some won't do this because a giant hand is scary. Also, it's a bad idea because when you have a frog the size of your hand, if your frog is used to hand feeding, good luck with your fingers.
I got a smaller enclosure, but the pet store was almost out of crickets due to a snow storm. I tried putting them in the tank but they all promptly drowned themselves as far as I can tell. Also, every time I mist the tank the temperatures go way down, out of acceptable range. Any way to prevent this?
Also, I can't tell if it's because of the smaller tank or ehat, but he seems to be glistening a bit. Here's a picture that I took while soaking him in hot water.
http://imgur.com/L1b0uLY
Last edited by KerkeringJ; January 24th, 2014 at 07:53 PM.
I don't know if this will help you or not, since I am new to all this myself. I found that a dry substrate caused one of my Pacman frogs to stay buried all the time and wouldn't eat. When I added water to the substrate, he came out and ate just fine for me.
I am keeping 4 frogs in a 20 gal. aquarium with tall dividers in between each frog so they are separated and feel secure. I didn't realize that one end of the tank was drying out more than the other. The other frogs were just fine, but their substrate was a lot 'wetter'. Subsequently, I've found that they tend to burrow less deep the wetter the substrate is and if their heads are above the substrate, they will see their prey without you disturbing them.
Just a thought.
Your substrate looked a little dry compared to mine.
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