Help with Pacman Frogs

[Bradley0046]

Hi, im new but wondered if someone could help me.

Yesterday morning me and my girlfriend bought two pacman frogs off a guy, he dropped them off in the tank he had them in. We currently have slider turtles, tropical fish and my girlfriend has African albino black clawed frogs so we have experience in dealing different types of pets, i know frogs like this require different things but figured i could give them a nice new home after doing research on them. We bought them partly because, due to what i do know the tank set up was completely wrong and wanted to help them. Here is the set up he had them in. 10 gallon tank with two pacman frogs (im gonna take a guess at one male and one female), he used synthetic cotton as a substrate and there was an inch of standing water in the tank, a under tank heater on the side of the tank, no thermometer and no hydrometer. Now as far as im aware that set up is completely wrong, i know the thermometer or hydrometer are important and the substrate and water im guessing are bad for them like that as well. Also, i know you shouldnt have two together as they can attack.

Anyway, i went out and spent money on eco earth, food, thermometer, hydrometer, everthing, was even gonna put the second frog in a separate tank. They looked fine when we left but when we got back one of them looked like it was dead, it looked deflated, wasnt moving, couldnt see it breathing, i was hoping it had gone into estivation but i have done everything recommended to try and bring it out, put it in its water dish so the water is just below its chin and got the temps up to 80 and the humidity much higher than it was so now its at 80% using a humidity machine or whatever they are called. However it hasnt moved at all apart from it seems to have bloated a bit. the second one wasnt looking too good either, looked like it had no energy and was struggling to stand but seems to have improved this morning.

I told the guy who we got them from and he gave us a load of abuse and laughed that it had died so he just needs locking up or something.

Can anyone recommend anything to help with the second one, like i said its improved and seems fine at the moment but dont want it to die as well. Im guessing the first one is dead, the only thing that makes me unsure is that it seems to have bloated or can that still happen after it dies?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks

[Bradley0046]

Anyone willing to give me advice? I have the one that is still alive set up in the new tank rather than the poor effort he brought them round in. The new tank is 15 gallon, temperature was 77 degrees during the night and yesterday afternoon i had it at 82 degrees. The humidity seems to be staying constant at 80, substrate put down is the cocofibre that i have been recommended.

The first one is obviously dead now unfortunately but the second one is still alive, seems very lethargic though and not moved much.

Would really appreciate any advice.

[LJ]

What a jerk that sold you those frogs. It's good you have the one still since they'd most definitely be goners with him.

Has your frog ate recently?? A good indicator of their health is their eating. I try to feed juveniles once a day. You may have to start with crickets, but eventually try to move to nightcrawlers. They are much easier for your frog to digest.

Pacman frogs in general seem very lethargic. It's normal for them not to move much.

Pictures of the frog would be good. Does he look bloated?? Whether he is eating is a big indicator.

[Bradley0046]

He is scum and shouldnt be allowed to have any pet at all!

i have put a few crickets in the tank with him and used a pair of tweezers to feed him one which after a couple of minutes he gobbled up which i took as a good sign, that was about 3-4 hours ago, before then he hadn't eaten at all.

Since this morning though i would say there has been a big improvement, all yesterday he didn't move from the same spot, this morning he had moved into the water dish for a soak and is now buried under the cocofibre, and the temperature of the tank as well as the humidity seem to be stable which will help.

The guy who we had them off told me he has had them for 14 months but i don't know whether to believe him as i don't think they would survive any where near that long in the conditions they were in, i cant take a photo at the moment as my phone camera lens broke a while ago but i will try and get my girlfriend to come round later to take a photo so you can judge for yourself.

I wouldn't say he is over bloated, based on photos i have seen of other pacmans i would say he looks normal, definitely not deflated like the one that died looked.

Im sure you will be able to tell me when i can upload a photo but he looks like a cranwell.

[Bradley0046]

Just to update anyone who is interested, the surviving frog seems to be really improving, he has spent a lot of time completely buried but i have seen him eat 3 crickets so far in the last 24 hours so at least he is eating and was out this morning. Do they normally spend hours at a time under the substrate? he was there from about 3pm yesterday (maybe earlier) and didnt come out at all until this morning.

[LJ]

Not just hours, sometimes they can be under for days I hear. It's normal if they're eating..

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

[Hypnotic]

Burrowing is normal behaviour in pacman frogs. I would be more worried if he stops burrowing then if he spends too much time under.
Make sure he doesn't have too much substrate, he should be able to burrow, but not very deep, especially not as a baby. I give mine enough to burrow with the head above it. Some still create deep burrows by using surrounding soil, but most of my frogs have the little head peeking out.

Are you using treated water? What are you feeding? And what supplements do you use for him?

It would really help if you could post some pictures of both the frog and the enclosure.

[Bradley0046]

I will take a bit of the substrate out, it is currently covering most of him apart from the very top of him.

Yes, the water is treated and i am currently feeding him crickets as that is what i have been recommended to start off with which i have been told to feed him every other day for the time being and i am coating the food in a powder with calcium and Vitamin D3 which i was given for him. I have been recommended to powder his food every feed for the first week as he isn't in top condition due to the way the previous owner neglected them then take him back and see what they think.

Unfortunately i still cant get a pic, like i said earlier my camera lens on my phone is broke and i was gonna get my girlfriend to do it but she hasnt been able to come round for the last few days due to work. As soon as she does though i will get them taken to show you.

Thanks for the help, i will keep you all updated.

[Hypnotic]

What size is the frog right now? If he's still very small, be sure to offer food daily, also, do you feed with tongs or drop them in? And howmany does he eat per feeding?
I currently have a newly aquired baby, he eats about 5-7 small nightcrawlers on a daily basis. Once you get him running, I would switch to nightcrawlers. I powder as following : weekdays = calcium +D3 every other day, so if you feed every other day, every feeding = calcium. On the weekends I offer multi vitamins on either saturday or sunday. Always give them a day in between supplements and never mix them, one slows down the intake of the other.
Hope everything goes well!

[Bradley0046]

Off the top of my head i would say he is 1.5-2 inches, the guy i rescued him off said he had him 14 months but as i said in an earlier post i'm unsure whether to believe that as i doubt it would have survived that long in the housing conditions he had them in.

I have done a mixture of both, fed him with tongs and left a couple in the tank to see if they disappear over night. He has had 3 crickets by hand feeding although it does take a while until he grabs hold of the cricket and i have noticed one, possibly two crickets i have left in the tank have gone missing over night, that is everything he has eaten since i rescued him on Friday. ok, i will powder as you say. Got to make sure the little guy survives, doesn't sound like he is eating as much as he should but at least he is eating something (the first day he ate nothing and could barely stand) and has made an improvement since i rescued him, fingers crossed he is on the up!

[Hypnotic]

It does sound like an improvement! They can be a little reluctant to eat, especially if they are doing bad. I would honestly try tong feeding him, if he's a little picky, rub the prey from left to right against his lower lip. (Make sure if your using crickets, to remove he jumping legs and rub using the butt, mine always hate the legs grabbing onto the face) At that size, I would offer food daily. I have a baby and it's 2", 2" can't be 14 months old.
Be sure to post an update when something changes!

[Bradley0046]

yeh, i didnt think it was 14 months old but thanks for clarifying.

Thanks for the advice, its appreciated. I will keep you updated on how he is doing and try what you said when feeding.