Not Eating

[njunker89]

I purchased my Albino Pacman a few months ago, He/She has yet to eat anything AT ALL. He has plenty of water and food available to him at all times, but still has yet to even attempt to eat. I'm not sure if he's going through a dormant cycle or what. He's not that big, maybe an 1" to 1 1/4" big. His habitat is big(for his size), substrate is moist as well. I just want to know If he is a "dud" as a pet or if he'll come out of this phase. Any help would be gratfully appreciated.

Thanks Guys!

Nick

[GRABibus]

Hi,

please answer to following questions and people will try to help :

1. Size of enclosure
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences
3. Humidity
4. Temperature
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish
6. Materials used for substrate
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.
8. Main food source
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often)
10. Lighting
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure
12. When is the last time he/she ate
13. Have you found poop lately
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)
15. Describe frog's symptoms and/or recent physical changes; to include it's ventral/belly area.
16. How old is the frog
17. How long have you owned him/her
18. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred
19. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats
20. How often the frog is handled
21. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area
22. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc)

[DVirginiana]

At the size you described, you shouldn't see them going into a phase where they won't eat. My guess is that either he is sick, or something is off with the husbandry. Adults will sometimes slow down and go off food for awhile, but babies usually don't unless something is off.

That being said, many of these problems have an easy fix, so this doesn't mean the frog is a 'dud'.

[njunker89]

Ok, Im gonna change his habitat by one factor at a time to see if i can find the culprit as to why he's not eating. I don't think he's sick, it's 2 months and he hasnt shown any abnormaties other than the feeding issue. I can't really tell if his weight is going down, if I had to guess, i would say he looks a little skinny than I think he should. Im gonna put a heating pad under enclosure and have deeper substrate.

[limnologist]

The same thing happened to my pacman when I got my first one 6 years ago. He was pretty much the same size. I didnt know what to do and no one could help me, so I just continued to offer him food and eventually after about 4 weeks he finally ate a small pinky mouse.

[DVirginiana]

Ok, Im gonna change his habitat by one factor at a time to see if i can find the culprit as to why he's not eating. I don't think he's sick, it's 2 months and he hasnt shown any abnormaties other than the feeding issue. I can't really tell if his weight is going down, if I had to guess, i would say he looks a little skinny than I think he should. Im gonna put a heating pad under enclosure and have deeper substrate.

First post the answers to the Trouble in the Enclosure questions so people can see if there's one particular thing wrong. Changing things that may already be correct is just going to stress him more.

Don't put a heating pad under the tank, put it on the side. They burrow to cool off, so that messes with their ability to self regulate.

[njunker89]

Thanks for all the great tips. It's comforting to know that others have experienced the same stuff.