New to Pacmans.

[JDS]

Over the last few weeks I've been giving some thought to owning either a Pacman or a Pyxie frog, and after some debate I've finally decided on the Pacman first. Now I've already found out that both species are rarely offered where I live. In fact in all the years I've paid pet stores a visit for crickets or worms for the toads I kept in the past I've never seen a pyxie offered for sale. So before I jump head long into caring for another amphibian again I wanted to get certain things right.

I've read that 10 gallon aquariums are suitable for adult Pacmans, that coconut fiber is preferable substrate, and that I'll may need a smaller starter aquarium for a juvenile. So the first question I have is, what size should I get for the beginner? Also I was wondering about using a polycarbonate lid to ensure humidity and temperatures stay stable and if it would have problems with any heating lamps I may use? If its advisable I could stick with using an UTH with an inline rheostat to control the temperatures in the tank.

Lastly would it be possible to use dubia roaches as regular feeders instead of crickets? In the past I tried and failed several times with breeding crickets. My plan with the roaches centers on buying enough to get a colony started about 2 months in advance to ensure I have a ready supply of food on hand when I do finally find the right Pacman to bring home.

Also if there is something I haven't taken into consideration I'd appreciate some folks here giving me a tip or two.

[Lija]

Welcome to the forums! No problems with a tip or two around here just keep asking questions!

you are def. on a right track with everything here.
Yes 10 gal would work for adult and yes you will need smaller one for a baby. The best is to get well established baby (1-1,5") from reputable breeder or seller. You have lots to choose from, colours/species. keep in mind albinos are sensitive to light, no uvb and only dim light for them.

Uth you need to use on a side only, never on a bottom.

crickets are stinky and annoying and low on nutritional value, best staple is dubia and nightcrawlers.

[Mentat]

Hello and welcome to FF ! Please read this article on Pacman care: Frog Forum - Pacman and Horned Frogs - Ceratophrys - Care and Breeding. You can get a 10 gal. tank and get it stable to 82F daytime with couple degree drop at night and 70-80F humidity. Can use a heat mat, but like Lija stated only on the side or back. Or can use a small (less than 60 watt) ceramic heat emitter on a dimmer type dome. I cover the whole top with aluminum foil and make a hole for light fixture just 1 in. bigger around. It helps keep heat and humidity in. Mist twice a day with treated tap or distilled water to keep humidity at stated levels.

Then you set up a small critter keeper (I use ExoTerra's small or medium breeding boxes depending on baby's size) with an inch of EcoEarth or Plantation Soil mixed with dechlorinated tap until slightly damp and clumps in fist without dripping water out. Add a small ramped water dish (dechlorinated tap changed daily) and a little silk plant. You place the whole critter keeper with the frog inside the 10 gal. and you are done.

For food, the best are night crawlers (not dyed from Walmart's or a local bait shop). You can cut with scissors from pointy end, mouth size for babies, frog's body lenght for 2-3 in. juveniles, and full size for bigger frogs. Dubias should be fed cherios or oats and the occasional fruits. Size them same as distance between frogs eyes to avoid impaction and use recently molted ones when possible. I do not feed mice; but if doing so, never use more than 1 a month and do not feed a large mice to frog. It could rot inside frog before it gets digested and kill your frog . Will need to use supplements, more info on that in here: http://www.frogforum.net/food-feeder...schedules.html. Good luck !

[JDS]

I was thinking for the baby a 5 gallon might work, and a fake rock water dish? As for colors, I've always been partial to greens and blues.

One thing I forgot to mention is the overall temperatures and humidity in my home. Summer I keep the thermostat at roughly 77F for the day and usually it can drop to 76 or 75 over night. Typically during the summer the humidity stay sat around 40 to 50%. During the winter on the other hand temps typically range in the low 80's, but the humidity bottoms out around 18% or lower. The reason behind it being so hot is my parents have kept amazon parrots for years, and we just sort of adapted to the temperatures they tend to fair well in for the seasons.

[Mentat]

Need the enclosure environment to exactly match the Pacman frog needs. Thats 82F (adults can handle to 84F) during the day and high 70's at night. Will also need to maintain 70-80% humidity with either misting or installing a humidifier into the enclosure controlled by a hygrotherm or similar.

The temperature in the house could be tolerated by other species like American toads, Grey Tree frogs, and similar. However, will still need to mist them in the Winter when humidity bottoms out to the teens.

[JDS]

I went ahead and ordered 100 dubia roaches that have at least 1 breeding pair in them, some flukers water crystal to start, a 8w(small) zoo med UTH, zoo med rheostat(manual one), and a analogue temperature and humidity gauge all for the startup of a culture in a 18 gallon sterilite container. Basically I'm aiming to fine tune my temp and humidity control with the dubia before I work on keeping the pacman. Only problem I can foresee now is that even with a rheostat I may not be able to use the UTH on the sterilite container since I read that only the 4w mini is plastic safe.

And for some reason I let my nephew convinced me to take in what looks like 2 adult fowlers toads, and 4 sub adults that look like they hatched this year. They're wild caught so I'll at least make sure they're healthy before turning them loose again. Same with the juveniles unless for some reason they grow on me.

As for picking out my pacman my problems will be finding one once I'm ready for it. Only one local pet store had one last I checked this week, and thankfully it was also the one that I've heard deals with reputable breeders. As for the color. An albino or apricot doesn't look to bad, but I highly doubt I'll be able to find one local.

On a side note, I'll need to know where to mount an UTH on the side of the pacmans enclosure since a heat lamp is out the question. Reason being I don't exactly want my parents dogs to get burnt by it, or the cat they have to decide the pacmans tank is the best place in the house to lay and warm itself on.