All Glory to the Hypnotoad

[PacmanOwner42]

Sometime in april I purchased an Adorable Pacman frog, At the moment we beleive it to be male as it has spoken one or twice, though we are still not certin.

Hypnotoad is doing great, he/she is loving Its new habitat and seems completely comfortable in it,However It is very picky about food, So far It will only eat Live mice, and I don't think Hypnotoads nibbled on any of the crickets I give it. I've begun looking into other foods, It doesn't like to be hand fed, and ignores any attempts to feed it fish, I'm considering the possability of feeder lizards, and worms as well.

Before managing to get it to eat Hypnotoad went 4 weeks without eating anything I tried Dead fuzzies/hoppers crickets, fish, Hypnotoad refused all of it. until I Finally found a place that sold Live feeder mice purchased a live one, and so far thats all It has been willing to eat.



My latest thought would be purchaseing some Anoles, and breeding them myself, as I had planned to possibly do with the mice, However I'm still not sure if it will eat anoles, or, if they are healthy for it to eat, Are there any lizards you would suggest feeding to it?


I need to know what suggestions anyone here has for what I could try and Where I should get said food.

[hyla]

I am sorry you are having trouble getting your frog to eat. I am sure you know it isnt healthy to feed your frog rodents very often and unfortunately I dont believe you should feed it anoles at all. I do know about other lizards, but my guess is all lizards are out of the question. Maybe some kind of giant insect will get its attention!

[PacmanOwner42]

Yea, Thats why I am here, I wouldn't mind giving it a mouse every 2 weeks or so, If it ate other things inbetween,

If i were to try to get worms, Is there someplace you could suggest? I was told nightcrawlers might work, however I haven't been able to find anyone that sells them around here except Walmarts bait area.

Personally I'm getting fed up with Petsmart as they try to tell me that mice should be all it needs and that he should only eat once a week.

[hyla]

I was looking at a baby pacman at a petsmart before and the associate also said that all they eat is mice. I knew from being on here they were incorrect. As for the earthworms, bait shops is what comes to mind, maybe someone else knows of another option. Did you say you tried roaches?

[1beataway]

Some pet stores do sell earthworms. I know we do for sure. It's expensive though. It's like 12 for $4.50.

[PacmanOwner42]

I haven't tried roaches, but I was told to stay away from hard shelled insects as it could cause intestinal blockages.

And they don't sell them around here,

bait shops it is, i'll try some nightcrawlers, any other suggestions?

[John]

In the US you can buy earthworms from Walmart for about $3 for 20 (varies a bit with the part of the country). Look in the Sports and Outdoors section. You can also get them in places like Academy. Walmart sometimes sells waxworms too.

[PacmanOwner42]

I wasn't quitesure about wal-mart, but if you think they would have relativly worry free worms for my pet I'll have to trust you.

[John]

I've used them for years. There are some in my fridge right now.

[jelkins]

The Walmart here in Frankfort, KY sells night-crawlers, 24 per container and I've used them for years without issue.

I recently purchased a pacman from LLL reptile, but have had no issues with it eating a variety of foods. I haven't fed it any mice yet, but mine seems to love crawdads...Eats the heck out of them. It eats about every other day and I try and give it different foods on a weekly basis, but nightcrawlers are it's primary staple.

[googie]

Hi:

The PetSmart and Petco around here selsl nightcrawlers (Upstate NY). Besides the poor nutrition value of mice, and the possibility of lipid deposits, you also run the risk of the mouse if live, injurying your frog.

A good staple diet would be nightcrawlers, my PacMan however seems somewhat intimidated by there size, and goes for a step down in size and will eat Red Wigglers.
Both worms would be a good staple diet, with the introduction or crickets, roaches, supermealworms, etc to offer a variation in diet.

I have fed bait shop & WalMart nightcralwers to my African Bullfrog with no ill side effects. Most of these places get there stock from "worm farms" the same as the pet stores.

Hope this helps and best of luck.

Chris

[John]

Most of these places get there stock from "worm farms" the same as the pet stores.

But a lot cheaper in Walmart than Pet Stores.

[googie]

I agree, at least half the price.

[PacmanOwner42]

I've found something elce that appears to be a problem, He refuses to eat when he's not in his Habitat, At the moment I've got him in another place to eat without any bedding, he doesn't appear to want to eat the worms or the crickets, Though i bought about 10 or so, crickets and put 3 nightcrawlers in. I've heard some bad stuff about some types of moss, Does the stuff in the pics appear to be anything bad if he did eat some? I might place him in his home and toss a few worms in there to see if he wants them when he's there.

Hopefully he will eat something other than mice.

[Deku]

Hmm not to come off as rude... But... Don't feed it mamals(rodents), avians(birds), reptilians or other amphibians. Its not very healthy for them and could transmit some sort of bug.
Its not going to eat crickets because if you read up on them(books?) pacmans are sedentary predators. Meaning they are going to sit there and wait for the food to come to him. Here are foods to feed:
1)Earthworms= High protein, low on fat.

2)Roaches: madagascan hissing roaches are easy to find.


Stay away from fish. Especially goldfish. Goldfish are not suitable food source for ANY kind of animal of any kind. It doesnt matter if the animal needs to eat fish. Goldfish are high in fat, low on protein, very un-nutritional, and may contain "bugs".
Feed your frog every 2days. If you feed LARGE earthworms only feed 3large earthworms. If you feed roaches. At most only feed 2 large roaches. Dont go by that thing "feed per once per week". Its not a snake. Its a frog, and its not healthy for it. It might not eat because of temps, low humidity, and inappropriate housing and bedding. Make sure you use natural soil or potting soil. I find eco earth and all that junk to be useless, messy, and gets stuck to the amphibians skin. Ived seen frogs get irritated by it trying to get it off them. Dont use sand, or gravel. Just go with normal potting soil that has no additives, no pesticies, no nothing. Just pure dirt. Provide a leaf litter, a shallow dish with water, and a hiding place.

[PacmanOwner42]

I think some of you are missing some of the more important parts of information about this, He cannot/refuses to be Fed by tong or by hand, And when placed into a seperate tank to feed, refuses to do anything but try to escape it, he so far seems uninterested in worms, when I place a live mouse in the Tank though, he seems to perk up and sometimes even come out to eat it. other than that he will just stay hidden away.


As for his living conditions, the temp goes from 73.6 at night to about 82.3 about mid afternoon, Humidity fluxuates from 65-80 due to the low humidity level in my room, I have to run the fogger, for 15 min every 45 min, to keep it high. the substrate helps, its the Exo terra forrest moss, though next time i'm putting down about an inch or so of soil first, and just covering that with a layer of the exo terra stuff.


I originally bout him from Petco he looked so adorable I couldn't not buy him, and he seemed deathly affraid of people, they couldn't tell me when it last was he ate, but that they usually only feed him once every 2 weeks, and then they feed him two dead fuzzies, how they did this I don't know cause he won't touch anything thats been killed before hand. nevertheless anything tong fed. And how it was alive with a feeding schedual like that i'll never know, thats why i'm trying to get him to eat diffrent thing and more often however he just won't touch anything besides mice, he has however begun to warm up to me and will sometimes let me hold him, when its time to clean his house.
Perhaps there is a way to make the mice more nutricious for him? I'm willing to try anything to help my little guy

[John]

It sounds to me like he eats well enough to afford to be fussy about his food. If you're having problems getting him to eat foods aside from mice, then he needs to be introduced to some hunger - mice are not a staple food for frogs. As for feeding him in another container, this doesn't work very well for Pacman frogs in my experience but others make it work. Again, hunger works wonders. Same goes for tongs. We're not talking about starving the frog but a little hunger will do wonders if it makes this frog eat a more balanced diet.

[Deku]

You bought him 3-4 months ago from a terrible petstore that doesnt know squat about animals. Granted your frog may like the mice. But its absolutely not healthy for it. Its mainly fat. Just like a goldfish. Amphibians have trouble trying to consume mamalian meat. Just get insects that arent "hyper" like a cricket and plop em in. Dont feed him in a seperate tank. I think eco earth is not the best substrate. Some people will object but from the past experiences. I tried it with all my frogs, NONE of them liked it. They all sat in the bowl trying to get the stuff off. What you may want to do is just get soil from your backyard, provided its pesticide free, or just get potting soil. Make sure its 4inches deep. My friends pacman had the same problem as yours. Wouldnt eat dead mice or anything. I powdered the pinky mice for him untill I found a solution for him. I dropped in worms in a dish the worms cou ldnt escape and the frog was all over them. Hes also ate live roaches. Live earthworms and roaches are your best bet. Make sure the terrarium has enough soil to dig, a dish, the light isnt TOO bright(no basking light). You dont have to feed with thongs. Thats only mainly for dead prey. I think you should try the roaches
hope this helps

[PacmanOwner42]

its been about a week and a half since his last mouse, and I'll hold off another week, in hopes he will eat the crickets and worms,

Does the habitat i have for him sound alright? I haven't been able to come acrost much information that was at all specific, and most of the care sheets seem to have images of them in water with pebbles and thats a nono from what i understand,

Are there any plants you would suggest? anything that would help me take out the fake plants and hopefully increase the humidity levels? that way i could keep it more at a constant and not an almost 20% change?
Does the habitat in the image appear sutable to you?

I'm still very new to this, I know he won't be getting to much bigger if at all, and I'm unsure of his age, he appears to have moved out from his latest hole and placed himself a little more into the open,

[Deku]

Look, as I said he wont be able to catch the crickets. The crickets are too fast for him. Think of it like this, do you think an obese person can be as fast as an athletic person?(no offense to anyone out there. Just trying to prove a point.) The answer is no. Same with your frog, its supposed to be fat, but alas because its fat it cannot go catch the crickets. They depend on chamoflauge. Just get a large DEEP dish and put live earthworms in there. For best result try getting a 2-3 inch deep bowl.

Also hes probably still afraid of you and anyone else. I have a cane toad, named bubby. Shes afraid of everyone. Anyone picks her up and she pees on them. Lately shes been taming down. But it took her half a year to do that. Well since I got her. Like I said dont feed mice or any sort of rodent to your frog. Its extremely unhealthy for them.


As for your set up. I dont know much about your set up.

But heres what works for most people that I know that have these frogs(quite alot, since they are common.).

Make sure to cover the left, right and backside of the terrarium.
People say a 10gallon is okay for these frogs. Personally, I think thats a bit cramped. Even though they dont move much, they still move somewhat everyso often. So I say go for a 30 breeder. Their not TOOO big, but not TOO small. They tend to come with a lid that you can put a lock on. You can get em used online or buy them at a regular petstore. Petsmart stocks these.

You should most defenitely use REGULAR soil. Coco husk and all that stuff tends to stick to the frog itself, and ived had myself, and know friends who have had problems with these dirt. I mean put your hand on it, the dirt stick to you. Why wouldnt it stick to a frog? So. I would do a layer of 3inches deep of gravel on the bottom followed up with some sheets of plexiglass(thin), then 4inches deep of soil. You should get dried up leaves and cover the bottom with it. These frogs will appreciate it. I think joshs frog also sells them if you want to buy them rather than go out and get em.

Plants? Id say ferns, phelodendruns and the sort will work. Make sure NOT to put a real bright light in the tank. I would keep the plants potted.

Fake plants id say ivy?

Anywho, just stay away from rodents. You could still try crickets, but he wont be able to catch em and give up. Try slow items like worms, slugs, and stuff of the sort. DOnt try goldfish, reptiles, other amphibians, mammals, etc. Because they can transmit parasites or other stuff to your frog and are not healthy for it. Mice are mainly just made of fat. These frogs need to be fat, but they shouldnt get item sthat are high in fat.

Oh and just give him time to settle in. Sometimes animals take in a long time to get used to their owners. Just as a child takes time to get used to new people. Or better yet, new "parents". Food for thought.
Also, pebbles in the aquatic part is okay. Just because hes not going to consume them. He wont eat in the water. I f you put pebbles in the land area yes. So a dish with water and pebbles as a surface is okay. Just mak e sure to clean them daily, and watch him for behaviour.