Horned frog care sheet

[jasonm96]

A lot of conflicting information on the care of Horned frogs so I'm working on a care sheet from my trial and errors and stuff I've read. Let me know what you think.

Horned frogs also known as Pac-Man frogs originally come from South America. They’re not what you expect from a normal frog, they’re mainly terrestrial, spending most of their time burrowed in the ground. In captivity they can be quite boring during the day but will show some activity at night when they come out of their burrows to hunt for food. They’re readily captive bred and sold at most pet shops, reptile shows, online or from breeders. I’ve found most pet shops don’t have the knowledge to care for amphibians, housing them wrong and offering poor information.

Because these frogs are terrestrial they’re pretty easy to set up. Many people recommend starting off with a 5 gallon tank, I do not see the point in doing this. In the wild there is no limit to space and with such a small tank heating can become problematic. I recommend starting off with a 10 gallon glass tank, which will house a male for its entire life. Females grow larger and I would use a 20 gallon terrarium for them. Use at least 2 inches of coco fiber as the substrate so the frog can burrow. It's best to avoid gravel, bark and moss, as the frog may swallow these substrates and become impacted, which can be fatal. Add a water dish just large enough for the frog to soak but it must be shallow and easy-accessible as Pac Man frogs are not great swimmers. Add a fake hanging plant and cork bark flat so the animal can hide in the shade away from sight or heat source as desired.

Heating is usually necessary unless you live in a warm climate. Without the correct temperatures the frog will not thrive and many problems will occur. During the day they need an ambient temperature in the mid to high Celsius with a night drop into the low Celsius. Most people use heat mats but I do not recommend them for this animal or any amphibian. Under tank heaters or heat mats work best under the tank with a thin layer of substrate. Amphibians need a thick layer to burrow down. When a Pac-Man is too warm, it will burrow into the ground to cool down but with a heat mat on the floor, it may become confused and stressed. Heat mats don’t work well on the wall and require the animal to be above substrate level and next to it in order to warm up. The best source of heating is from above, with red incandescent lamps being ideal as it can be left on 24 hours a day, which also allows you to view the frog at night when it comes out of its burrow. Because a night time drop is required, I recommend using a thermostat with a day and night setting, which will allow you to dim the lamp down to provide a cooler night time temperature like what would happen in the wild.

Pac-Man frogs in the wild adapt to dry conditions by going into estivation to retain moisture but to keep them active you should keep the substrate moist. Never let the substrate completely dry or become waterlogged. Use a portable pressure sprayer to mist the tank as needed to keep the humidity around 60-80%. If you struggle to keep humidity levels up there are reptile waterfalls and misting systems that can help you. Remember to always use water treated with conditioner to remove the chlorine.

Feeding is the most enjoyable experience when keeping this frog as they love their food and can eat a lot. They’re diet should consist of crickets, earthworms, roaches and the occasional thawed mouse. Youngsters should be fed daily, as they grow becoming every other day and when full grown once a week or less. Food should be no more than half of the size of frog and ideally fed out at night when the frog is active. Feed as much as it'll take, putting a few food items in a time. Remove any leftovers so they do not stress the frog out or attempt to nibble on it. A pre-killed pinkie mouse can be fed by tongs to juveniles and an adult mouse for good sized adult but no more than a month. To prevent metabolic bone disease, a calcium deficiency that leads to poor bone development, dust crickets before feeding with a high quality calcium that contains d3 and a multi vitamin powder. Juveniles should be coated at most feedings and adults at every other.

Amphibians are look but not touch pets and should not be handled unless doing maintenance. Although some tolerate being handled, many do not appreciate it and will become stressed. When you need to remove the frog to clean the enclosure, make sure to wet your hands down with de-chlorinated water so the heat from your hands does not harm the frogs sensitive skin.

Pac-Man frogs produce a lot of waste, so regular cleaning is required to prevent any harmful bacteria build up. Daily tasks include changing the water dish and removing any feces or dead feeder insects. Around every 2-4 weeks the substrate should be discarded and the terrarium and decorations should be rinsed in warm water.


Hope this may help anyone. Any constructive feed back will be great.

[monster]

The part about heat matts being no good on the side is not exactly correct and its not a hard a problem to solve. You build 3 walls like as if it was on the table and the problems solved. Takes 5 mins to do, and by doing it this way you are also covering the 3 sides so he cant see out. And I will be honest my frogs never stay right against the glass, they are actually more on the cooler end of the tank during the day which sits at 79F and the warm end is 82f. If and when they burrow on the warm side its never right against were the matt is either and they are only there a few days before moving back to the other side. Both my tanks are kept the same and my frogs are nice and healthy eat and poop on regular basis.

[jasonm96]

having 3 heat mats is not really ideal and linked to one thermostat not such a good idea. the thermostat probe would need to be next to the glass to make sure the glass does not get too hot, if one mat would fail then the glass of one side (where the thermostat probe is not at) could go extremely hot and possibly burn the frog if it were to lean on the glass. there also might be a risk of the glass cracking if sprayed directly because of the change in temperature but this has never happened to me but i personally wouldn't risk it on my exo terra tank. naturally, heat comes from the sun and therefore downwards so most animals will be used to that.

[monster]

OH my lord I just sat here typing a whole answer to you and it tried to tell me I wasn't logged in when I was and now its gone. I didn't say I used 3 heat matts I said to build 3 walls around the outside to hold in the heat almost acting as if it was on the bottom. I have a infrared gun and at full capacity that glass were the matt is reaches about 88f so I don't think any frogs are getting burned on there. I also have sprayed the glass directly were the matt is and nothing ever happens, I actually tested it out one night on full and nothing. I took the frog out don't worry and if it broke I didn't really care because that would be a great excuse to buy another tank. I personally think this part of the husbandry is really what the keeper prefers. The one thing I will point out about the matts is you always want to go up one size from what your tank is when placing on the side. Im not trying to say your wrong or start an argument I just think that both ways can be an efficient way of heating your tank. Well that and you asked for opinions so I thought I would share mine. And one more thing if you are going to use this and want others to use it as a care guide you may want to be a little more specific about the temps. Mid to high Celsius during the day then let it drop into the lower Celsius at night I imagine a lot of people will be a little confused to what exact temp they should have. From what I understand and again im just sharing the knowledge I have learned because you asked for opinions is around 82f during the day is ideal and an adult can stay in temps in a range of 85f but the 82f mark would be better even for the adult. Night temps can go to around 75f but around the 77f would be a more ideal temp. This part was actually recommended by my exotic vet, but I have read it in other places also.

[jasonm96]

i hate it when that happens haha! aw good, i was like 'seriously? 3 mats?' i'll have to look into that further but i'll probably use a spare tank and stick with the heat lamp for the frog. i do favor a heat lamp as it raises the ambient temperature of the tank. thanks for pointing that out day time temperatures in fahrenheit would be 78f to 84f with night time temperatures allowed to drop no lower than 70f. thanks for your feedback cory, i do want to make an accurate care sheet (as pet stores are usually ****) and you're helping me do that