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Thread: Having trouble feeding juvenile pacman frog

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    Default Having trouble feeding juvenile pacman frog

    so, I joined this forum solely to ask about my new frog because I don't know where else to turn short of taking it to a vet. I went to a reptile expo in Phoenixville, PA this past Saturday and came home with a juvenile pacman frog. the vendor said it and its siblings had just morphed 5 - 6 weeks ago.

    I set up the frog in a medium-sized "critter keeper" with a shallow water dish (with bottled spring water) and Eco-earth as bedding. for humidity I mist twice a day with a spray bottle (again, bottled spring water is used), and I got a mini heating pad that I placed on the far-right side of the cage (not underneath it). I got one of those crappy stick-on thermometers; 70 and 75 are illuminated usually, so the temperature is somewhere around there. I'm going to get him a better thermometer on Friday when I get paid.

    now, onto my concern. I got the frog on Saturday. on Sunday, it ate two wax worms...and has not eaten since. I can't entice this frog to eat anything at all, now. before, I'd taken him out and put him in a mini critter keeper free of bedding or anything to make it easier for him to eat, and it worked. now I put him in there with two very small crickets, and all he does is jump around like he's trying to get out. he isn't interested in the crickets at all. so, I put him back in the bigger critter keeper and put the crickets in with him to maybe give him a chance to eat undisturbed while I'm at work. I don't expect him to have eaten by the time I get home.

    I haven't seen any evidence of poop in his cage yet, and at this point I just don't know what else I can do. once I get paid I'll have the means to move him to a 5-gallon in which I can better control the temperature and humidity, but I don't know if I should get him a heat lamp as I've read a lot of mixed things about the use of a lightbulb. I'm thinking I may just get a larger heating pad, I don't know.

    I'm going to offer him waxworms again when I get home from work today, but, I'm not hopeful that he'll eat because ever since Sunday he's been just acting like he's afraid of all of his food and of me and of everything else. I know juveniles need to eat regularly while they're still growing, and the last thing I want is for him to starve to death. I'm taking more of a "feed without handling" approach to avoid stressing him out, but for the past two days, that hasn't yielded any results.

    is there anything else I can do to convince the little dude to eat? hopefully adding a photo will work from my phone. he doesn't seem to have any ailments at all but I'm concerned that he may have lost a little bit of body mass since I got him.

    -- I should probably add that this isn't my first frog, but it is my first pacman frog. I have two ACFs, ages 15 and 5, and a pair of WTFs, that I got as juveniles and have had for nearly five years.

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  3. #2
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    Default Re: Having trouble feeding juvenile pacman frog

    Keep temps warmer high 70 to low 80 F**. I'd recommend getting a 10 gallon and using around 40w daylight heat bulb by zoo med and using a heat mat on thermostat at night if temps drop below 70f. Heat lamps are fine, just need to mist more but this species isn't too bad with constant humidity as its from a semi arid place, you just need to mist to keep from thinking the dry season has arrived. I mist mine once per day and seems to be fine. If the substrate completely dries then mist more. Once the heating is sorted it will probably eat more

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    Default Re: Having trouble feeding juvenile pacman frog

    Note that stick on thermometers also known as analogue ones won't measure the temperatures of a heat mat correctly, you need a digital one, with the probe directly on the heat mat. Bigger heat mat won't produce more heat but just a wider area of heat.

  5. #4

    Default Re: Having trouble feeding juvenile pacman frog

    I'll do what I can to up the temperature once I get paid. I'm thinking I'll get him a small light fixture with a bulb that's not too harsh. and, isn't a 10-gallon a bit too big for a frog this size? he's pretty small, maybe a little wider in diameter than a quarter, lol. I have a spare 5-gallon I can use; just gotta get a lid.

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    Default Re: Having trouble feeding juvenile pacman frog

    Nope, most books I've read have recommended this as a starter tank. Smaller tanks provide a **** thermal gradient so if you put a heat lamp on top it may be too much. Anyway, in the wild there is no confined space for the frogs but you can make the frog feel more secure by putting a piece of cork bark or some trailing plants for it to burrow under. If the crickets outrun the frog then feed them by tongs, probably better doing that anyway so they eat the crickets right away before the supplements wear off.

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    Default Re: Having trouble feeding juvenile pacman frog

    If you just got him on Saturday and hes ate at least once for you that's not to bad, don't stress yourself yet. He is probably just trying to adjust to new surroundings. Some of them take longer then others to adjust. My adult Cranwellis when she was a baby took about 3 days to eat and tried to escape and would freak out at night for about a week and half then she finally settled, My ornate ate the first night and had no problems at all, and my new guy I just got is pretty timid. Try to tong feed him in his enclosure like Jason suggested, takeing him out might just freak him out more, And as Jason also sated you should really try to get the temps up, low temps equal slow digestion which will make him not want to eat. But again I think he may just need abit more time to relax, cheers and I hope it works it out for you. Oh I almost forgot, if you cant get him tong feed right away if you have to put the crickets in with him if you take the back legs off them he will have an easier time catching them. Some of these guys have terrible aim.

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