Timid Ornate Horned Frog

[daybr4ke]

Hello Frog Forum! About a month ago I purchased a "pacman frog" from petsmart. After purchasing I used info from threads on this site and was surprised to find I had an ornate. I've read they are more voracious than cranwells are, yet the little guy won't eat in front of me, or accept food from tongs, which wouldn't seem odd off the bat, but the employee I spoke to stated they fed him with tongs, and I don't see why he would lie. At first I wondered if he was eating, or might be sick, but little Paccy Maniau has persisted and occasionally leaves nice, big healthy looking poos in his dish, despite rarely being willing to eat in front of me. Do I simply have to wait for him to get used to me? I worry someone at petsmart was a little rough with him, or that people tapped on his tank to try and get him to move around or something. He's on exo-terra plantation soil, temp kept around 80, humidity ranges in 65-80, but settles between spraying at around 70. He's inside an extra large critter keeper, which I should probably cover 3 sides of. I think his temperature might go a bit too low at night, however, and may pick up a red heat bulb, if that's a good option. Sorry for the long post, I'll add pics when possible. Thanks in advance!

[monster]

Hi, if hes leaving poops for you your right that hes got to be eating something. You may just have a shy frog that needs some time to adjust to you and the tongs, just keep trying and he should come around. The one thing I would suggest and could be slowing his appetite down is the heat, try to get it up around 83f and this may help. And then let drop a few degrees at night. A lot of the time when these little buggers wont eat its because they aren't warm enough, the few extra degrees will help speed his metabolism up so he will digest faster and this will make him more eager and willing to eat.

[hisk]

I find that I have an easier time tong training if I have a treat I only give them on the tongs at first. Wax worms seem to work pretty well, just let him eat a few on his own and then he'll be more likely to take them from the tongs. On the other hand, with one of my more resistant little guys I would just use it to drop worms in front of him rather than forcing him to take it directly from the tongs. Before long he got used to it on his own, and was perfectly willing to practically hang off the feeders if I didn't let go fast enough!

Like monster said, it's probably just a matter of time and patience.

[Pyru]

I would say it's probably temp related as well. I'd try to get it up to what was previously mentioned

[daybr4ke]

Thanks for the advice! I'd read a bit about that, and the temp is usually a little over 80, but it fluctuates. It's a pretty cheapo thermometer/hydro gauge, so I wonder about the accuracy a tiny bit. Once in a while I check it and the temp has changed, once I caught it at 90 or so and closed the curtains to lower the temp, but I worry a little. After that the temp went down to 70 and I had to reposition my lamp. What some ways I can keep it more constant? I'd imagine if he gets too hot he'll move to the side the lamp isn't on or get in the pool, but I'd prefer if he didn't have to. Also, my lighting is currently a 50w daylight heat bulb which shines on half his enclosure, I meant have that in the original essay post.
Edit: Almost forgot, I read on some site(s) that pacman frogs don't care about decorations, but I wonder if maybe prettying up he area might make him happier and more comfortable.