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Thread: Pacman wont stay out of water

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    Default Pacman wont stay out of water

    Cupcake is about threeyears old and has always acted normally. About a month ago, she started burrowing for weeks at a time. I cleaned her cage and her substrate (cocoearth) which is kept moist. She is in a 10 gallon tank kept at 78. After i dug her up to check on her, she began soaking nonstop for a week now. When i tried to handfeed her a 3 wk cricket, which she used to love, she made a grumpy noise to me. I change her water fur times her day (bottled Arrowhead). Our other pacman in another tank eats and poops constantly, same conditions. Cupcake has a uv day lamp and night warming lamp. Have tried various temperatures thinking maybe she was too cold or too hot. Have reduced the number of crickets in the tank thinking maybe the crickets bother her (the crickets have cricket food). But all shewants to do is stay in her water dish. Any suggestions?

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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Tried a warm honey path. She seemed to enjoy it. But when it was done, she hopped right back into her regular water. .??

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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Honey baths are really only needed for minor prolapses and I generally wouldn't recommend it for other things. It sounds like your humidity is too low, so she is constantly seeking humidity from her water dish. Do you happen to have a hygrometer to measure humidity? If not there are several on amazon. They are necessary to ensure proper conditions. If she is in a screen top tank I would cover most of it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil also to reduce moisture loss into the air. The UV lamp is fine but depending on the type of heat bulb you use, it may be dropping humidity also. Can you provide an image or an amazon like for the lighting you have?

    I apologize for not responding sooner. This forum used to be very active but nowadays theres a lot of spam or just dead silence. I will keep a close eye on this thread for your response.
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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Olivia, thank you. I think you are right, that Cupcake needs more humidity. She finally went underground and wouldnt come out. I dug her up a couple of times and fed her a waxworm. Our other pacman, Mr Frog, in a smaller cage, eats and poops constantly; ijust mist him twice per day. Cuppy obviously wants more humidity so i will increase her misting a lot. Will get a hygrometer and will cover her cage with a towel. Mr Frog is an ornate and Cuppy is yellow and brown.

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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Quote Originally Posted by cwebster View Post
    Olivia, thank you. I think you are right, that Cupcake needs more humidity. She finally went underground and wouldnt come out. I dug her up a couple of times and fed her a waxworm. Our other pacman, Mr Frog, in a smaller cage, eats and poops constantly; ijust mist him twice per day. Cuppy obviously wants more humidity so i will increase her misting a lot. Will get a hygrometer and will cover her cage with a towel. Mr Frog is an ornate and Cuppy is yellow and brown.
    I'm glad to hear you have a plan! Also, I'd like to retract my statement about honey/sugar water for prolapses. It can work, but it's dangerous because you will have wasted valuable time if it doesn't work. Just wanted to put that out there.

    P.S. I love the name Cupcake! It's so cute
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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Humidity is a possibility as was stated above, but sometimes especially if they've been remaining burrowed for long periods of time, they will choose to soak for extended periods sort of a way of cleaning out their system.

    Refusing food can also be related to lower than normal humidity. If you are using lights as a heat source they will burn off ambient air humidity. It has to be countered with more frequent misting.

    As for getting upset about you trying to feed her, well that is her telling you to leave her alone. She is likely a bit annoyed with all the attention she's been getting. You can just let her be and adjust her humidity though this time of year they do tend to slow down and not eat as much because they can still sense the changes outside even though their tank climate is maintained.

    Raise the humidity and keep it up for a few days then offer her a more enticing food item like an appropriately sized frozen thawed feeder mouse and see if that interests her.

    Best of luck.


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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Kept Cuppy’s humidity high, then fed her a defrosted pinkie and later some waxworms. Also there were tiny gnats in the soil so i cleaned the dirt out and replaced it. She seemed very happy for a day, burrowing but sticking her head out. But the gnats are back. Any ideas on how to get rid of them? Thanks!

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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Success! Found some fungus gnat predators at the hardware store. Changed Cupcake’s cocoearth again. Put fruit fly traps in the nearby kitchen and got rid of the fruit flies’ food in the kitchen(gooey grapes and blueberries). Cuppy is back to her old self! She was really bothered by the gnats/flies crawling her. Now that they are gone,i am still giving her more humidity. She is sitting in her usual partially burrowed pose waiting for food.

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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Quote Originally Posted by cwebster View Post
    Success! Found some fungus gnat predators at the hardware store. Changed Cupcake’s cocoearth again. Put fruit fly traps in the nearby kitchen and got rid of the fruit flies’ food in the kitchen(gooey grapes and blueberries). Cuppy is back to her old self! She was really bothered by the gnats/flies crawling her. Now that they are gone,i am still giving her more humidity. She is sitting in her usual partially burrowed pose waiting for food.
    I'm so glad to hear that! I hope all goes well for you and Cuppy going forward!
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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Quote Originally Posted by cwebster View Post
    Success! Found some fungus gnat predators at the hardware store. Changed Cupcake’s cocoearth again. Put fruit fly traps in the nearby kitchen and got rid of the fruit flies’ food in the kitchen(gooey grapes and blueberries). Cuppy is back to her old self! She was really bothered by the gnats/flies crawling her. Now that they are gone,i am still giving her more humidity. She is sitting in her usual partially burrowed pose waiting for food.
    That's good to hear. Fungus gnats are pretty common. They're attracted to the moisture of the substrate and will even lay their eggs on the rim of the Frog's water dish. They're harmless, but very annoying.

    Now that she's back to normal you can relax and enjoy her.


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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Cuppy seems happier without the gnats but has been looking skinny and sitting with her eyes closed, not eating much.i had her detox in water. Then i started hand feeding her crickets (if i touch her mouth, she opens it and i put the crickets in). She then started grabbing crickets again. Will supplement her food until she is back to her normal plumper shape (her hips were showing). She is tame, but pacmans are hard.

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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Quote Originally Posted by cwebster View Post
    Cuppy seems happier without the gnats but has been looking skinny and sitting with her eyes closed, not eating much.i had her detox in water. Then i started hand feeding her crickets (if i touch her mouth, she opens it and i put the crickets in). She then started grabbing crickets again. Will supplement her food until she is back to her normal plumper shape (her hips were showing). She is tame, but pacmans are hard.
    Do you not supplement her food normally...? Also what do you meant by "detox"? Many eye related issues can be traced back to vitamin A deficiency. Even if supplementing for vitamin A, the majority of brands use beta carotene which insectivores like frogs cannot metabolize. You need to find a brand with retinol listed in the ingredients. Many people recommend this vitamin powder by Repashy with occasional supplementation (1-2 times/month) of this Repashy supplement as well. Calcium powder w/D3 should be included for specimens which are not receiving UVB lighting. Contrary to popular belief, the ratio of D3 to calcium needs to be varied per species. I've also heard good things about this calcium supplement by Repashy. I intern at an exotics clinic as a student and this is the favorite brand of many of the vets, assistants, and techs that work there who also own herps. It's also the brand that they sell to clients who are in need of supplements.

    As for schedule, while my two lovely gray tree frogs passed away over the course of this year I did use to go on a schedule of 3:1. So three feedings of calcium, then one feeding with vitamins. Then, supplement one of those vitamin days a month for the Repashy Vitamin A Plus. My feeders always had some calcium powder and vitamin powder sprinkled on their food since gut loading is a necessity as well.

    Please note that I'm not an actual vet tech or assistant, just a keeper and high school student who is pursuing reptile medicine and will be starting my pre-vet studies next fall. What I said should not take precedence over the advice of an actual DVM who has examined your animal and made care/nutrition recommendations. For a case as severe as what is happening with your Cuppy, please see a vet! You can check the ARAV website for a list of reputable reptile and amphibian vets.
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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    I just reread your initial post and would like to correct myself and say that since you have a UVB lamp, DO NOT give calcium with D3. Like I said, you can definitely give a frog too much of that.
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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Quote Originally Posted by Animallover3541 View Post
    I just reread your initial post and would like to correct myself and say that since you have a UVB lamp, DO NOT give calcium with D3. Like I said, you can definitely give a frog too much of that.
    thank you for the suggestions! Cuppy has been doing much better. She eats out of my hand. Today, i noticed her back leg joint looks a little swollen so will take her to our exotics vet. In the meantime,have encouraged her to soak and put antibiotic drops on her knee.

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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Cuppy went to our really great exotics vet today. She had substantial abscesses on both back legs. He started her on 6-8 hr enrofloxacin soaks. She looks happier already. I threw away her cocoearth (fourth time recently), sterilized her cage and from now on will keep her on paper napkins. She ate six crickets, including two at the vet’s and another when we got home. She seems to understand that we are trying to help. She s a friendly, (relatively) smart pacman.

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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Soaked Cuppy in the water with enrofloxacin for 8 hrs. Then replaced the water with mineral water. Not sure now that she has paper towel substrate instead of cocoearth, how to keep the humidity high enough? Can mist the sides of the cage, put another dish. Should i wet her papertowels?

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    Default Re: Pacman wont stay out of water

    Cuppy has had 8 hr enrofloxacin spiked water soaks x 4 days. Awaiting c&s results from vet. Still has slightlyswollen back leg joint and a weird pink 2-3 mm growth near her anus. But she finally,after a month,pooped!

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