Pacman not eating

[Digital]

Hey Everyone,

I'm new here, with adopted pac man, he 2 years old.That's what the owner told me at least. Well I got him on Saturday and he was underweight. So I feed him some super worms and night crawlers. but he hasn't eaten anything since Sunday morning.He finally went to the bathroom this morning after soaking him in the sink for like 10 mins. I put him back into his 20 gallon long. I offered him a night crawler. But he just buried himself and ignore the food. Is this normal? I don't want him to starve to death, but on the other hand I really don't want to keep bother him with food. My room stays around 78F and I have a heat lamp (100w) on at night for him. Witch keeps the tank in the 70's F. So I don't think it's getting to cold for him. Any ideas what I should try or can do?

[dachshundsr4me]

What are the humidity levels in your aquarium. You should have a heat source such as a reptile heat mat on the side of his aquarium. The temp should range in his tank from 74-84 degrees. An adult doesn't need to eat more then 2 times a week. He is new so that is my thoughts as to why he isn't eating. He is still adjusting to his new area. Even if the tank is what he came with they are aware of the surroundings outside the tank...smell, lighting etc. So they still need time for adjusting. If all that fails he may have parasites causing him to look thin. A nice trip to a vet who specializes in exotics is the next step if after he settles in and still refuses food. Good luck.

[Digital]

I use a space heater in my room to keep it nice and toasty. I spray down the tank 3 times a day. I know I need a humidity gauge. But I'm kinda broke right now. The tank he came in was a 5 gallon with no water dish or anything. Just lots of gravel. I bought him a 20 gallon long, heat lamp and 100wat bulb, bedding, a water dish and some foods and water conditioner. I plan on buying the temp gauge and humidity gauge as well. With some of the powder stuff for his food. Would I really need a heat pad if I keep the room at 78F 18 hours of the day? Then just use the heat lamp for the other hours? He has gotten fat since I feed him, so he no longer underweight. He looks like how he should for his size. I think it might be (like you said) he still adjusting to the new home. I only had him for 5 days now. I will give him sometime and see what happens.

Here a pic of him before I feed him.


Here he is in his new 20 gallon long and feed 3 night crawlers.

[dachshundsr4me]

He looks healthy to me. I would just give him the extra time. And no you shouldn't need the extra heat if your room stays that warm. I think he just needs more time.

[jjmorton13]

My room stays around 78F and I have a heat lamp (100w) on at night for him. Witch keeps the tank in the 70's F.

When you say "heat lamp" do you mean an actual light or heat emitter? Having 24 hours of light is not a good idea for any animal.

[Digital]

@dachshundsr4me
He looks a lot better now. The first pic you can't really tell that his bones where just sticking out on his back and the skin just hanging down on his side. Now he has more meat on them bones and looks more healthy.

@jjmorton13

It's one of those red light bulbs that are for 24 hours of heat. I don't have it on all day and all night. Just maybe like 4-5 hours a day and it's never right above him. My room barely gets any real light in it. So only on for a few hours of the day. Plus I can't run my space heater 24/7. Would cost way more money then just using a heat pad.

[dachshundsr4me]

I could tell by the first photo that he needed a little work. But as of right now he is looking much better and i would just give him some time to adjust. My Fantasy Frog went for over a week without eating when I got him. He now is a happily little gobbler. He ate right away for me when i first got him as well on that first day but then went on a hunger strike. I feel him being a hybrid he was more sensitive and yours coming for a bad situation maybe contributing to his hunger strike. My fantasy frog is pretty small still being a baby and all so i was worried but he did after a week start gobbling up food again. I am sure yours will too.

[Digital]

He did come from a really bad home. The guy who gave him to me was literally a crack head. His diet was frozen fish, you get as bait from walmart and hoper's or pinky's. I did my homework before getting him and found out that was not the best food for them. So I'm trying get him use to eating insect's. But it's going be hard since two years of his life was with that crack head owner. Even if he doesn't live long, I want him to have a good life till then.

Thank you for your help and time. I been on a couple other forums and I couldn't get any help or responses. I did try looking up if this is just normal for the frog to act like this. But I couldn't find any information. It seems most people just buy their guys when they are young.

Well in the mean time, I guess I will work on my girlfriend terrarium for the fire belly toads she wants to get for Christmas.

[Myles]

YouTube - How to Force Feed a Pacman Frog
also just by looking at the first pic looks like he has MBD because of his jaw here are some symptons i wouldnt worry about it just lay of the mice and calcium coat hes/her pray

Flimsy or swollen legs
Bumps along the vertebral column or arched spine
Softening or hard swelling of the jaw
Receded lower jaw
Little movement
Constipation
Weakness

[John911]

What substrate are you keeping him in? I don't think force feeding is needed at this point.

[dachshundsr4me]

I have to agree with John. I do not think force feeding is needed yet. I do not see MBD I can see he is thin in the one picture but i don't see that. That could just be from a sorry owner and not being fed often enough. I do think any animal with time and patience will come around. pinkies and fish are not good as a total diet but i firmly believe that every animal should have a wide variety of foods. So this being said mine get fed insects all week and one day on the weekend they get either a feeder fish or the following weekend a feeder pinky or fuzzy. Just depends on the weekend. I also know that i will need to worm them one time a month as well with panacur c dusted on their crickets. Which is fine. The main thing is they are getting a variety. Now my fantasy frog wont touch a pinky but loves him a feeder goldfish. This weekend its feeder goldfish weekend.

[Myles]

I have to agree with John. I do not think force feeding is needed yet. I do not see MBD I can see he is thin in the one picture but i don't see that. That could just be from a sorry owner and not being fed often enough. I do think any animal with time and patience will come around. pinkies and fish are not good as a total diet but i firmly believe that every animal should have a wide variety of foods. So this being said mine get fed insects all week and one day on the weekend they get either a feeder fish or the following weekend a feeder pinky or fuzzy. Just depends on the weekend. I also know that i will need to worm them one time a month as well with panacur c dusted on their crickets. Which is fine. The main thing is they are getting a variety. Now my fantasy frog wont touch a pinky but loves him a feeder goldfish. This weekend its feeder goldfish weekend.

it looks alot like a frog with MBD! when i got my newest pacman frog he had MBD the drooping or lowering of the jaw is a very common as well as reversable its a very mild case i woud say because you can tell the frog is nice and big.

[Digital]

Sorry about this late reply. A lot of people lost internet connection for a couple hours with this one company. So I had wait for them to fix the problem.

@John911

T-Rex Jungle bedding. My girlfriend pick it up for me on black Friday, when I was picking the guy up from the owner. I told her to get the ones that look like little brick's, but of course she forgot. Cuss it was Black Friday lol.

@Myless

He only had one of those symptoms from what I can tell. Just Constipation. The first pic of his mouth being open is cuss he was getting ready to snag a night crawler from the tongs. The bump on his back where his bones stick out. From being under feed. The skin hanging over his legs, is also from being under weight. He moves around a lot, after I soke him in some warm water in the morning. He doesn't seem weak to me at all. Personally I don't see most of those symptoms.

I will get new pic's of him tomorrow. I don't like to force feed any animals. I had a bad experience doing one time to a snake a week later he died on me. I don't if it was from force feeding or what. But it did scar me for life though. Hope fully it wont come to that though.

[dachshundsr4me]

Go get some peat from lowes or home depot...its cheaper then the coconut fiber. Will last you forever. Holds the moisture better too. Make sure its 100% pure peat...nothing with fertilizer in it. That is what the guys in the chat room here told me and it works awesome. Comes in like 2 or 3 cubic feet rectangular bags...you will find it in the outdoor planting section. They carry it year long unlike other places that carry it seasonally. It will be really dry when you open it up...just soak what you need in dechlorinated water it will absorb it quick. Doesn't tend to stick to the food or the frog as bad as coconut fiber.

Looking forward to seeing more pictures of your frog. =)

[Myles]

Sorry about this late reply. A lot of people lost internet connection for a couple hours with this one company. So I had wait for them to fix the problem.

@John911

T-Rex Jungle bedding. My girlfriend pick it up for me on black Friday, when I was picking the guy up from the owner. I told her to get the ones that look like little brick's, but of course she forgot. Cuss it was Black Friday lol.

@Myless

He only had one of those symptoms from what I can tell. Just Constipation. The first pic of his mouth being open is cuss he was getting ready to snag a night crawler from the tongs. The bump on his back where his bones stick out. From being under feed. The skin hanging over his legs, is also from being under weight. He moves around a lot, after I soke him in some warm water in the morning. He doesn't seem weak to me at all. Personally I don't see most of those symptoms.

I will get new pic's of him tomorrow. I don't like to force feed any animals. I had a bad experience doing one time to a snake a week later he died on me. I don't if it was from force feeding or what. But it did scar me for life though. Hope fully it wont come to that though.

yea man i know how it is my frog i basicaly rescued he had MBD im glad hes in your hands sorry if you thought i was being harsh just trying to help

[Digital]

Nah I don't think you where being harsh or anything like that. I been on to many forums now to even care. Everyone has their opinions and what not. Plus I was a betta breeder for a while. I just got out of it and had some empty tank's and figure it was time to fill them up with some easy fun reptiles. End's up, I might gotten myself a little over my head. But I wanna make sure I do my best for my new little friend. That's why I came here, after trying other forums and got nothing from them. But I'm glad their are people like you on here willing to put time in to helping another hobbyist (well a noob hobbyist, lol). I really do appreciate you taking the time to help me with my new little guy. I do hope their is nothing wrong with him and he just needs time to get adjusted to his new home. I know fish do the same thing. I had some that wouldn't eat for weeks, when I got them in the mail. So maybe I will just keep soaking him and see if he will go to the bathroom and finally get hungry enough to eat again. When he does, I plan on doing smaller meals and less foods with hard shells. Is night crawlers a stable diet with crickets?

[John911]

Go get some peat from lowes or home depot...its cheaper then the coconut fiber. Will last you forever. Holds the moisture better too. Make sure its 100% pure peat...

Where did you find the info on the peat? Can they pass it if they ingest it like coco fiber? I'm just asking because it is cheaper but i dont want to risk impaction.

[Digital]

Go get some peat from lowes or home depot...its cheaper then the coconut fiber. Will last you forever. Holds the moisture better too. Make sure its 100% pure peat...nothing with fertilizer in it. That is what the guys in the chat room here told me and it works awesome. Comes in like 2 or 3 cubic feet rectangular bags...you will find it in the outdoor planting section. They carry it year long unlike other places that carry it seasonally. It will be really dry when you open it up...just soak what you need in dechlorinated water it will absorb it quick. Doesn't tend to stick to the food or the frog as bad as coconut fiber.

Looking forward to seeing more pictures of your frog. =)

I just setup a 10 gallon terrarium for some fire belly toads, for my girlfriend Christmas present. I use peat moss in that tank. So I might redo the pacman tank later when I get some free time as well. But I will post pics of the FBT's tank when I get my plants in it. and it doesn't just look like dirt and water every where lol.

[Digital]

I gave him a nice warm soaking this morning. Then he started hoping every where. I mean like he jumped 1 foot and then did it again. Then I offered him some night crawlers. He at the first one in like a min. The second one took him some time to wanna eat it. So I guess he happy now with his new home.

[dachshundsr4me]

@John911 The peat is peat moss and yes it is as fine as coconut fiber and passes with no problem if they ingest it. That is not an issue. The main thing you want to be sure of is to only buy it as 100% peat moss and not with like miracle grow or any kind of fertilizer in it. You have to read the label on the bag to see if it has nitrogen and such in it...if it does then that means it has fertilizer in it...if it doesn't show any kind of nitrogen levels then it is 100% peat moss.

I usually looks like so