My Pacman Frogs

[Animalnstinct]

I just got back from Las Vegas and I came back with 2 adorable pacman frogs! They are a bit stressed right now since they had a 4 hour drive home, but they seem to be settling down a bit. One is still jumping around a lot but the other has settled in the substrate already.

This is Appa, the largest of the two. He was super jumpy on the way home but is now buried down in his substrate and relaxing.



This is Gary. He is about half the size of Appa and is the one jumping around everywhere. Hopefully he will settle in soon and relax.



I was curious about sexing them? I would love to know what sex they are, but I think gary might be to young to tell. Appa might be big enough so I was wondering how big do they need to be around for you to get a good idea on their sex? I can take more pictures of them tomorrow and show them to you guys.

[Animalnstinct]

Thought of another question this morning. I gave them both a few calcium dusted crickets and gary had no interested and jumped out of his house on to the carpet and I had to chase him for a few minutes. Appa loved his cricket and gobbled him right away. I gave him 4 crickets, 2 red worms, and 3 meal worms all together. Do I just keep feeding him until he seems no longer interested or I should I limit it?

I fed him the meal worms with tongs to prevent them from going right into the substrate and I was wondering if biting the tongs could be dangerous for him? I don't want it to stab him in the back of the mouth or something.

Also, at one point Appa ate a huge moth of moss and I was wondering if I should be concerned?

[Kevin1]

I would be concerned about the moss. http://www.frogforum.net/african-bul...and-setup.html

Mealworms are very hard to digest with their hard exoskeleton. Freshly molted ones are safe though(white ones that are soft).

The tongs could hurt him if he bites hard enough but generally speaking he should be all right.

About how much to feed, I would feed him as much as he will eat in 15 minutes. That's what John recommends for pyxies and I employ it with pacs too.

Hope this helps.

[Animalnstinct]

Thank you Kevin, it's extremely helpful!

I didn't know that about using moss. A lot of the care sheets I read said to put moss in so I bought a brick of forest moss by Exo Terra. Right now I have about 2 inches of Eco Earth and then about 1 inch of the forest moss on top. I also just got a bag of oak leaf litter and put a very small amount of that in this morning.

Should I go ahead and take out the moss and do you think that the leaves are safe? I just want to double check because it looks like the caresheet I was reading was wrong and it also suggested the leaf litter.

If you can give me a few pointers on how to set up the habitat I would really appreciate it, as you have way more experience and knowledge then I do and care sheets seem to be iffy. I want to make sure that i provide these little guys with the best habitat and care that I can provide.

[Kevin1]

Leaves I wouldn't worry about, they break down and seem to pass through the system of these frogs just fine. About the moss, a lot of people don't know any better so don't feel bad even some "experts" recommend it. But to see how it is put some sphagnum moss outside in the dirt, next to it put some cocofiber and see how long it takes the moss to break down. I have some that's been sitting outside for years and literally looks unchanged.

The set up is pretty simple Just 2-3 inches of cocofiber a water dish that's easy to get in and out of. These frogs don't swim well and if it's a screen top I'd cover at least half the top with seran wrap or something like it. The other side put a 65 watt regular incandescent bulb. Now depending on your particular environment, You may need to adjust somethings as needed. For instance, I live in the mojave desert. Here it is very dry so I cover most of my frogs lids. I believe you said you live in nevada? So your climate is probably similar.
You want to shoot for 85-70/75, hot side 85 cool side 70/75. Humidity try no lower than 60%

If you have any more question feel free to post. Pics of their setup can help.

Dang that's a lot of typing. haha I must be feeling good today.

[Animalnstinct]

I sure appreciate all the typing your doing, it's super helpful!

I took out all the moss and added more eco earth and leaves for them. They are currently both in clear rubbermaid shoebox tubs with holes drilled in the lid for ventilation. This is just temporary until the tank they are going in is finished being split into two.

I currently don't have any lighting on them as I read that a lot of people I guess don't put any lighting on them at all as long as they get some good lighting from the room during the day. I do have some open lights for plants near them though.

Yeah I'm in Nevada. Our temps and humidity are pretty similar. They are both in my critter room which is temperature controlled to maintain 78 degrees at night then around 84 during the day, with an overall humidity of the room being about 50%. I did put a hygrometer and thermometer in with them and it says during the day the temp is 80-82 and at night it's about 76-78 in the habitat, with a humidity of 80%.

I also have a shallow water dish in with each one and I plan to put coconut houses in with them when they go to their permanent homes. Currently right now they have this arched fake vine plant in the corner to give them some extra coverage.

I currently have reptocal to dust their food, do you think that doing it 2-3 times a week is a good amount? I don't currently have any multi-vitamin dust but I'm going to order some this week and plan to dust 2-3 times a week with that as well. The cheapest I could find in vegas was $30 for a tiny little bottle, so I figured purchasing from JoshsFrogs would be best.

I also wanted to ask about how important feeding pinkies to them is? The shop where I got Appa from stressed feeding him pinkies as I guess he just started eating them a few days ago, but getting them isn't going to be easy where I live. If it is important to feed them pinkies, will the frozen ones give him the same nutrients as a live one? Also, if I should feed him pinkies how often do you recommend including them in his diet. Currently I have crickets, mealworms ( making sure to feed only freshly molted ones now), and red wigglers.

Sorry to bombard you with a ton of questions, but I just want to make sure and do everything I can for them and you've been very informative! :P