Tank setup questions???

[Gene]

I'm a new pacman frog owner, I got him about 3 weeks ago. For the first couple weeks, I kept him in the small kritter keeper tank which obviously wasn't ideal but he seemed ok as he was eating regularly and shedded too. This past week, I bought a zilla tropical starter kit. I bought a couple other things too including a cricket keeper, water dish, etc. Here's my tank setup: 10gal with screen top and dome light with day blue light. Bedding consists of a tank liner with repti bark on top and moss on top of that. There's also a heat mat under one side of the tank. I was having a hard time maintaining a good temp, it was hovering around room temp but I've now covered the screen top with foil and that's solved that problem. However, I still can't maintain the humidity. I thoroughly spray the whole tank several times per day and it will go up to about 70% for a while but then it hovers around 50% even if I turn the light off.
My first issue is the humidity problem. Can anyone provide me with some tips to maintain a proper humidity.
My second issue is the fact that I think he's gone into estivation. Since I put him in the new tank about 4 days ago, he's stayed burrowed in the same spot and hasn't eaten anything or gone in the water. I don't know what's caused this as the temp never dropped very low and I'm wondering how long he's going to stay like this.

[DVirginiana]

Hi,
The main issue with that setup is the substrate. Pacman frogs like to burrow, so a coco-fiber substrate is necessary for them to be comfortable. Also, reptile bark and moss are bad ideas as these frogs will often eat pieces of them along with their food, which can cause impaction. The coco-fiber substrate is also good for this as it won't cause impaction if it is ingested.
That might also help out your humidity issues; a moist substrate like that holds in the humidity and will keep your frog more moist than something like reptile bark. It's what I use and mine stays fine with several daily mistings from a squirt bottle.

Also, he probably isn't estivating that quickly; You'd notice a difference in appearance (do a google image search for it). He's probably just stressed from the move to another enclosure

[Gene]

Thanks, I'll try changing the substrate. I actually just tried to feed him again. I placed him in the small tank with a couple crickets that walked right past his face and he just wouldn't eat. It's been almost a week and I'm getting a little concerned because he's not eating anything. And I know he's a pacman and isn't going to do much but to burrow and basically not move for 5 days seems bizarre.

[DVirginiana]

How old is it? It's not uncommon for younger ones to go 1-2 weeks without eating if they've just been moved, and I've heard of adults going for months. As long as he's not losing weight I wouldn't worry about that too much.
Good luck getting your frog settled in and eating again

[Gene]

He's pretty young, I can't remember exactly how old he is but he's definitely young. He looks a little less plump than he did last week but not necessarily unhealthy. Is there anything I can do to make him more comfortable or should I just leave him be and wait?

[DVirginiana]

Mainly just leaving them be and letting them relax. Also, I have to gently nudge mine out of his burrow and mist him to wake him up before he'll start hunting, and I've noticed they are more likely to eat when you first turn their heat lamp on in the morning or late in the afternoon.
If you really get worried though or he starts to lose a lot of weight, you can try putting him in a clean tupperware container with really shallow water not up to his nostrils and leaving a light on him to keep him warm. Leave him in it for about half an hour. Usually this will make them use the bathroom (sometimes if they haven't used the bathroom in awhile it will cause them not to eat).

[kiralikceset]

For pacmans exo terras forest moss is ok for them ?

[DVirginiana]

It's generally a bad idea to leave crickets in there, but if you have a picky eater, it doesn't hurt to leave one and let them wait until they feel safe and undisturbed to eat. The problem with crickets is that they will start biting your frog if left in there long enough, but if you only put one in at a time, it doesn't really pose a threat to your frog and you can monitor how much he's eating.

[Gene]

How long can he go without eating? Like I said, he may have eaten the crickets but I haven't seen him eat them and I'm not going to simply assume he did. I figured that after long enough, he would eat, as pretty much any animal does when they get hungry enough but maybe I'm wrong lol.

[Bruce]

mine took a while to start eating, mine seems to have a better response with tongs or poking the prey closer to his mouth (not to when it touches though). If you want you can try that out

[DVirginiana]

Sorry, mine eats large-sized crickets, so there's nowhere for them to hide and no guesswork. They can go weeks without eating though, so you should only start to really worry if you notice him losing weight.