New pacman owner~

[Baelari]

So I just bought a pacman frog today from PetCo, and named him Lump. I have no idea which species or sex. I did a little internet research on them before buying him, but as it's the internet, it's conflicting, so I have questions. I've never taken care of a frog before, so I'm a little nervous.

Right now, I've got him in the 10 gallon tank, with eco earth, a fake plant, a real plant, a water dish, and a little moss. It has a wire mesh lid, a little heat pad, and a lamp (Zilla tropical kit).

When I put him in the tank, he immediately burrowed in. Here's a close-up of the little guy. I didn't want to prod him out of his little hole right after he moved in, I'd imagine he's stressed out enough already.


Anyhow, the questions:

1) The moss. I read it's good for pacman tanks (It even had a picture of one on the bag), but that they can eat it and die. Should it stay or should it be relegated to making my potted plants look nice?

2) The heating pad. I read to put the pad on the side of the tank, because they burrow to get away from the heat. Other places said putting it on the bottom was fine. Putting it on the side doesn't seem to be keeping the tank warm enough, so are the frogs generally smart enough to figure out where the heat is coming from?

3) The lamp. Does it roast the frog, or is it good for the frog? It seemed bright while it was on, so I positioned the fake plant leaves over his chosen spot like an umbrella. Right now, it's very hard to get the tank above room temp.

4) The lid. I don't understand how a wire mesh lid made it into a tropical kit. I have to mist everything very frequently, or the humidity drops down to about 50%. It also keeps the tank at room temperature pretty effectively. What would be better, because this obviously isn't working well.

5) The food. PetCo person said crickets and then when he's bigger, pinkie mice once a week. The internet almost unanimously says no. What else do I feed him, and where do I get it? (I guess PetCo would have more than just crickets and mice for sale, I just need to know what to ask for. Not fish. A lot of their fish looked sick.) The pet store person was fairly unhelpful beyond putting my frog in a box for me. Also, I asked for the calcium/vitamin powder, and she gave me one without D3, saying it wasn't essential; is this true, or should I go get some with D3 for my shake and bake cricket needs?

6) More food. He didn't eat his crickets today, so I scooped them back out and stuck them in a ziploc bag with some potato. When should I expect him to want to eat? What do I need to feed the crickets?

Do you have any other advice for me? I'll probably have more questions later, and maybe a better picture.

[DVirginiana]

Congrats on your new frog!
The moss is a bad idea; I'd use it to decorate your potted plants Especially if he has other live/fake plants in there. All pacmans really need is a place to burrow and feel safe.

The crickets aren't a problem as long as you dust them in calcium. When he gets big enough, a pinky mouse about twice a month with crickets in between is good. Sometimes it takes them a week or more to adjust to their new home before starting to eat, so that's nothing to worry about right now.

Yeahh, you have to really watch their humidity and mist them a lot if you use mesh tops. Another option is a glass top, which will help keep everything more regulated.

Haha... When I bought mine from PetCo they sold him as an ornate, but I'm about 99.99% sure he/she's a cranwelli! I think they like to do that since most people buying frogs from them are new frog owners and the cranwellis have really bright colors when they're young. lol.

[pyxieBob]

If you can find Dubious Roaches, hel eat those. Also Earth worms specificallfy from a vender online that sells food for reptiles and amphibs. NOT FROM A BAIT SHOP.. A pinky once or 2x a month is correct also. Make sure he stays damp. The dryer he is the less likely he is to eat. Make sure he thinks its spring time by keeping him moist and warm. Feeding him very few mice will ensure he lives a long time.

As for the screen top, keep it and cover it with foil, make a few small air holes in it. one big hole for the lamp. But dont allow too many open spots where you can see the screen. This has always worked great for me. Keep an eye on that temp when you do this, But it should trap the heat and humidity in a small 10 gal tank great. I would cut a good size flap in the foil so u can lift it back once a day for a few min if needed to vent more fresh air.

Take the moss out also. Just to be safe, and keep him in the forrest bedding or bed a beast so he can dig a nest. You can use a water dish. Make sure its shallow or he will drown. I never use them i just keep it very damp. But an actual dish seems to ease most peoples mind.

Your froggy is 100% a Cranwellis (Chacoan horned frog) Thats all Petco gets supplied with. Plus you cool photo makes it very clear what he is.

Hope this helps, Bobby,

[Baelari]

The moss is mostly gone, and I'll get the rest of the little bits when I change out his eco earth. The foil seems to be doing the trick for both humidity and heat. He started moving his throat more when it got warmer, and turned in his little hole a bit, so I gave him a cricket and he ate it. I love watching these guys eat! I put a second one in, but he didn't seem interested.

Since he seemed happier today, I scooped him up for a couple of quick pictures.
This gives a better idea of how big he is.


A blurry view of his throat. Can you tell what sex he is yet?


Oh, one more important question. The water here isn't so great (it kills fish sometimes, even with the water treatment liquid), so I'm using bottled spring water. I heard that distilled water is bad for them, and spring was better. Is this true? Or is there something better to use?

[pyxieBob]

Funny because I almost asked how the water was out of the tap. Just keep using bottled water for sure and yes distilled is not a good idea. Cool frogger you have there! I like the pics! keep em comming Baelari

[pyxieBob]

Oh and as for the sex, its verrry hard to tell right now. Tons of people will say ' def male cuz of the dark throat." Well thats so NOT true. I have had several females w an almost black throat. the biggest throat differnce w the markins is females are more clear cut defined marks or stripes (usually) and males have blurry less uniform marks (usually). So a pure guess id say female. But we wont know till he/she gets bigger . Females get much much larger and males will callor croak.

[Bruce]

@pyxie bob, is there anyway you could post a pic of how you have that foil over your screen top? Im having humidity issues and cant fins a glass top to save my life (i was concerned about airflow with them anyway), but i think this foil method will be a better choice for me

[pyxieBob]

Bruce I just litterally take aluminum foil and cut it to the size of the screen, and use clear tape to secure it. with a round hole for a heat lamp. IF i use a heat lamp. and then some small breather holes.

[Bruce]

hm, i'll give that a try tomorrow then, thanks!

[pyxieBob]

Here is a quick drawing of what the screen looks like

[Baelari]

Another cricket went MIA while I was out, humidity is staying above 70%, and it's staying warm in the tank. I think my thermometer is slightly off, because it read 75 degrees in the tank, but my room temp was 75, and it was much warmer in the tank. I'll have to get a new thermometer I suppose. How hot is too hot for these guys?

Dubia roaches sound nice. I really hate the way crickets smell, and they're so annoying when I want to sleep. Would it be worthwhile to keep my own dubias for a single frog? It sounds like they're not difficult or expensive to raise, but I wouldn't know what to do if I were up to my eyeballs in roaches with only one mouth to feed (take up fishing?).

[pyxieBob]

high 70's-mid 80's. You could always take up fishing! Its a blast, Iv been addicted to fishing almost my whole life!

[Baelari]

I've only really been deep-sea fishing, which was fun. There's supposed to be very nice bass fishing around here somewhere (NW Arkansas).

Do you have a website to recommend for worms/roaches/etc?

[pyxieBob]

I dont I buy all my food local. But Im sure if you post that question youl get pleeenty of anwers! lol.

[Bruce]

Baeleri, sent you a PM about some dubia roaches if you were interested!

[frogmike]

Great looking frog!

[Baelari]

Frog seems to be eating now. Chomped down on at least 5 crickets today. How many should I be feeding to him at a time?