Pacman Emergency :(

[demeteraurion]

Well I got my albino pacman from Petco on June 4. I left for vacation and had my mom care for him while I was gone. I had earthworms to feed him but he didn't like them and didn't eat the whole time I was gone. I got back on the 10th and bought some crickets at petco for him. He ate two of them that day. So yesterday I tried to push the crickets towards him because he's not the best cricket catcher. I went outside for a while and came in and checked on him, he had something in his mouth. I thought it was cricket and then a worm but I looked closer and it was his tongue or something. I was freaking out for my poor frog... he was jumping all over the edge of the tank and acting really strange. I left him alone for a few minutes to see if he'd go back to normal but he didn't and I finally started googling Pacman problems. I thought his stomach had come out so I had my boyfriend try and help him get it back in. It worked but he was still jumping crazy everywhere so I have him a warm sugar water bath to help him. I thought he was impacted so I looked for poo and he apparently did so before his bath. After putting him back in the tank he made a little burrow under his favorite plant so I assumed he would be okay.

Today I got a cricket ready to feed him and tossed it in. He quickly went after it and missed a couple of times trying to catch it. That's when it happened again, it looked like his tongue was swollen out or something. My boyfriend used a q-tip and helped him again. But after that he didn't want to eat the crickets, I even removed him to a tub with the crickets.

I don't know what to do! I will be very sad if anything were to happen to him. Everyone keeps telling me to take him back to Petco. His temperature and humidity are fine. 80ish during the day with a red lamp, about 74 at night. He's on Eco earth bedding, has two plants, a water dish with rocks so he doesn't drown, and I only use spring water.

I'm afraid he's going to die if he can't eat or something is wrong with his insides. I thought perhaps it was the bedding because he tends to get it in his mouth when he jumps for food but he usually tries to spit it out. Or maybe its this calcium spray I was using on the crickets. Please help? I can provide pics if needed

[DVirginiana]

Pics would be good. If it's his stomach that keeps coming out like that, you'd be better off returning him to the store, as there may not be anything you can do for that. If it's his tongue, there's the possibility that he has some sort of oral infection causing his tongue to swell? If that's the case you might want to try some sort of antibacterial treatment. I can't tell without a picture or anything though.

Also, if he's having a hard time actually catching his crickets, it's a good idea to remove their hind legs. It keeps them from crawling away to quickly and also it makes them easier to swallow.

Keep us updated and hope your little guy improves!

[demeteraurion]

These arent the greatest pictures :/ I didn't want the flash to bother him too bad. As you can see after I put him back into his tank he made a little burrow and is acting normal again. I attempted to feed him a cricket with tongs but he had no interest in it. I suppose I will take him back to the pet store if he doesn't improve over the week.

I don't understand because he was fine this morning, I threw in the cricket and he went after it but after he opened his mouth a couple of times the same pink thing came out again. I feel so bad for him

Should I keep trying to get him to eat or wait a few days before trying? Also I just got a cuttlebone from the store and ground it into powder for calcium but it doesn't want to stick to anything....

[demeteraurion]

When I was on vacation there was distilled water being used and I began using spring water when I got back. Paired with not eating for a week perhaps my frog is nutrient deficient? Would it be okay if I let him soak in warm water that had the ground cuttlebone mixed in? Then he could absorb some calcium... He still won't eat either T_T

[Baelari]

I think there's an electrolyte solution some people use. I don't remember what it is though.

[LilyPad]

I think there's an electrolyte solution some people use. I don't remember what it is though.

A lot of people here have talked about using unflavored pedialyte.