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.

[demeteraurion]

Yeh I think I read it is 1 part pedialyte to 4 parts water but i may be wrong.

[DVirginiana]

If you're worried about nutrient/calcium deficiencies, then after you get your frog over whatever's going on now, you should probably buy a powdered calcium supplement. I use Reptical. It sticks to things pretty well and is pretty easy to find. They probably sell it wherever you bought the frog at... I've never used those calcium sprays before, but I've heard a lot of people complaining about them.

[artes]

Is there a reptile vet in your area you could take him to?

[demeteraurion]

Artes, I don't think we have an exotic vet in my area, there's one 20 minutes away in the next city I think.

DVirginiana, thanks for the advice. I will look for a supplement today since I'll be near the Pet store.

I think he is going to be okay now. I threw crickets in with him last night and he got one. I do think they are too big for him though because it took him a while to eat it all. I guess when he ate two at a time that was too much for him o.O I plan on feeding him one cricket every other day since they are large. He looks a little overweight, maybe the Petco was overfeeding him... One day when I saw him he had three crickets in there and they probably feed them daily.

[artes]

20 minutes isn't a bad trip. I have to drive 40 minutes to an hour (depending on traffic) to my vet. -_- If the crickets are too big, you risk impacting him - get smaller crickets. Also, pacman frogs are supposed to be fat.

[demeteraurion]

20 minutes isn't a bad trip. I have to drive 40 minutes to an hour (depending on traffic) to my vet. -_- If the crickets are too big, you risk impacting him - get smaller crickets. Also, pacman frogs are supposed to be fat.

How can I know if the crickets are too big? Should he be able to eat them in one gulp? Some are larger than others so I'll stick to the small ones but they aren't any larger than his mouth.

[Baelari]

How big is he? Mine eats 4 to 7 large crickets in a sitting, and he's a little over 2 inches.

[artes]

A good rule of thumb is that the crickets shouldn't be larger than the space between their eyes.

[pyxieBob]

Those crickets def are not too big, also its pretty hard for a Pac Man to get overfed on crickets. They basicly wont eat if they are over fed. Especially from Petco. Much less a Cranwellis like your frog is. They are much less voracious for food than most other Pac Man species. It is very rare to see an overy weight baby Pac Man. They are supposed to be very oval/circle shaped frogs that appear to be "fat". A good body type for a Pac Man is one where they almost dont have a definite looking head or skull. In otherwords it should almost blend in with their blob of a body. You should post some pics of him out of the dirt so we can see him, but theres no way hes over weight. Especially given the stressfull event hes gone through with the feeding issue.

[LilyPad]

You've gotten a lot of great advice! 20 mins to the vet isn't bad at all. My exotic vet is in the same town and it still takes about 15 mins to get to depending on traffic. Heck, I did a 2 hour round trip just to pick up my new froggies!

[demeteraurion]

Here are some pictures of Rupert today He didn't those crickets in there with him though... and I lost them T_T

[pyxieBob]

that is really nice netted apricot color!! woo hoo, and no he is 100% not over weight

[frogmike]

There is nothing wrong with your frog's tongue. It is sticky and gets covered in dirt when it s misses and they don't like that, but they will just swallow it. Your frog sounds very under fed. You shouldn't try to feed it one at a time. Cover like 8 to 10 in calcium dust and put them in the tank. Your frog will not chase one cricket until it gets it, because they are ambush preditors. They eat what crawls in front of them, so the more there are the more likely it is for one to cross its path. I would give it a small mouse once every month or so as well. That is where they get they're main protene and calleries from. But don't feed it to many mice per month.

[DVirginiana]

If your frog doesn't eat its crickets as soon as they are dropped into its cage, then you should leave a maximum of two at a time in there. If you have too many, they will end up biting the frog, and also there is no way a frog that size is going to be eating 10 at a time. If he has trouble catching them, try removing the back legs so they can only crawl. I do that to all of mine.
Your frog doesn't appear underfed. If you are dusting the crickets with supplements, then the frog can eat nothing but insects its entire life and be healthy. Some of them (especially if they are picky eaters) will never take pinky mice, especially if they are frozen/thawed. I have some of the same problems with mine, but he eats a total of about 3 large crickets a day and is growing very quickly with no problems.