pacman feeding question.

[timscrape]

Ok, first let me say, its been a long day and I have been on YouTube watching pacman frogs eat. There are a few videos on there of pacs eating birds or baby chicks. I have never heard of this before. Is this ok to do kinda in the same way as mice? Just as a treat? My son's isn't quite big enough for something like that yet. Just wondering. And one more thing. Pacman (yes that's his/her name) is a little smaller than a tennis ball and ate his first pinkie about a month ago. What is a good rule as far as food size? We don't want to risk hurting the little booger.

[DVirginiana]

Usually for food size, you want to go with something no larger than the space between the frog's eyes. The exception to this would be nightcrawlers, since they are so long. A big part of the reason for this is that impaction (severe constipation) is one of the most common problems for these frogs. It can be caused by anything from feeding prey with hard to digest body parts (like mealworms) to feeding food with too high fat content (feeding too many pinkies; the rule is about one pinkie per month).
I personally wouldn't recommend the chicks. They have some pretty hard to digest body parts, and they're expensive compared to safer foods like nightcrawlers and pinkies. It probably can be done, but IMO it's not worth the risk. There's no nutritional benefit in a chick that they can't get from other safer foods

[DeeDub]

One day old chicks are a good food source as a treat. They can eat bigger food because their mouths are ginormous, but its unnecessary and can be a risk. The main reason. I choose to feed young prey as compared to older prey is water content and bone development of the pry item. The bones are a good source of calcium for your frog, and in younger mice/birds; are still relatively soft compared to an old crusty adult mouse. The same goes for birds as feeders. Stick with very young chicks. It minimizes the risk of parasites (I freeze mine to kill all parasites) and the bones aren't as dense. All treats such as mice and chicks should be a rare treat (I feed a mammal every 45-60 days).

[timscrape]

Thanks for the replies. I don't want to take a chance of pacman getting hurt so we, most likely, won't feed anything that would likely cause an injury. I just didn't know if there was a reason for feeding chicks or birds. I know there's always "Hey yall, watch this!" But that's not a real reason. I didn't know if there was a real nutritional value or not.

[Locascio]

I also feed 3-4day old chickens to my larger frogs a good rule to this is nothing bigger then half the size of the frog but only once a month chickens are Far better then mice or rats
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[timscrape]

How are chickens better than mice? To me, it seems like the feathers would be harder to digest. I guess the feathers wouldn't be fully developed though since they chicks are newbies. I know that these type things should only be fed every month or two as a treat. I'm just trying to understand this chicken thing.

[DVirginiana]

How are chickens better than mice? To me, it seems like the feathers would be harder to digest. I guess the feathers wouldn't be fully developed though since they chicks are newbies. I know that these type things should only be fed every month or two as a treat. I'm just trying to understand this chicken thing.

Most people don't feed chickens. There's not really a big benefit to it compared to mice and pacs can actually do perfectly fine without getting mice. It's certainly okay to do, but it's not something that your frog will miss out on if you don't.

[GrifTheGreat]

Chicks have far less fat content in comparison to rodents and therefore are a healthier treat. Many people will also use Quail chicks because they are smaller in size than baby chickens, but prekilled is best in any case whether it be chick or rodent.

If your gut tells you that a prey item is too large for your frog then it most likely is.

[DVirginiana]

, but prekilled is best in any case whether it be chick or rodent.

I know of someone with a couple pet mice and a fishtank full of guppies because of that...

[DeeDub]

You got it right on the feathers. Chicks don't have true feathers. Fat content is the reason they're better. Its low. Def freeze them before feeding them. It will ensure any parasites are mitigated. Most people kill them humanely before putting in the freezer for obvious reasons. Just remember, its more than fat you worry about. The vit A in the organs is not good in high amounts for your frog.

[GrifTheGreat]

You got it right on the feathers. Chicks don't have true feathers. Fat content is the reason they're better. Its low. Def freeze them before feeding them. It will ensure any parasites are mitigated. Most people kill them humanely before putting in the freezer for obvious reasons. Just remember, its more than fat you worry about. The vit A in the organs is not good in high amounts for your frog.

Freezing doesn't kill everything and bacteria and viruses will survive by creating a protein shell around them. This protects them from dying during the winter and even protects them from heat for a period of time.

Heat is really the only way to kill everything unless you raise the prey item and treat it for parasites prior to killing it and then freezing.