First Frog! Pacman style!

[Austin S.]

Saw him at petco and couldnt resist. This is my first frog species to keep, so I did plenty of research before hand. Here are some settup pics. Any extra info. would be greatly appreciative, plus any suggestions or Q's as to how I'm keeping him as well.

Temp is at 75-78 deg. during the day with the exception for 10 hours (basking temp.) which is anywhere from 83-90 deg. At night the temp. is between 72-75 deg. humidity is usually between 80-90%.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I would get a wider bowl, he's gonna outgrow that one fast. They're such cute little pudgebutts.

Also do you normally have a lid on the tank?

 

[Austin S.]

I would get a wider bowl, he's gonna outgrow that one fast. They're such cute little pudgebutts.

Also do you normally have a lid on the tank?

I'll look into one here soon. Yes there is always a lid on. It was off b/c of the rehouse. Would it help if the lid was kept off?

 

[Mushroom Spore]

No, I was just checking to make sure there WAS a lid.

 

[hairmetalspider]

What a cutie!

I have had bad experiences with frogs....glad to see it's doing well!

 

[Jer]

Nice cranwelli. A lid helps to keep cats out, but there is no way that frog will be able to jump out if there is no lid.

 

[RoachGirlRen]

Agreed on the bowl, but the depth is spot on so try to get something wider/rounder but not deeper. 90 is a little on the hot side; if you could keep it more around 85 that would be better. While the packed/rooted moss is probably fine, I see some loose sphagnum moss in there was well - I would remove that. They often mistake it for food and eat it, causing impactions. That aside, awesome set-up, great looking frog! You're going to have fun with him; pacmans are fantastic little frogs.

 

[arachnocat]

Nice colors on your little froggy. I'm going to get one of these this year sometime. They're so cute!

 

[dtknow]

Cool frog! I am actually more of an amphibian than arachnid guy. I agree on the removing the sphagnum moss. These frogs are actually found abit drier areas than true rainforest.

 

[kingfarvito]

Agreed on the bowl, but the depth is spot on so try to get something wider/rounder but not deeper. 90 is a little on the hot side; if you could keep it more around 85 that would be better. While the packed/rooted moss is probably fine, I see some loose sphagnum moss in there was well - I would remove that. They often mistake it for food and eat it, causing impactions. That aside, awesome set-up, great looking frog! You're going to have fun with him; pacmans are fantastic little frogs.

im going to have to disagree with that IME a properly hydrated pacman will pass almost anything i picked one up from an acquaintance that had no idea what he was doing and bought it for his son i gave it a nice big water dish and 2 weeks later the thing crapped out a small lego

and i would keep the lid to help with humidity

 

[AneesasMuse]

I have Sphagnum in my Pacman's enclosure, as well.. and he's never had an issue, nor does he mistake it for food. I also have COIR, mainly, but the Sphag is present about 20%.

I found a very cool little "tart" dish thing... it's like stoneware.. at the local $1 store. It's about 6" x 6" x 1" and my Elvis has plenty of room to move around and splash in there.

Cute Frog!!

 

[Jer]

I always have moss in with my horned frogs. If they happen to snatch a mouthful of moss while feeding, 99% of the time they will spit it out and use their front feet to pull it out of their mouth. They aren't stupid, they can taste what is edible and what isn't. With that said, even if they do happen to ingest some, it will be easily passed. Moss isn't like rocks. There is very very little worry of impaction with moss.

 

[Austin S.]

Pay day is tomorrow and I'll be making the run to the petstore to get a bigger dish. I took a little of the moss out, but some is still present. Is it normal for him to not move since being put in there? He has dug out a nice hold by the dish/moss and hasnt moved a muscle. I tried putting a lobster roach infront of him yesterday and he just put his nose down. He ate one the first day I got him....

 

[RoachGirlRen]

::shrugs:: As you wish, guys. Every single frog forum I've ever been on would beg to differ on the moss issue, and I prefer to err on the side of caution personally. I agree it isn't much of a risk in large/adult pacman frogs but I have seen several instances on boards when young/baby pacmans became impacted from ingesting spagnum.

 

[kupo969]

Beautiful pacman you have there. Was thinking of getting one from my local petco as well, do they need any water conditioner or are they fine with regular tap water?

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Is it normal for him to not move since being put in there? He has dug out a nice hold by the dish/moss and hasnt moved a muscle.

As I understand it...yeah, that's about it. Exciting, huh?

Was thinking of getting one from my local petco as well, do they need any water conditioner or are they fine with regular tap water?

First, please don't buy from petco. Chain petstores are notorious for selling sick animals and overcharging you on top of that - you can generally get something shipped from a reputable private breeder and even WITH the overnight shipping it will still cost about as much as going to petco. (ex: their malnourished, parasite-ridden, not-long-for-this-world ball python babies tend to sell for around $80. I got my captive-bred, healthy as a horse BP baby for $45 and overnight shipping, total 75 bucks.)

Second, definitely can't use regular tap water. Amphibians are extremely sensitive to chemicals, including chlorine which can kill them and is definitely in your water.

 

[kupo969]

Soooooo, what would you put in the water? o.o

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Soooooo, what would you put in the water? o.o

There are plenty of dechlorinator and related products at your local fish-selling pet store. If you have a drinking-water filter/filter pitcher, like Brita or Pur, that helps a lot with removing metals and other contaminants too. Plus it gives YOU better water too, I love mine.

 

[Austin S.]

There are plenty of dechlorinator and related products at your local fish-selling pet store. If you have a drinking-water filter/filter pitcher, like Brita or Pur, that helps a lot with removing metals and other contaminants too. Plus it gives YOU better water too, I love mine.

Hmm I'll have to look into that. What if you boil the water? Then stick is in the frig. to cool it down. Just brainstorming here.

 

[AneesasMuse]

I use SeaChem's Prime for dechlorinating, etc. It's about $3.50 for a large bottle and last a very long time, if you only use it for the frog. Even for my 3 fish tanks, frog tanks, hermit crab tanks... it still last a worthy amount of time for less than a $5 splurge.

As a side note: I was not arguing that it is or is not possible for ingestion and/or mishaps of Sphagnum consumption, but the moss is an organic product and will break down and exit the body. The other point that I didn't make is, my Elvis is a big boy now.. 4" or so... and he gets hand fed everything, so he is safe from ingesting anything except what I choose to put in his mouth.. and my occasional finger, of course!