General pacman care

[Agent Jones]

I did some forum searching but I'm pretty bad at that, I can never seem to find exactly what I'm looking for. I normally research the heck out of something BEFORE I buy it, but I impulse-bought a little pacman frog today and now I'm just freaking out thinking I'm going to kill it.

It's maybe an inch and a half long. I put it in a large kritter keeper for the time being (understood that I'll move it to a 10g tank later). Used coco fiber for substrate but now I'm reading that when they eat and swallow the fibers it can kill them AND also read that moss in the tank isn't necessary and can cause problems of it's own... What should I be using? Bought a dish and filled it with water. S/he's had three small crickets today, cool little eater for sure -- and I understand that at this size I should be feeding everyday.

How does all of that sound?

Other things:
Is there anyway to sex the critter besides that males will croak?
When do males start calling?
What is the expected lifespan?
Tell me about dusting with calcium powder? This is something I have ZERO experience with.

...that's all I can think of for right now. Thanks for your help.

 

[BrettG]

They can easily live over 20 years.Be careful what substrate you use. We used the shredded coconut stuff that comes in a brick and expands when you add water,and our Pacman would get mouthfulls of the stuff when we would feed him.This ultimatly lead to death by impaction.As far as the powder,my wife used it a couple times a month. Just dust or spray your crickets with it,and add them to his cage. Easy as heck.Oh,try wet paper towels for the bottom of the tank, Works well and easy to clean!!!!!!!

 

[revoltkid]

They can easily live over 20 years.Be careful what substrate you use. We used the shredded coconut stuff that comes in a brick and expands when you add water,and our Pacman would get mouthfulls of the stuff when we would feed him.This ultimatly lead to death by impaction.As far as the powder,my wife used it a couple times a month. Just dust or spray your crickets with it,and add them to his cage. Easy as heck.Oh,try wet paper towels for the bottom of the tank, Works well and easy to clean!!!!!!!

i use eco earth and he used to get mouth fulls, so i started feeding in a separate container.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

Well, coco-fibre is generally considered one of the safer substrates Moss is definitely a no-no, however. I've had mine on coco-fibre for going on four years now and he's gotten by just fine.

If you are really worried about yours ingesting something unhealthy (and you probably should be), I suggest tong-feeding to minimize substrate ingestion, no matter what substrate you decide upon. They are lunge-feeders an it is inevitable that if they grab something dropped onto the substrate, they are going to get some foreign material. Which is why Coco-fibre is suggested, it stands a better chance of making it through their digestive track than anything else.

Paper towels are sometimes used, and they do have their advantages, but in my opinion are less pleasing to the eye. Personally, I prefer to tong-feed and use the coco-fibre. I've seen mine consume small amounts of fibre now and the, and so far it has always made it through to the other end. Feeding in a separate container isn't a bad system as long as your frog can handle the stress of being transferred on a regular basis.

Besides vocalization, you can look for nuptial pads on their front feet. I wasn't able to find a picture of Pacman nuptial pads, but I did find one of another species of frogs at another forum that should be similar. Nuptial pads. Only males have these. My pac started calling at around a year old. A year after I got him that is, I'm not sure how old he was upon purchase. He was a juvenile between the size of a quarter and a fifty cent piece.
An amusing side note, I recently got a new dog, and when he barks it sometimes provokes a response from my frog.
I'm also able to get him to call by playing YouTube videos of other pacs calling.

I've seen estimated lifespans estimated from 12 to twenty years, but all I can do is say that mine has had a lifespan of nearly four years so far.

I dust his food every two or three feedings, but I'm just winging it, to be honest. I do know that it's better to dust more often when they are growing up. When mine was small, I went with every other feeding. There are probably other variables to consider such as whether you gut load his food prior to feeding. Just read as many care-sheets as you can and try to go with what seems to be a reasonable medium.

Oh, and remember that if you choose to feed him verts like mice, limit them to a monthly treat. Don't feed goldfish, they have a reputation of carrying heavy parasite loads. Live-bearing fish like guppies are more popular as feeders, but I've never tried them. I only feed mine a very occasional F/T pinkie. I also completely avoid mealworms. Nightcrawlers, crickets and roaches are great, but after mine reached adult size, he became pretty much disinterested in crickets and nightcrawlers have become his staple diet.

Hope this helps! They really aren't that difficult to care for at all, and you can find loads of advice all over the 'net.

 

[Agent Jones]

Thanks so much guys I feel much better about possibly not killing my new buddy.