C. cranwelli's (brown morph) are known to fast/not eat as often as Ornates (green morph) or Albinos, even Fantasies. It's probly just stressed out. Also, I have 100% natural peat moss, but dont use it because everyone is saying to use coco fiber and have had success using it. So I just use coco fiber and don't want to risk impaction.
Shy pacman won't eat
- Thread starter arachnocat
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Whats the difference between the albino and fantasies?
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are you sure they are infertile? im pretty sure they can produce offspring irregardless of being hybrids or not (not all hybrids are sterile, many can reproduce just fine). although its more or less an assumption, of the few amphibian hybrids ive heard of, they all proved to be fertile (these were newts and salamanders though...).
pacmans can be touchy at times. my big female will eat like a horse most of the year but will go off feed every couple of months. longest has been 2 months (not estivating). im not sure why, care is the same and has been for almost 3 years, i think its just something they do from time to time.
as said, keep the stress level low and he/she will be fine. keep offering a variety of foods. be careful of overfeeding, sometimes they bite off more than they can chew. although their limits are impressive.
mine does fine at room temperature.
pacmans can be touchy at times. my big female will eat like a horse most of the year but will go off feed every couple of months. longest has been 2 months (not estivating). im not sure why, care is the same and has been for almost 3 years, i think its just something they do from time to time.
as said, keep the stress level low and he/she will be fine. keep offering a variety of foods. be careful of overfeeding, sometimes they bite off more than they can chew. although their limits are impressive.
mine does fine at room temperature.
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So any update on him eating?
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He's doing much better now. I can only get him to eat crickets. He seems scared of roaches or mealworms. He won't eat if I'm too close to the tank but I did see him gobble down a few crix. The ones I put in this week dissapeared so I think he's ok.
I checked his tank last night and found a huge poop. I swear it was half the size of my frog. I thought it was my frog till I moved some leaves out of the way. It was pretty impressive. lol.
I checked his tank last night and found a huge poop. I swear it was half the size of my frog. I thought it was my frog till I moved some leaves out of the way. It was pretty impressive. lol.
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Good to hear!
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Glad to hear yours has started eating. After it becomes even more established, you may want to consider trying to train it to tong-feed. I believe most get the hang of it eventually. Mine had to put a little size on first, but now he eats nearly exclusively from the tongs.
He started eating right after I placed him in his tank after he came here. Chances are that it was the first time he had been fed since he was shipped to the pet store. Roughly a month later, he was eating from tongs.
Try night-crawlers if you can get them. You'll probably need to cut them up until your frog gets a little bigger. Or you might be able to buy smaller earthworms, I believe they are referred to in the bait trade as "panfish worms". I think those are just a smaller variety of earthworm, closer to those you might dig up in the yard. But once yours reaches full growth, it will be able to slurp up the biggest 'crawler like spaghetti! I particularly suggest tong-feeding night crawlers because as soon as they hit the substrate, they are coated with it. One advantage to their stickiness though is that it makes it really easy to apply powdered supplements.
The more variety the better, roaches are supposed to be a good item if you can finally get him to accept them. Mine has done well on a staple of night-crawlers and crickets, I'm a bit leery of mealworms, personally, and roaches just aren't an option.
I did try a frozen/thawed pinkie as a treat, but he showed no interest no mater how much I made it wiggle with the tongs. No big deal, he doesn't need them to be healthy, anyway.
I was pretty amazed when I saw my frog's first large "present" too. I'm talking cat-dropping sized. I guess when you consider that they aren't much more than a digestive system with legs, you should expect some Herculean productions!
One quirk mine has is that since reaching full growth, he doesn't seem to want to relieve himself in his cage. He does it when I put him in for a soak while I spot clean his cage. I do that as a routine once a week, culminating in a complete cleaning and substrate change once a month. I keep a water dish with him at all times, but he never uses it. Probably because I keep his humidity level at optimum range. Sometimes it even runs a little too high if I don't watch it and adjust the ventilation.
Boy, get me started about my frog and I just won't shut up! Sorry 'bout that!
He started eating right after I placed him in his tank after he came here. Chances are that it was the first time he had been fed since he was shipped to the pet store. Roughly a month later, he was eating from tongs.
Try night-crawlers if you can get them. You'll probably need to cut them up until your frog gets a little bigger. Or you might be able to buy smaller earthworms, I believe they are referred to in the bait trade as "panfish worms". I think those are just a smaller variety of earthworm, closer to those you might dig up in the yard. But once yours reaches full growth, it will be able to slurp up the biggest 'crawler like spaghetti! I particularly suggest tong-feeding night crawlers because as soon as they hit the substrate, they are coated with it. One advantage to their stickiness though is that it makes it really easy to apply powdered supplements.
The more variety the better, roaches are supposed to be a good item if you can finally get him to accept them. Mine has done well on a staple of night-crawlers and crickets, I'm a bit leery of mealworms, personally, and roaches just aren't an option.
I did try a frozen/thawed pinkie as a treat, but he showed no interest no mater how much I made it wiggle with the tongs. No big deal, he doesn't need them to be healthy, anyway.
I was pretty amazed when I saw my frog's first large "present" too. I'm talking cat-dropping sized. I guess when you consider that they aren't much more than a digestive system with legs, you should expect some Herculean productions!
One quirk mine has is that since reaching full growth, he doesn't seem to want to relieve himself in his cage. He does it when I put him in for a soak while I spot clean his cage. I do that as a routine once a week, culminating in a complete cleaning and substrate change once a month. I keep a water dish with him at all times, but he never uses it. Probably because I keep his humidity level at optimum range. Sometimes it even runs a little too high if I don't watch it and adjust the ventilation.
Boy, get me started about my frog and I just won't shut up!
Sorry 'bout that!
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I don't like to double post as a rule, but today was moving day for my frog, and I wanted to show off how it turned out. I'm fairly pleased. Of course, all that is important is whether or not the frog finds it suitable. Luckily, they aren't too hard to please when it comes to aesthetics.
I may have to downscale on the accessories a bit, the potted pothos takes up a little more real estate than I intended. After the plant becomes established I may transplant it to a smaller pot. Assuming it lives, of course. Also, I just set his thermometer/hygrometer down on the floor until I decide where to affix it.
I upgraded him from a five gallon tank to a ten gallon, and in addition to the pothos plant, surrounded his water dish with stones and added a jungle background. Here's a few pictures....
First, a quick look at him after his bath the night before the big move, all peeved and puffed-up, followed by an overall shot of his new digs, and finally, he emerges from the jungle to getcha!
I may have to downscale on the accessories a bit, the potted pothos takes up a little more real estate than I intended. After the plant becomes established I may transplant it to a smaller pot. Assuming it lives, of course. Also, I just set his thermometer/hygrometer down on the floor until I decide where to affix it.
I upgraded him from a five gallon tank to a ten gallon, and in addition to the pothos plant, surrounded his water dish with stones and added a jungle background. Here's a few pictures....
First, a quick look at him after his bath the night before the big move, all peeved and puffed-up, followed by an overall shot of his new digs, and finally, he emerges from the jungle to getcha!
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Yup! It's never been used as such, though. But I'm considering replacing it because it's a little on the shallow side. On the other hand I may not bother switching it because, the frog has never used any water dish that I have provided, I just put them in there just in case he wants one and to help with humidifying the tank.
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What a cute froggy Tim Benzedrine! Nice tank too. I like the live plant in there. Mine looks similar but I have a bunch of fake plants and some logs with moss on them. I'll try to get a pic of it later.
I'm happy to say that my pacman is no longer shy! It was really warm in my house last night and my two pacmans were out of their burrows. I put some crickets in the tank and they were jumping around hunting the crix. I always thought they were sit and wait predators but they'll go after stuff if they're hungry I guess.
I fed my brown guy 5 big mealworms with tongs. I'm excited that he's getting used to being hand fed. I picked up a little albino guy too. This one is not shy at all. He won't eat from the tongs yet but he has no problem hunting down crickets. He comes out of his hole every night and sits in the middle of the tank waiting for me to put food in.
Chubby brown pacman. Substrate was a bit dry, but he got a nice spray after this pic. Had to spray the tank in the morning and evening yesterday because it was so hot. They seemed to enjoy the heat though and were really active.
Little albino pacman. He's only about 1.5"
I'm happy to say that my pacman is no longer shy! It was really warm in my house last night and my two pacmans were out of their burrows. I put some crickets in the tank and they were jumping around hunting the crix. I always thought they were sit and wait predators but they'll go after stuff if they're hungry I guess.
I fed my brown guy 5 big mealworms with tongs. I'm excited that he's getting used to being hand fed. I picked up a little albino guy too. This one is not shy at all. He won't eat from the tongs yet but he has no problem hunting down crickets. He comes out of his hole every night and sits in the middle of the tank waiting for me to put food in.
Chubby brown pacman. Substrate was a bit dry, but he got a nice spray after this pic. Had to spray the tank in the morning and evening yesterday because it was so hot. They seemed to enjoy the heat though and were really active.
Little albino pacman. He's only about 1.5"
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Hey, thanks! I'm glad you like it. I may end up using artificial plants myself, depending on whether or not the pothos in there thrives. I foresee no problems, it's a pretty resilent species of plant.
Good to hear that yours are starting to adjust to eating from tongs. I really do believe that that is the better way. Not only does it help prevent ingestion of foreign material, but you know exactly what quantities have been accepted. I can tell you how much of what my frog has consumed since last April when I began recording feeding sessions with no more than only a 3 or four item margin of error! Of course, that sort of accuracy is hardly required, I just find it kind of interesting to know. Plus it helps me keep track of when I've supplemented with vitamins and calcium.
You may want to consider trying to keep the meal-worm feedings to a minimum level. I worry about the chitin levels and the danger of impaction. Others might disagree, of course. I do know that a common toad I kept expired suddenly and I had kept him on a pretty steady diet of mealworms. They were the only thing I had that he could reliably catch on his own. But it was a wild-caught specimen, and for all I know his diet may not have been a factor. I've read other accounts of mealies causing difficulties, though. I do believe that the warnings of them chewing their way back out is just an old herping legend, however.
Your brown frog certainly looks robust. Have you managed to determine if it's male or female? What is it, about 3 or 4 inches? It's always hard to tell without something to compare against for scale.
They sure are cute when they are small like your albino. I'm guessing that they become easier to tong-feed as they get older, fatter, and lazier. That seemed to be the case for mine, but he is only one frog, so I can't say that is the rule.
In answer to your questions, froggyman, yes, I do mist my tank. It requires it more in the winter, usually twice per day. Covering a portion of the lid helps retain some humidity, as I'm sure you know. I haven't had to mist this new tank yet. The humidity always holds pretty well for awhile after adding freshly moistened eco-earth, so the frequency that this larger tank will require remains to be seen.
I've never tried to measure him, but just eye-balling him, I'd estimate an SVL of four inches or so. It's hard to believe he was only a little bigger than a quarter when I got him last March. The growth rate of those things is phenomenal!
Good to hear that yours are starting to adjust to eating from tongs. I really do believe that that is the better way. Not only does it help prevent ingestion of foreign material, but you know exactly what quantities have been accepted. I can tell you how much of what my frog has consumed since last April when I began recording feeding sessions with no more than only a 3 or four item margin of error! Of course, that sort of accuracy is hardly required, I just find it kind of interesting to know. Plus it helps me keep track of when I've supplemented with vitamins and calcium.
You may want to consider trying to keep the meal-worm feedings to a minimum level. I worry about the chitin levels and the danger of impaction. Others might disagree, of course. I do know that a common toad I kept expired suddenly and I had kept him on a pretty steady diet of mealworms. They were the only thing I had that he could reliably catch on his own. But it was a wild-caught specimen, and for all I know his diet may not have been a factor. I've read other accounts of mealies causing difficulties, though. I do believe that the warnings of them chewing their way back out is just an old herping legend, however.
Your brown frog certainly looks robust. Have you managed to determine if it's male or female? What is it, about 3 or 4 inches? It's always hard to tell without something to compare against for scale.
They sure are cute when they are small like your albino. I'm guessing that they become easier to tong-feed as they get older, fatter, and lazier. That seemed to be the case for mine, but he is only one frog, so I can't say that is the rule.
In answer to your questions, froggyman, yes, I do mist my tank. It requires it more in the winter, usually twice per day. Covering a portion of the lid helps retain some humidity, as I'm sure you know. I haven't had to mist this new tank yet. The humidity always holds pretty well for awhile after adding freshly moistened eco-earth, so the frequency that this larger tank will require remains to be seen.
I've never tried to measure him, but just eye-balling him, I'd estimate an SVL of four inches or so. It's hard to believe he was only a little bigger than a quarter when I got him last March. The growth rate of those things is phenomenal!
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My brown pacman is about 3". I think it might be a female since it hasn't made any noise yet. It might still be too little though. Is there any other way to tell? Someone said you could tell by the profile of the head but I don't know if that's true. I read that on a reptile forum somewhere.
Do you know if there's a way to tell if my albino is a cranwelli or ornata?
Do you know if there's a way to tell if my albino is a cranwelli or ornata?
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It's supposed to be about the angle of the snout. If it is a steep "drop" and appears rather short and blunt it's a male. If it slopes more gently, female. At least I think that's the way it goes. Naturally, there are those who have contested this method.
I never worried about it too much because mine started croaking after I had him several months. Too be honest, I was a little disappointed, I would have preferred a female because they get bigger than males. But I still really enjoy my male.
Chances are pretty good that yours is a cranwelli. I've read that albino ornatas exist, but are much rarer in the trade. Ornatas are supposed to have a spot behind each eye.
I never worried about it too much because mine started croaking after I had him several months. Too be honest, I was a little disappointed, I would have preferred a female because they get bigger than males. But I still really enjoy my male.
Chances are pretty good that yours is a cranwelli. I've read that albino ornatas exist, but are much rarer in the trade. Ornatas are supposed to have a spot behind each eye.
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look at the throat. my male albino had dark coloration on its chin...like a beard. almost black. he was about 4" when i sold him. my current albino female is 5" or so, with a light colored chin.
although im not sure about telling the difference on smaller sized frogs.
although im not sure about telling the difference on smaller sized frogs.