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Q: Pacman frog not eating?
Posted By:

Herpetology Mermaid

In Relation To:

Bubba

Hi everyone,

I recently aquired a large pacman frog, I believe it is an ornate? I'm not really sure.

When I got him he was in a 5g tank with a layer of aquarium pebbles, and about 2" of stagnant water. It's been awhile, but i used to have a pacman frog and new this set up wasn't appropirate. I moved him over to a medium/large KK (which is, admittedly, a touch to small. I would have used the tank but it was cracked. But it doesn't seem to bother him much), and filled it with 2-3" of moist coco fiber for him to dig around in, and a water dish large enough for him to soak in. 

I've had him for almost 2 weeks now, and he's only eaten once...

My last pacman frog was a garbage disposal on legs, so I find this rather baffling. The only thing he's eaten was red worm I threw in his general direction. I have since tried chucking other food items near him to no affect. 

I have tried crickets, mealworms, earthworms, red worms, and pinky mice. I've attempted offering when he's out and about, leaving them in over night, putting him in a different container to feed, and nothing...

The only thing I wonder is...perhaps he is to cold? 

I was always led to believe pacmans did fine at room tempature, my reptile room stays pretty much constant 76F, his cage because of the moisture is likely a little cooler, around 73-74F if I remember correctly. Perhaps he is not warm enough?  


Points: 150
Topics: General Health , Feeding , Heating
Tags: Frog, Noteating, Pacman
Species: Amphibians > Frogs > Ceratophrys ornata
Administrative: Show/Hide

Assisted Answer 5/12/2012 10:31:27 PM

ShutUpAndSmile
Could he be compacted? If I remember one side is food and one side is poop since he hast he should be soft on both sides. He could also be stressed. Take black construction paper and cover all sides and if that works you can slowly start uncovering it
 
Assisted Answer 5/13/2012 12:46:33 AM

ashlee

For sure bump his temps up, try 80-85.

 
Member Comment 5/13/2012 12:59:11 AM

ShutUpAndSmile
Make sure you put the heat pad on the side of the tank. They dig when they want to cool off so it being warm on the bottom of the cage doesn't work well for them. I also recommend checking out frogforums.net. One member there grifthegreat has always answered any questions I had.
 
Accepted Answer 5/14/2012 11:13:39 AM

shellboa

Pac mans do not need extra heat unless your house is cold. I would use a small wattage heating light before I used a heat pad.

Also, they breathe through their skin so coco fiber may not be the best substrate, you could add some moss to it or switch to something like Jungle mix from ExoTerra.

Covering the tank could possibly throw of it's circadian cycle (night and day) add a plastic/silk plant or some cork bark to give him some where to hide if you think he needs it.

 Stick to one or two types of food, you aren't going to figure out what he likes by offering him every thing under the sun. They only need to eat two or three times a week. It may be that to much activity (getting in and out of his cage) is causing him to be "anxious" and off feed. Try leaving him alone for 48 hours and then offer one or two crickets and see if he eats. You can put a piece of carrot in his tank and leave the crickets in there for a day or two.

 
Member Comment 5/14/2012 2:45:51 PM

ShutUpAndSmile
They need the coco brick that you put in drclorenated water. Moss can cause impaction and usually isn't recommends plus a light would dry out the tank and they need high humidity. The frog forums also recommend the covering of the tank to reduce stress they don't need a day/light schedule if they did I don't think people would keep them in racks.
 
Assisted Answer 5/15/2012 2:06:45 AM

ashlee

My pacmans never had much of an appetite when kept at room temps, I highly suggest you warm him up and then try offering him some food. Most good caresheets I have read say day time temps need to be at 80-85. I agree that if you use an UTH you need to attach it to the side of his/her enclosure, they often burry in substrate to escape heat.

 
Member Comment 5/24/2013 12:42:25 PM

Cenobite

Hey I just met you. And this is crazy. But award some points. Close this question, maybe?

 
Member Comment 6/7/2013 10:39:56 AM

Cenobite

This question has had no activity for 14 days and will be closed by an administrator unless the original poster takes action.

Recommended Action: Points awarded

An administrator will select responses and assign points at their discretion.

Original poster, please close this question out and assign points. If you have any further information in the resolution of your problem, please post it here so that others may learn from it.

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