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pacman problem

smelyn Jul 18, 2006 09:32 PM

im worried about my pacman frogs mouth it seems that he has an underbite. his lower jaw looks like its a little forword like a bulldogs. i just recently fed him his first frozen pinky and he ate it with no problem. i just remembered i changed his lighting, can this be a the problem?

Replies (4)

nickbachman Jul 19, 2006 01:25 PM

sounds like maybe a calcium deficiency. make sure you're dusting his food with calcium powder 1-2 times a week.

joossa Jul 19, 2006 02:27 PM

Also, Pac's do not need light so lose it. If you are using it for heat, buy an undertank heater.

smelyn Jul 19, 2006 06:34 PM

seriously, i was told that it helps them digest their food.

mitch_rz Jul 19, 2006 09:03 PM

It depends on what type of lighting: fluorescent or incandescent. The fluorescent tubes sold in pet stores by Exo Terra emit UVA and UVB out of the UV spectrum. The latter (UVB) promotes the frog to produce vitamin D3 which aids in the absorption of calcium. Thus, it is beneficial for the frog to have. However, many will argue that frequent vitamin dusting of the frog's food will be enough for the frog and so this type of lighting will not be required. For a high calcium intaking pet such as a frog, vitamin D3 is essential. In your case, I cannot specify what the problem actually is because I have no expertise in lower jaw disfiguring, but to me it sounds like a defect due to inadequate calcium supplementation of a growing juvenille.

The remedy you should try is just be sure to dust all his food with calcium powder everyday (one to three crickets) and also stick to the vitamin dusting every three days.

If your light is an incandescent lightbulb, the heat that is emitted from this lightbulb in a reflector also aids the frog in digestion, but it's not sufficient enough. See, the light affects the air temperature more than the substrate temperature and your frog although exposed to the air will not likely be able to thermoregulate from the ambient air temperature unless the light is very close to the frog (a position on top of the tank that is near). The danger of putting a light such as this near the frog is that the frog can overheat and die of heat exhaustion. If you have this type of lighting, you can keep it to have the ambient air temperature at 80F or so, but the frog will not take full advantage of this energy source.

An undertank heater heats up the substrate to a high degree. Your frog will be in his substrate for most of his life and so this choice in heating is much more preferred because your frog will be taking full advantage of this energy source. If your frog has a favourite place in the tank to be resting, place the undertank heater underneath that spot on the tank. The heat from the undertank heater will help your frog digest its meals more efficiently than an overhead heatsource.

Here are the things you can do:
- Keep the fluorescent light, but buy an undertank heater.
- Keep the incandescent light, but place it away from your frog so that your frog isnt in the immidiate path of light created by the lamp. Also buy an undertank heater.
- Just buy an undertank heater. The ambient air temperature might not be 80F depending on the room temperature, but the undertank heater ensures that your frog has its heat source where he needs it.

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