Reptile & Amphibian Forums

heyhey all iam new to this form, but not new to reptiles. I jsut got a pacman yesterday and i've done lots of research and iam wondering thou what is the best substrate to use some say apaer towle, others say potting soil with some moss(right now i use paper towel wiht a little moss here and there). I want the experts opions what is the best substrate and i will ahve pic of of him soon bye for now.

Best for young is paper towels. After they get about 1.5-2 inches, bed a beast is fine. I prefer paper towels as when young they are affected more adversely than adults are to certain conditions like feces/urine and bacteria. With papertowels, it is easy to clean and see when urine and feces are produced. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

With my horned frog I used Bed-a-beast. It allows the frog to burrow nicely and is easy to use. I would only use paper towels as a temporary substrate. Horned frogs instinctively burrow, and paper towels don’t allow them to.

Which is why it is only for young ones. I would rather have a frog that can't burrow well than a frog with redleg, which can easily happen with substrates other than paper towels especially in young frogs. If you provide a hide box, it works quite well and the frogs can still burrow under the towels. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

As long as you clean up the frog’s wate and change the bed-a-beast regularly there should not be a danger of redleg. A frog that is stressed because it can not burrow is more susceptible to red leg IMO.

But they CAN burrow on paper towels. If you provide layers, they will burrow under them. No different than in bed a beast. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

I like bed-a-beast for my Pacman & Dwarf Pixie frogs, but how often do all of you change all the substrate & wipe out the whole tank?
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0.3.0 leos, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
0.0.5 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton & Olivia Newton John
1.1.0 cats Gus & Mena

For mine I change it every 2 weeks or so unless the frog is brumating. I keep the substrate pretty dry so it forces the frogs to use the restroom in their water bowl, which makes it easier on me. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

True. The most important thing is the frog stays moist and can hide.

If they're going to the bathroom in the water bowl, why does the substrate need to be changed every 2 weeks?
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0.3.0 leos, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
0.0.5 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton & Olivia Newton John
1.1.0 cats Gus & Mena

They dont always use the water dish.

Exactly. Can you guarentee 100% ever that the frog uses the dish...nope...no way. So they need a change. Plus when you have a warm container where an animal lives you will have bacteria regardless. Not always a good thing to leave them for too long with rapidly multiplying bacteria. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry