Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was reading the forums and came across someone stating that using a heating pad for my pacman frog is not recomended. They stated that a frogs natural heat source is from above and that is what should be used.

Right now i have a a heat pad on the bottom right of the tank and a small 15 watt fish bulb up top in a hood.

Whats the deal on this?

Also forgot he is in a 5 gallon long tank (length of a 10 but short height (about 6-8 inches tall)

I would use a bulb suspended from something above to heat the tank. See frogs burrow to escape certain elements (heat, drought, ect). So if the frog burrows to escape heat and ends up being crammed against the bottom of the tank where the heat pad is, that could cause some problems. 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

Ok so then what type of bulb and how many watts? Im using one 15watt little (like 4-5 inch) bulb.

And the heat pad only does less then 1/2 the tank (mabe 1/2).

So what set up should i go with?

Since you seem to be the man to talk to about frogs o)

My pacman (jabba), has never used his water dish. Im using (bed a beast) and i keep it very moist. Usually all he does is chill out in the substrate all day until he is hungry and then pops out of it to feed. Or he will just move to a new location and burrow again.

Is that normal or should he be using his water dish? Or is the substrate moist enough and thats why he is not using it?

Of my 2 frogs, my pacman is much "dryer" than my dwarf pyxie. I keep the substrate a bit dry, to encourage her to use her bowl. She probably soaks for an hour or less, once a day. I've also seen her go days w/o soaking. I think they just aren't as "wet" as some other types of frogs.
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1.3.0 leos, Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
1.1.4 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton & Olivia Newton John, Unnamed
1.1.0 cats Gus & Mena

To answer the question bluntly, if it is moist, often they feel no need to use the bowl since they can absorb the moisture straight out of the substrate. Personally, I would start keeping the substrate a little drier. This will force the frog to start using his bowl, and since they only defecate/urinate when in a damp environment for the most part, it will force him to produce the waste in his bowl allowing for better cage maintenence. 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

What should i use?

I listed my tank size up top...

Our pacmans tend NOT to use the water dish unless the substrate is too dry. Its normal for them to burrow into the substrate for weeks on end, they really don't do much. If its too dry they "estivate" (go into semi hibernation), get dry and look almost dead. You can bring them out of it by getting them nice and moist and feeding them. NEVER let a frog go into estivation on a full stomach, the food will rot in the belly and kill the frog. And by the way, they do NOT need to estivate.

My husband has been keeping pacmans for over 4 yrs in their aquariums with just a 60 watt bulb supplying light and heat from above, one of the tanks only has a 40 watt bulb, if everything else is ok, nutrition, substrate, etc. , this seems to work just fine!

So then when i turn off the lights, room temperature is ok for the rest of the night then?

Well, I know this is going to fly in the face of all convention, but we NEVER turn the lights off. Yes, yes, I know some say they MUST have a period of darkness, but in the four going on five yrs. we have had the frogs we seldom have turned off the lights, ours are big fat and healthy. If your house doesn't get below 60 at night, go ahead and turn off the lights if you want to, its not going to hurt them. I can only tell you what has worked for us.

haha oh yeah i can see the crap flying already!

I definetly am going to keep the lights off at night, not only for the frogs sake, but also for mine! *lol* I need to sleep at night and the tank is literally a foot away from my head when i sleep.

But the temp never gets below 65 in my room. Its usually around 70-75.

One thing that can bypass this problem are the ceramic heat emitters. They work well and do not put out light. Personally, I would not leave the lights on all the time even though it works for some people. I could probably live with the lights on 24 hours a day, but I wouldn't want to. That is the way I see it.
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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 hooked up a 60 watt bulb and am trying that 12 on 12 off. Speaking of which its about lights out for my guys...

Thanks for all the help guys!

Good luck. Remember to have a thermometer on the substrate sort of sticking straight up. It will let you check the temp directly below the light. If it is too hot, you can buy dimmer switches or you can just adjust the height of the light. 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

How do i place te thermo? Straight up? ?? I have a flukers round guage and i usually jsut place it on its back dial side face up.

And what would be *too hot*? I know temps are around 75-85ish right? Is it bad if i have a baskign spot thats over that?

Backside up would work just as well if we are talking about the same thing. My point was that you want the sensor pointed towards the light and not on the ground that is not being affected by the light or at the top of the tank on the glass.
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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

Oo ok i gotch ya. Id guess they would put the censor on the top of the guage. The part that shows the temp right?

Anywho i think i got it pretty good now. 78-80 it seems to be all around the tank.

Thanks for the help guys!

78-80 is pretty good. No harm in that range. As long as you have between about 78 and 85 or so you are pretty well set. A little below that at night will not hurt the frog though. 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

My house gets around 70 degrees at night, and that is fine for my horned frogs. They have a light on above them for the whole day (incandescent 60-watt) and this brings the day temp to around 75 degrees.
The bulb is mainly for my benefit, when I watch the frogs eat and to make cage cleaning easier. But it is on a timer, 12 hours on/12 off. But my frogs spend almost all their time buried anyway, so I really don't even think they know if it is light or dark out!
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*~Ginevive~*
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