Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My pacman buried himself completely! I went to look in his bowl and he was nowhere to be found! I dug around and found him a good inch underneath the bedding. Is this normal? Is my frog trying to commit suicide? Someone tell me!!!

Im sorry but that sounds like the dumbest thing to ask about a pacman of course its normal!!People you should just searchthe forums on questions like these,instead of flooding the board with questions weve already seen like a million times.

Listen punk, I'm not going to look over 5000 messages to see if mine has been posted before. I know pacman frogs burrow into the ground but he was completely covered under an inch of substrate. Can you breathe if you're completely buried...I dont know, but I'd doubt it. Didn't really make sense to me, someone who's new to frogs, to find it under the ground. Anyone else wanna make me feel better and let me know that he can breathe and not to worry?

Give us a rundown of his enclosure... tank size, temps, substrate, decore... stuff like that. Do you live in an area that gets cold? He could be brumating (hybernating) if the temps have dropped.

Pac Man frogs will dig themselves down pretty deep so there's nothing to worry about. He'll be fine and he can breath.

Hope I helped a little.
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Heather
The Gang (1.1.0 agalychnis callidryas, 0.2.0 bufo spinulosus, 4.0.0 osteopilus septentrionalis)

ellasmommie@yahoo.com

tank size: wide fish bowl (i plan on getting a 5 or 10 gal tank after xmas)

temp: dont know the exact temp but i have a heating pad underneath and i keep the apt at around 75. (once i get a new tank, i will get a lamp instead)

decor: the sand is blue lol, a water bowl, and a small fake plant

substrate: aquarium blue sand about the size of a millimeter (they told me it was safe if he accidentally ate some, although I'm trying to find bed-a-beast somewhere)

I just worry about little Henry! I was hoping it was normal but it was kinda scary not being able to find him.

Sand's probably a lot harder to breathe under than dirt, I'd get him something dirt-ish right away. (I use potting soil and peat moss myself)
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

Ryan~
Definitely switch him to a cocoa fiber substrate like Bed-a-Beast. The sand can cause impaction if enough is swallowed.

Once you switch from the under tank heater to a lamp he won't bury himself so deeply. He may be going deep to get to the warmth since the under the tank heater doesn't put off enough heat to get to the surface. Be careful right now with the heat pad and the sand. Sand can get pretty hot and amphibians don't feel temperaturs the same as we do. He could get burned if it gets too hot and he wouldn't feel it the same to actually move away from it. For now, if you can, hit WalMart or something and get one of those clamp on desk lamps and a regular 40 watt light bulb. The heat will be more evenly distributed and it may bring him to the surface again.

When you do get the larger tank, go for the 10 gallon (about $9 at Walmart with the lid), use about 3 or 4 inches of the bed-a-beast so he can still burrow (No matter what, that's what a pac man does), definitely use a lamp, also pick up a nice full potho plant (again, WalMart they are about $2 a cluster. But before adding it to the tank, wash the roots of all dirt, rub the leaves under the water to clean off any pesticides, and repot it in bed-a-beast. Let it grow for a couple weeks like that to basically "grow out" any chemicals that may be in the plant itself. Pothos work best because it will give him a place to hide and wont die easily if he happens to dig them up when burrowing. Give him a good sized water dish about 4 or 5 inches round and 2 or 3 inches deep and sink it down into the bed-a-beast so it's easy for him to get in and out of. Make the water level come to about his lower lip. Also be sure to cover three sides of the tank (you can just used construction paper) this will help him feel less "vulerable" and less likely to dig so deep for security. You can also top the bed-a-beast with moss to keep him a little cleaner. (Don't use the dried moss that still looks green in the bag though, it has dies in it that can be harmful when he absorbs the moisture from it. You can also pick up one of those temperature strips at WalMart in the fish department (about $3 for a pack of 2) to keep an eye on the temps. Keep him around 80* during the day. Oh, and put the water dish on the opposite side of the tank from the light so that he has a cooler section to go to if he happens to get too warm.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask away!!!
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Heather
The Gang (1.1.0 agalychnis callidryas, 0.2.0 bufo spinulosus, 4.0.0 osteopilus septentrionalis)

ellasmommie@yahoo.com

Thank you! I will follow your advice
Also, the substrate isnt really sand...its hard to explain. It's like little mini rocks about the size of the pupils of his eyes. Not fine like sand is. I can't paint a picture of it with words. I'll see about posting some pics when I come back home from the holidays. Merry Christmas and thank you very much!

That may actually be worse. Small rocks are lodged more easily in the frog's gut, causing impaction if swallowed. Sand is at a least a little more fine, but it doesn't really matter either way as long as you are switching it over to bed a beast or something like it. Until you can get the soil substitute, I would just put him on papertowels. Andy
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Andy Maddox
AIM: SurfAndSkimTx04
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
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

HAhahapunk i dont think so,if yourm to lazy to even try to look it up search the internet.

At least he's asking questions about how to help his frog. In the process he got some great information on how to improve the husbandry for his pet. So many amphibians and reptiles die due to poor husbandry. It is the accessibility of forums such as this one that are helping to change that. It is the owners that do not ask questions and just let their pets die, or worse yet suffer, that should be flamed, not those trying to get help. Just my two cents.
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Stacey

That is completely normal. Mine spend about 90-percent of their lives buried. As long as the tank does not dry out during this burying period, it's fine.
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*~Ginevive~*