Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had a tiny 1" pacman who's eating a lot of circkets and moving around. But yesterday I got a bigger pacman, he's about 3" across. The store owner has been feeding him fish, and when I feed him a fish he'll take it in a heart beat. But he absolutely refuses crickets. Is this bad for him, as I can't dust and gut load the fish like I have been to the crickets. Also he doesn't freak out like the other one does when I pick him up to clean the cage, this strikes me as unhealthy. What could be wrong?

I meant 2", he's still kinda small about a month old. My concern is just that I won't be able to provide variety if it only eats fish, and isn't it fatty? If there IS a way to gutload and dust fish, let me know. Thanks in advance

Alright first off never dust fish they dont need it. Secondly he perfers the fish.. if he gets hungery enough he will take crickets, he may be just to lazy to chase them down so you may want to feed him with tongs.

Not all pacman will freak out when you get near them, mine personally is cool till i try to lift him up, it depends how accepting your pacman is of you and how often you try to handel him. I dont suggest handeling a pacman tho unless you wear latex gloves or wash your hands VERY well before you touch them.

If you want to get your little one use to you just get your hand closer and closer each day and lift him about a inch above the substrate each day till he starts to get use to you. keep handeling him close to the substrate for a good while tho cause if you take him out he may jump to his death! Also keeping them in the tank while you train them like this gives them a sense of security and warmth they dont have outside the tank.

Also word of the wise! They do have teeth, if training them they will more then liekly bite you at one point, dont flick your hand or anything when they bite tho keep calm and still or you will fling them intot he glass and kill them or brake allot of there bones. If you are bit just pry there mouth open if they dont spit your hand out quick. If your afraid to get bit either dont handel them or wear gloves for safety as you train them.

Last of all hes not unhealthy, hes just like jaba da hut.. a layed back player and i wish i owned him lol.

Haha thanks a lot of the advice, that makes me feel better. YEah I always wear latex gloves when handling frogs, for their safety and mine. It's funny that you said what you did cuz I named him Jabba! He refuses to eat from tongs. He ate a cricket once in his life, and i accidently dropped it in the water so he probably thought it was a fish. I'm not interested in him becoming cuddly or handle-able, I just want him to eat from tongs. How do you do this? And I heard fish isn't a good staple food cuz it's fatty. What of that?

Thanks D

Gold fish are bad as a staple food source as they are high in saturated fats.
Rosy reds, livebearers and brackish/marine fish are fine.
As a baby, frequency isn't a big deal unlike an adult.

Ed

Well he's eating from tongs now, but all he eats is fish! I accidently ate a waxworm and a cricket, but spat them both back out with extreme haste. He's also won't touch a fish that doesn't move vigorously, and refuses to move to catch his prey. Good to know about the rosy reds, that's what I'm feeding him (it's the only thing he'll eat besides goldfish). My little one will eat anything that moves, except wax worms. Why do they hate wax worms so much??? I have 50 of these buggers with nothing to feed them to.

theres a few things you can do.. one try rubbing the wax or cricket on the fish allot to sent it and see if it will take it then.. Also ive had some luck with butter worms off a few picky eaters in the past.. they smell like fruit instead of stank so some animals like them better.. I think you can get some at bugorder.com

If all else fails use hunger.. it will always get a pacman to eat what you want it to.. dont be afraid to wait him out..

Handling is really not best for amphibians. The oils on your hands can mess up the chemistry of their skin, which is very porous. (they absorb water through the skin, rather than drink it by the mouth.) If you have to handle the frog (moving it out of its cage for cleaning, as an example) it is a good idea to wear rubebr gloves. Not to mention they will often pee on you when threatened, and this is not fun!
I do not think it'd be a good idea to try calming your frog by putting your hand in its tank either. When confronted by something (cricket, pinky mouse, fish, etc) they should see it as food and lunge at it.
I recommend a diet of mainly crickets, with nightcrawlers for larger frogs. Try nightcrawler worms. It can be a bit tough to get the frog to eat them at first; their long body is kinda hard to grasp, but I found success in placing them on a flat ceramic plate in front of the frog and letting them wiggle til the frog grabs them.
This is how I raised Benny, and it should work for you too.
If your frog is refusing the crix, hold off on feeding him for a day or two, then offer one cricket and see how he reacts.

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2.1 Ball pythons
1.0 Boa Constrictor Imperator
0.1 albino Cranwell's horned frog
1.0 bearded dragon
1.0 Tiger salamander
1.1 breeding Clawed frogs
1.0 black kittycat
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0.1 Paint horse mare

Like i said i put in warnings and said it wasnt ideal. But there are some people who will try to train theres and i did suggest to wear gloves if your going to touch it.. I post all warnings and statements you said lol..

Unless you have been working with something, have some kind of toxic residues on your skin (petroleum distillates, some cleansers, etc) the oils in your skin are not the real problem. The real problem is the removal of the protective mucous layer covering the skin with handling. Moistened gloves prevent the transfer of contaminents and are a smoother surface resulting in less mucous loss. Other than that moisten your hands before you touch your frogs.

Ed