Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How do you guys heat your pacman tank?

The most effective way would be to use a small heat pad, but a red heat light of an appropriat wattage may also be used
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1.0 Asian Vine Snake "Mr. Green"
2.2 Leopard Geckos "?, ?, ?, Kokopelle"
1.0 Dendrobates leucomelas "Skywalker"
1.0 Ferret "Oliver"
1.1 Cats "Chester, Satine"
1.0 Dogs "Rocko"

a small heat pad that covers no more than half the tank is good. the only bad thing about heat lamps is having to keep buying bulbs.

Horned frogs do not have to be heated unless the tank is getting lower than 72 (and adults can take it down to 65 or so without any problems). They just need to be fed smaller meals a little less often and the adults will go off feed if they get cool enough (which is normal for this species).

Ed

they may not need it, but i would do it anyways, to prevent any problems from developing. they will grow better with better heating anyways.

I would say that they grow faster, this does not mean better as if the animal has a marginal calcium metabolism problem, rapid growth may cause it to manifest while a slower growth rate prevent it from manifesting.

Ed

yeah, but low calcium should be fixed as a separate problem. there should be enough calium in the diet to not have to worry about that.

snip "yeah, but low calcium should be fixed as a separate problem. there should be enough calium in the diet to not have to worry about that."

How are you determining that the diet is deficient or sufficient in calcium as the calcium needs can be temperature dependent(metabolism)? Are you measuring the caloric needs of the frog and adjusting the calcium levels to match? Has the frog been x-rayed to determine that the bone density is sufficient?
As a point that is overlooked is that there is often wide variation in the levels of ingredients between the batches of supplements used for herps so that the supplement cannot always be counted on to supply the amphibians needs. If you are considering using supplements made for humans, these typically are made with vitamin D2 as it is much less expensive but it is metabolically useless for amphibian and reptile metabolism.

It is a lot better for the frog to keep it in the mid range of its temperature needs or allow it a seasonal fluctuation, which will allow for marginal supplementation to be succesfully dealt with as opposed to push the frog for maximal activity and growth.

Ed

okay, i can agree with that. but that doesnt stop many people from pushing for max growth, which is one reason they get into pacmans in the first place.

weni got my pacman he was my first herp and i got him cuz he was soo cutre and now hes bigger.i didnnt know anything about him wen i first got him.but i went home and got online and saw all the other herps i could get and statred reading.i havent stoped reading yet!lol