Reptile & Amphibian Forums

He wont eat from tongs, so I can't just dust the cricket and feed it. But I also know that this growing stage is the most important for a pacman to get calcium.

It isn't that he's shy, I think he just doesn't recognize tongs to hold food? Because I can tap his nose with a comet or dusted cricket and he doesn't even blink. Doesn't hop away or snap at it no matter how long I hold it or how vigorously it shakes. I'm worried about this, the only way to feed him is to leave crickets int he tank... something that many people consider dangerous. Plus there are substrate issues. Will he adjust to tongs with time? OR if I dont condition him to tongs early will he reject them forever?

Could always try waiting a couple days or longer between feedings. If they're really hungry then they're more likely to take a snap at the tongs.
Letting some crickets run around in the frog's enclosure first sometimes helps. Then coming back with food offered from tongs. Or you can take a cricket pick it up an drop it right in front of the frog a few times, and then gently rub the cricket on it's mouth.

Something I do when my hybrid pacman completly refuses to eat from tongs, is to take a commet or guppy and try to stick it tail first between it's jaws. It's kind of hard to do but if you get the fin in, usually the pacman opens it's mouth. you can do the same sort of thing with an adult female cricket too.

BD
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0.0.1 C. ornata
1.0.0 C. cranwelli
0.0.1 Albino C. cranwelli
0.0.1 C. cranwelli x cornuta
1.0.0 yellow C. cornuta
0.0.2 green C. cornuta
1.1.2 Bufo regularis
1.1.0 D. leucomelas
0.0.2 Panamanian D. Auratus
0.1.0 Anerythristic Honduran milksnake
1.0.0 Normal Honduran milksnake
0.0.1 striped cornsnake
1.0.0 Butter het motley cornsnake
2.1.0 Normal ball python
0.0.2 Beared Dragons
0.0.1 Chinese water dragon
0.0.3 New Caledonian Crested geckos
0.0.1 New Caledonian Gargoyle Gecko
1.1.0 high yellow and patternless leopard geckos

I will try that, but I'd rather not stress him out more than he is already. Do you think that he'll grow more comfortable with age? I suspect that maybe when he is small, he'll be more frightened than hungry. But as the size difference between the tongs and the frog decreases with time, perhaps he'll be more adventurous?

OR if I don't condition him to tongs early on, will he reject them for the rest of his life? I've heard of frogs that are scared to death of fish.

The good news is he is eating dusted crickets, but only when I'm not looking. It's a shame because it's fun to watch them hunt, and I feel like I should make sure he's not eating globs of moss with his crix. Will this pass with time, or is this a personality trait?

Thanks for any insight!

yeah the frog might become more comfortable with tongs as it grows. It also could be the frog's personality. I know only three of my horn frogs willingly take food from tongs every feeding, the rest I have to occassionly coax.
when I first got my ornate pacman he was only the size of a penny, an absolutely terrified when anything entered his container. It took him awhile but now that he's about two inches he'll eat anything off tongs.
You could also try offering food at different times of the day.
With my frogs I've noticed that the younger ones are far more timid during the day, but will eat anything off tongs if they're hungry and it's dark out.

BD
-----
0.0.1 C. ornata
1.0.0 C. cranwelli
0.0.1 Albino C. cranwelli
0.0.1 C. cranwelli x cornuta
1.0.0 yellow C. cornuta
0.0.2 green C. cornuta
1.1.2 Bufo regularis
1.1.0 D. leucomelas
0.0.2 Panamanian D. Auratus
0.1.0 Anerythristic Honduran milksnake
1.0.0 Normal Honduran milksnake
0.0.1 striped cornsnake
1.0.0 Butter het motley cornsnake
2.1.0 Normal ball python
0.0.2 Beared Dragons
0.0.1 Chinese water dragon
0.0.3 New Caledonian Crested geckos
0.0.1 New Caledonian Gargoyle Gecko
1.1.0 high yellow and patternless leopard geckos

& your li'PAC in w/'em! Leave the bunch alone for a bit. Lil'PAC WILL MUNCH! It's fuun 2watch lil'PAC! Reminds me of a tank on recon kill!