Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone. I'm going to be taking delivery of a baby albino pacman on friday. Someone at my daughter's school has to get rid of it and my daughter said we would take it. She's the apple of her daddy's eye!! Anyways, I mostly keep snakes and lizards. (Currently have 1.1 western hognose, adult ball python, and of course my daughter's okeetee corn.) I've been reading the care sheets and I saw that wet paper towels are the preferred substrate. Do you shread them or just leave them flat? Also, our house is kept kinda cool (gas prices getting out of hand!) I have heat lamps plus the ten gallon he'll be going in has a heat pad. If I put a flat rock or something over the heat pad so he's not sitting directly on it would that be ok? Sorry for the long post but just because it's a free frog doesn't mean I want him to be mistreated. Thanks!

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Everything I know about life I learned from Nintendo!!!

just fold the paper towels to fit the tank. i wouldnt use a rock over the heat pad, he woudl never go on top of it to use the heat. see if the heat lamp is enough.

So I shouldn't even use the heat pad? I was afraid he might get cold overnight.

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Everything I know about life I learned from Nintendo!!!

the heat pad could end up burning him if he burrows down (which is where they are most comfortable) and that is why i would only use a heat lamp. any insulation to keep him from burning himself will void the use of the heat pad in the first place. and for sexing them the males croak and the females get bigger.

Thanks for the response. I currently have the wet paper towels that I read that you suggest, but how do you feel about moss? I also saw where also like the bed-a-beast. I was just wondering what the best substrated are to try. I figure I'll try a couple and just see what kind the little guy likes best. With what you said about males croaking I would have to guess it's a boy. He was very vocal when I was coaxing him out of his sub-par tank. I know you don't handle these guys like snakes or lizards but what's the best way to grab them? I know to wash your hands to keep the skin oils to a minimum and to keep your hands kinda wet but I wasn't sure the best way to handle them. Thanks for all your help!

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Everything I know about life I learned from Nintendo!!!

moss is too hard to tell when it has been soiled, and it starts to rot over time. wet paper towels really are the only option in my opinion and experience, but if i had to use a commercial bedding it would only be bed-a-beast (or other brands' versions of the same product). handling is kind of a hard one. depending on the frog it can be very different. for mine if i come in from above and get my hand wet in her water then tap her on the back a few times she knows its me and not food so i can then just pick her up. for smaller ones i just kind of manipulate my fingers under them and then quickly move them to wherever i need to put them. it is always good to at least have a finger or something in front of their face so they dont think they have a clear shot and try to jump. if you accept this now it will be easier for you: you will get bitten by him at some point. you will either tap his nose the wrong way, or he will just be extra hungry, but most likely it will happen. put him and your hand/finger back in his cage and let him come off when he wants to. there a few things you can do to get him off faster, but they are uncomfortable for him and dont always work, so you pretty much have to let him come off when he wants to.

Yeah I've been there before! I had about a 2 1/2 to 3ft nile monitor hanging from my hand for about 10 minutes!! I couldn't just pull it off because of the fact of how much skin it would take with him. Finally, after running him and my hand under some cold water he let go. I had blood running down my arm and had the pleasure of getting some stiches! Gotta love them lizards!!
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Everything I know about life I learned from Nintendo!!!

i had a savanna latch on due to a dumb mistake on my part. had the tips of my right thumb and index finger. i didnt realize it at the tiem but the first thing i did was grab his neck so he couldnt thrash. i got my sister to turn on the cold water since i was feeding it in the tub anyways. a few seconds under cold water and he let go and all i had was a couple small holes that bled a little, i lucked out.