Pacman Frog has only eaten a few crickets since I got her in January

[Asteria2018]

I got a Pacman frog in January. I've never had an amphibian before, just reptiles.

• Since then she's only eaten probably like 9 calcium dusted crickets in all and that's because I kept annoying her, she didn't want to eat it. She never wants to eat.
• Every time I look for her she is at the very bottom of the tank on the hot side underneath maybe 3 inches of substrate. She doesn't move.
• I keep her tank at 80% humidity minimum. I had her temp at around 80 but then I talked to a worker at Petco and they said to try to raise her temp so I did that. Now it's at around 95-97 all the time.
• She never goes into her water bowl but I keep her substrate damp.

Today: I took her out to try to feed her again and she wouldn't eat. I also noticed she looked paler and when I brushed the dirt off of her I realized she has some sort of layer over her. Another really scary thing is that I think she's bloated but I can't tell if shes actually bloated or just a normal Pacman. When I touch her sides they feel like they're filled with air.

Someone, please help I have no clue what I am doing wrong. What I'm doing right. Or what I'm supposed to do now and in the future.

 

[Alpha1]

I really have no experience in keeping frogs, but it seems to me that your water temps and humidity may be too high, and one side of the enclosure needs to be cooler than the other. Here are some pages with related info. Good luck, hope your frog gets better, welcome. :frog2:

SOURCE

You want to make sure you are careful about the enclosure and diet of your horned frog because common illnesses to frogs are typically directly attributed to imporoper housing, improper temperatures, poor quality water, dirty substrate, or vitamin/mineral deficiencies.

• Toxic Out Syndrome

Because frogs absorb water through their skin from the substrate of the water bowl, you want to ensure that the water is changed frequently. If you leave foul water in the water, the toxins can be absorbed by the frog's skin, which can lead to this disorder. Signs of toxic out syndrome include: erratic jumping and spastic extensions of the hind limbs, listlessness, and cloudy eyes. Treatment of toxic out syndrome in frogs is by placing the frog in a shallow water dish of clean water and leaving the frog there. You'll want to replace the water every 4 hours or so until the signs go away. As long as you monitor the enclosure conditions, you can prevent the frog from toxing out.

• Water Edema Syndrome

The frog will start to swell up because of water retention. In very extreme cases, the frog may feel like a squishy water bag. A damaged lymph heart and kidney disease are common causes of water edema, and to date, there is no information as to prevention for the disorder. You can limit the amount of water that is available, or a vet can release retained water via small incisions at swell sites; but, this can be tedious, and you'll find the end result will be the same.

SOURCE

LIGHTING & TEMPERATURES
These frogs need a temperature gradient to thermoregulate and control their body temperature. This essentially means you need to provide a hot and a cool side to your enclosure. All the heat elements should be on one side and the other will be the cool side. This way your frog can move back and forth between the different temperatures depending on its needs.

The warm side can be between 78-85. Low 80s being optimal. The rest of the enclosure can be normal room temperature (around 72). At night, temps can drop to as low as 70 degrees.

Use a good quality temperature gauge, like Zoo Meds digital temp gauge or Exo Terras Thermometer to figure out the temperatures in your enclosure. If necessary, the easiest way to increase the heat is with a under tank heat pad like. Exo terra or Zoo Med heat pads are reliable brands.

In the wild, they live on the forest floor and do not get much, if any, UVB rays. We suggest not putting any UVB lighting on your Pacman. Rather, supplement their diet with D3 (more on this in the feeding section).

HUMIDITY
Always provide a nice sized water dish with fresh water. Change the water at least once a day. Like all amphibians, these guys are quite sensitive to toxins in their environments. So not use strong smelling cleaning products, scented candles, or incense in the room with your frog. Smoking near your frog can also be toxic. As they absorb chemicals through there skin (even airborne ones), you can end up inadvertently killing your frog.

Try for humidity around 60%. Misting the enclosure at least once or twice a day will usually provide enough moisture, but a nice humidity gauge can help you in this area.

Hand misters are usually sufficient but if you don't care to remember to mist, an automatic mister like the Exo Terra monsoon is a nice option. Exo Terra bowls or Flukers rock dish are nice naturalistic non-porous water bowls. Frogs drink by sitting in their water bowls and absorbing it through their skin. Do NOT used distilled water for the water bowl. Distilled water has no salts or minerals in it and as such messes with the frogs ability to regulate the water in it's cells. A process called, osmotic regulation. Death can result from this as well.

FEEDING
A varied diet is best. Live prey animals like crickets, phoenix worms, horned worms, mealworms, waxworms, silkworms, earthworms, and dubia roaches should make up the majority of the diet. In addition, many Pacman Frogs can be fed from tweezers. So you can add to the list pacman pellet food, and a variety of canned feeder insects. For young pacmans, dust their food with calcium several times a week. For adults, supplement their insect diet at least once a week with a calcium and vitamins supplement such as Repashy Calcium Plus or Zoo Med Repti calcium with D3.

How much to feed your Pacman? Your pet should be round but not overly large. Part of the fun of having a Pacman is feeding it. Just don't get carried away.

 

[Yetidog37]

I'm sorry, same as Alpha. I don't raise frogs either...good luck!