Reply To: New Pacman Frog

[Zoodulcis]

Many pacman frog owners do feed with tongs. If they have a very aggressive animal that lunges, or they just want to be absolutely sure of the quantity of food being consumed each feeding, they do use tongs. So do consider tongs, once he is more used to his surroundings. FYI, another forum member that got a pacman about a week ago, who wasn’t eating crickets, got him to eat earthworms, and no tongs required. Perhaps for a bit, you could keep the crickets and mealworms on hold and try some store-bought earthworms. Not wild-caught, because they are chock full of parasites. Once you know that he has eaten his first earthworm, you’re on your way. Then you can present other soft-sided wrigglies like hornworms to see if he likes them as well. If you get a bunch of worms from the store and intend to keep them alive for a couple of weeks and offer them to him periodically, but sure to gut load them. You can start training him to take a wriggly from tongs so in the future you will know that this is a viable option, especially if you decide to treat him to frozen, then warmed pinkies as an occasional treat. They really need to be fed with tongs to prevent you from getting bitten. Once he seems super excited about wrigglies of all kinds, the mealworms and crickets can again become a treat that may get him to move about a bit more.

In a couple of days, if he still isn’t hungry, you may need to search for poop, to make sure he isn’t constipated and simply has no room for food until he eliminates. Stay in touch with his progress and I am happy to advise you through this transitional time.

And good for you on the water treatment!!