Pacman Frog

HISTORY

Horned frogs, also known as Pacman frogs, dwell in the humid forests of South America. They get their common name because they have a rather round body with a large mouth which resembles the character Pacman from the video games. Pacman frogs are from the genus Ceratophrys. We work with three different species including cranwelli, cornuta, and ornata. They make great beginner frogs because they are rather hardy frogs rather simplistic care.

SIZE & LIFESPAN

Pacman frogs are one of the bigger frogs on the market. They reach between 6-8 inches in total and are close to the size of a dessert plate. In the wild, Pacman frogs live between 5-7 years, but, when properly cared for in captivity, this frog can live anywhere from 10-15 years. If you follow this care sheet, you can expect your frog to live a nice long life.

DIET

Pacman frogs will eat anything that moves! A varied diet works best consisting of crickets, earthworms, roaches, and feeder fish. They can also eat worms such as phoenix worms, butterworms, and horned worms. All prey items should be dusted with a high quality Calcium D3 powder. We use and recommend the brand Minerall for all our frogs. We feed between 4-6 insects every other day of appropriate size. Keeping them on smaller, more frequent meals will help prevent any issues in the digestion process. Pacman frogs can be taught to feed off tongs which can make for a more interactive feeding time. An occasional pinky mouse is okay for an adult pacman frog, but should not be a weekly routine because they are extremely high in fat.

HUMIDITY

Pacman frogs need their humidity to remain between 60-70%. If the humidity gets too low, the frog can start to dry out and can easily die of dehydration. We recommend misting the frogs once a day to keep humidity high enough. If you decide to put the frog in an enclosure with a screen top, you may need to mist more frequently to keep humidity up. If you cannot mist them every day, you may need to get an automated mister in order to keep the humidity at the proper level. Always monitor the humidity with a digital hygrometer for best accuracy.

WATER

Because frogs have extremely sensitive skin, care must be taken when picking the kind of water to use. We recommend using spring water, but, if you need to use your own tap water, you will need to use de-chlorinator in order to remove any impurities from the water. Do not use Distilled water! It can easily kill your frog. Always use either Spring water or tap water with dechlorinator. Provide your frog with a large, shallow dish of water. Be sure the bowl is shallow enough so that the frog can easily get out of it. This bowl should be changed out daily so that the water remains clean.

HOUSING

We always recommend housing frogs alone. These frogs are highly cannibalistic and will eat their smaller siblings. That being said, they do not need a ton of room because they are ambush predators who are inactive most of the time. A small shoebox size container is perfect for babies and juveniles, but adults will need a bigger habitat. Adults should live in a habitat with a floor space measuring 20"x11". We recommend using plastic setups for these frogs because it helps maintain proper humidity. If you do decide to use a tank, be sure to cover the top of the screen with plexi-glass to prevent humidity from escaping.

SUBSTRATE

We recommend using eco earth,peat moss or an organic potting mix to line the cage floor. This will help keep humidity up as well as giving the Pacman frog a substrate that it can burrow down into. We provide our frogs with between a deep substrate that is between 2-6" deep. The bedding should be moist, but not dripping yet. You do not want any standing water in the substrate or else mold and mildew can build up.

DECOR

Provide small areas of cover for the frog, so that they can feel secure in their cage. We do this by placing either small areas of pillow moss in the cage for the frog to burrow back into or by placing live or plastic plants around the tank. The best live plants for a naturalistic tank include: Pothos, Philodendrons, Spider plants, Ficus, and Dracenae. Be sure to re-pot and wash off the plants leaves so that the frog does not accidentally ingest any fertilizer or pesticides.

LIGHTING & HEAT

Pacman frogs are best kept a bit above room temperature. The tank should stay between 75-85 degrees. Pacman frogs tend to thrive in the upper 70's the best. If your house will be to cold during the winter months, we recommend heating the tank with an under the tank heat mat. We do not recommend using heat lamps because it dries out the tank quickly, whereas, a heat mat will raise the temperature, but not effect the humidity. Although UVB lighting is not required, we recommend it as a way to help the frog get the proper amount of vitamin d3. A 5.0 UVB will be sufficient for a pacman frog and will help the frog metabolize all its vitamins.

HANDLING/TEMPERAMENT

Pacman Frogs have extremely sensitive skin and should rarely be handled. All frogs have thin skin that they use to absorb water and oxygen, but they can also absorb toxins through their skin, such as oils, lotions, pesticides, etc. We recommend using Powder-free Nitrile disposable gloves when handling your frog in order to prevent the frog from absorbing toxins that may be on your hands. Pacman are considered a display pet because they are a “watch, don't touch” amphibian.

CLEANING

We recommend spot cleaning the cage at least once a week and doing a full bedding change and tank cleaning once a month. Every week look for poo, dead insects, shed, and food smears on the ground or glass and remove it from the enclosure. When cleaning the entire cage out, first remove all bedding and wipe down all surfaces with hot soapy water. Put the décor into a bucket with warm water & a capful of bleach. Let it soak for 15 minutes & then rinse off the items & place them in bucket of hot water. Once the decor have soaked for 15 minutes, rinse them off again & then they are ready to go back into the tank once cleaning is complete. Then you want to be sure to disinfect the tank with either bleach, vinegar or a commercial reptile cleaning product. Once you have disinfected the tank, thoroughly rinse your tank out with hot water until it is free of any cleaning products.