# Frogs & Toads > Pacman Frogs >  What are some of the most common mistakes new pacman frog owners make?

## Ebenezer Frothingham

I'm guessing using the wrong substrate and having the wrong temp are the big ones.
I use coconut fibre, but am not sure how often it needs to be changed out, or how damp it should be (damp or wet?)......

I found out the hard way that letting uneaten crickets wander around the frog tank is bad- one tried to chew on my pacmans eye..
Any advice on things NOT to do? Any things  you've tried as a frog owner that were a disaster, and didn't work? (such as bugs that are more hassle than they are worth as food, lighting, etc)

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## Sublime

Coconut fiber needs to be changed out by looking at it visually or mostly by smell.  Usually around 1-2 months is the average time people change out coconut fiber before it starts developing mold growth or bacteria growth.  Humid, moist environment in a confined space obviously helps the mold growth process speed up, but with enough ventilation it won't develop for awhile.  My coconut fiber is moist to touch, I grab and rake it around with my hand and if you feel moisture throughout then you're good.  I haven't run into a lot of problems, but superworms I won't ever do again.  They're just nasty, high in chitin and don't offer a lot of nutrition even though it's good to have variety.  And they burrowed in my frogs substrate, I think I told you this already on your other thread concerning superworms which was annoying trying to find it and putting my frog in a separate container.  When I first got my frog I wasn't keeping the coconut fiber moist enough and it looked somewhat dry or would dry out pretty quick.  My frog would burrow more than usual and stay there which is probably because he lost his appetite and was trying to aestivate without me knowing I would burrow him out to feed which was not good.  So, finally I found out how to keep it really wet... Just by dumping in de-chlorinated water from the bottle and just spraying it excessively while he was on the other side of the tank so I wouldn't directly spray him.  The ground is a lot more moist and wet for him.  I'm surprised how wet it stays now, it just locks in moisture.  I leave a damp hand cloth over half of the screen covering, that helps too.  Another thing I did was for lighting I used to think that when the sun came down where I live I would immediately have to shut off his daylight lamp, but you want to provide them with a day and night cycle that doesn't interrupt their feeding cycle and certain parts of the year longer day cycles affecting their activity, etc.

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GotButterflies

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## Colleen/Jerrod

Feeding your Pacman too many rodents or bad food sources such as feeding your frog a breaded chicken finger which I've seen on youtube. That's just stupid.

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## Sublime

> Feeding your Pacman too many rodents or bad food sources such as feeding your frog a breaded chicken finger which I've seen on youtube. That's just stupid.


A breaded chicken finger? Lol, torturetube (quoted by George) never ceases to amaze me.  So many premature pacman deaths on youtube  :Frown: , I mean you'll read in the comments occasionally like oh this frog isn't here anymore and it was only a couple years old.  No wonder...

Yeah lots of rodents will cause complications later on if not in the early stages of your frogs life resulting in premature death or costly vet bills...

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> A breaded chicken finger? Lol, torturetube (quoted by George) never ceases to amaze me.  So many premature pacman deaths on youtube , I mean you'll read in the comments occasionally like oh this frog isn't here anymore and it was only a couple years old.  No wonder...
> 
> Yeah lots of rodents will cause complications later on if not in the early stages of your frogs life resulting in premature death or costly vet bills...


Yeah and George is right. I've seen some terrible videos on "Torturetube". I like to watch youtube to see other peoples frogs and watch them eat appropriet food sources or even rodents. Its just fun to watch them eat and chase their prey.

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## BG

I made a mistake by putting the  setup by the ac. It got hot and the room dropped to 67 F . I haven't noticed  the dilemma until my ornate,and my fantasy frog stopped eating. What tricked me is that my cranwelli didn't stop eating. My fantasy wasn't eating but he  didn't show it after 7 days. The ornate was skin and bones. His head was getting bigger,and his body disappeared.  I then did what i had to do to bring him back from the grave. He is my best eater now. The  other mistake people do is ,they don't change the substrate and the frog poisons him self with its own urine. Thats how alot of pacman die.

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## Ebenezer Frothingham

> Yeah and George is right. I've seen some terrible videos on "Torturetube". I like to watch youtube to see other peoples frogs and watch them eat appropriet food sources or even rodents. Its just fun to watch them eat and chase their prey.



I saw a couple Youtube videos where pacman owners fed their frog a rodent that was MUCH too large, and the rodent fought back, biting the Pacman. 

It should be common sense- don't feed your frog a mouse or rat that is twice his size. Can't frogs choke to death on their food?

 I think once a frog bites down, it's not easy to let go...


Check out this video of a pacman being fed a mouse- this mouse is WAY to big for a frog that size , isn't it? The owner is lucky if his pacman didn't choke to death

http://youtu.be/Z52_40dHAJk

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> I saw a couple Youtube videos where pacman owners fed their frog a rodent that was MUCH too large, and the rodent fought back, biting the Pacman. 
> 
> It should be common sense- don't feed your frog a mouse or rat that is twice his size. Can't frogs choke to death on their food?
> 
>  I think once a frog bites down, it's not easy to let go...
> 
> 
> Check out this video of a pacman being fed a mouse- this mouse is WAY to big for a frog that size , isn't it? The owner is lucky if his pacman didn't choke to death
> 
> Ornate Pacman Frog eating a mouse - YouTube


Yes a Pacman can easily choke on their food if its too large. There is a fule of thumb for Pacman food size. A lot of people claime that the food item shouldn't be larger than a quarter of the frogs size. A lot of them will try to eat anything that fits in their mouths. Very common mistake.

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## pmang6

I have my frog on frog moss is that all right?

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## Ebenezer Frothingham

> I have my frog on frog moss is that all right?


Pacmans can swallow that moss and it can make them sick or  kill them if it blocks up their intestines- I reccomend loose coconut fibre substrait, which is often sold as 'Eco-Earth'. My frog loves his coconut fibre substrait-it retains moisture, my frog seems to like the texture, and it's easy to burrow in..

Just make sure  your frog can burrow or bury himself.

That's just my opnion- there are frog experts here who know much more than me about substrait materials

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## Heather

Thanks guys! For all the tips! So changing the substrate every month should be good? Do you just leave it as is and moisten during the month or do you turn it... mix it?

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## Heather

Oh...is feeding crickets and earthworms, and occasional waxworm treats with calcium/vita D a good healthy diet for them? I don't think I can do baby mice, but if I have to I guess I'll make myself try it. So far I've just fed mine crickets.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Oh...is feeding crickets and earthworms, and occasional waxworm treats with calcium/vita D a good healthy diet for them? I don't think I can do baby mice, but if I have to I guess I'll make myself try it. So far I've just fed mine crickets.


Wax worms shoul be given as a treat because like mice they are high in fat. That isn't a bad diet at all really. Giving variety is key to having a healthy frog. Mice should be fed only once a month at most and you can buy prekilled baby mice that are frozen and you just thaw them out and offer them to your Pac. You should also try Hornworms. Pacmans love them.

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## Heather

Hornworms would be given as a treat?

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## Ebenezer Frothingham

> You should also try Hornworms. Pacmans love them.



How do they taste? I'm sure my pacman is ready for a break from crickets

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## Ebenezer Frothingham

How often should Pacmans be fed? I feed mine at least 5 to 7 crickets a night, usually around 11 pm- and sometimes throw in an earthworm.
Do you feed yours every day, or every few days? I've offereed food in the day, and it was always ignored

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## Heather

Hornworms are tasty, lol! Had them on my ice cream last night, hee hee! Jk  :Big Grin: ! Ha ha!

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Hornworms would be given as a treat?


Are they high in fat? I've been giving Grif. A lot of them lately because he really likes them. They are really filling though.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> How do they taste? I'm sure my pacman is ready for a break from crickets


Lol! I haven't tried them myself, but Grif thinks they taste great.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> How often should Pacmans be fed? I feed mine at least 5 to 7 crickets a night, usually around 11 pm- and sometimes throw in an earthworm.
> Do you feed yours every day, or every few days? I've offereed food in the day, and it was always ignored


I feed them at night and I offer food every night. I will skip a night once or twice a week sometimes.

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## Ebenezer Frothingham

> Hornworms are tasty, lol! Had them on my ice cream last night, hee hee! Jk ! Ha ha!



I figure most pet owners have sampled their pet treats

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> I figure most pet owners have sampled their pet treats


Lol! Nope that's not really the case when it comes to your frogs. Probably would taste good fried though. I've eaten scorpions and they're crunchy. Not bad really.

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## Ebenezer Frothingham

Chocolate covered grasshoppers are actually quite good. never had one raw though..

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## IvoryReptiles

As a rule, we offer our froglets & juveniles food nightly. The adults eat every 3 to 4 days.....they eat bigger meals and need more time to digest them.

One of the most frequent problems I have come across is new owners not knowing they MUST use de-chlorinated water!!!
The frogs absorb vitamins & nutrients through the skin......as well as any harmful chemicals. We prefer Prime as a de-chlorinator for our use. It is the best so far and is very cost efficient for the number of frogs & tadpoles we keep & raise.

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## BG

> as a rule, we offer our froglets & juveniles food nightly. The adults eat every 3 to 4 days.....they eat bigger meals and need more time to digest them.
> 
> One of the most frequent problems i have come across is new owners not knowing they must use de-chlorinated water!!!
> The frogs absorb vitamins & nutrients through the skin......as well as any harmful chemicals. We prefer prime as a de-chlorinator for our use. It is the best so far and is very cost efficient for the number of frogs & tadpoles we keep & raise.


i use pondcare brand ,chlorine heavy metal neutralizer dechlorinator. 16 oz treats 9,600 gal for 7.99. How can you go wrong. In my past 30 years in fish keeping i tried everything.stress coat is a joke.some chemical are a big ripoff. But thats from my experience.

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## IvoryReptiles

> i use pondcare brand ,chlorine heavy metal neutralizer dechlorinator. 16 oz treats 9,600 gal for 7.99. How can you go wrong. In my past 30 years in fish keeping i tried everything.stress coat is a joke.some chemical are a big ripoff. But thats from my experience.


We'll look into that BG........the Prime has been good for us. Here in Texas our water is heavily chlorinated and the Prime has been the only one to get the levels we were looking for so far. But I am willing to buy some Pondcare and test it!

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## BG

Please let me know cause we have heavily chlorinated water here in ny. This stuff is concentrated.

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## pmang6

How might I go about feeding crickets?
Should I just drop them in there (the terrarium)?

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> We'll look into that BG........the Prime has been good for us. Here in Texas our water is heavily chlorinated and the Prime has been the only one to get the levels we were looking for so far. But I am willing to buy some Pondcare and test it!


I use Tetra Fauna Aquasafe for reptiles and amphibians. As far as I know it works fairly well. I guess my frogs would be dead if it didn't. I want to look into Prime though. A good track record for breeders of multiple frogs says a lot for a product.

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