# Frogs & Toads > Pacman Frogs >  New Pacman Frog won't eat

## sciflux

I just bought a baby pacman frog 4 days ago and he's refusing to eat any crickets that I put in his 10 Gal tank. I live in South Florida, but it's been kind of cool for the last couple of days and I also like to run my AC really low when I sleep at night so I thought that heating was a problem so I bought a zoo med ceramic heat emitter. I have the heater on top of the cage pointing down at the mesh. The cermic heat emitter has a 60 watt bulb in it.I can feel the heat falling downward when I put my finger underneath it so I know it's working. The temps that I'm averaging are 79-82 during the day and around 75 at night. The humidity gage that my pacman tank came with never goes below 60%. I've been checking the eco earth in my frogs tank to see if I need to add more water and it seems like the eco earth is still as moist as it was when I first made it so I haven't added anymore. The frog has a water dish, but he hasn't hopped into it yet. 

I have a couple of questions. 


Can my frogs tank do without the moss that the pacman kit came with because I noticed that mold started forming around the moss so I removed it?I didn't use the liquid that came with the kit that removes chlorine from the water because the guy at the pet store said that it didn't really matter and that he uses regular untreated water on his frogs all the time. Is what he told me true? My Frog isn't digging itself into the eco earth like it's supposed to so I'm concerned.Are my temps too low? "I'm averaging are 79-82 during the day to 75 at night."Is it just possible that my frog doesn't like crickets, should I try feeding him something else?

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## Jason

Could just be taking a few days to settle in. I've had fussy frogs that won't take crickets though, so you can always try small roaches as a stable just now. These are best kept warm as they might not feed on a gutload diet if kept cool. Earth worms are also a favourite and their nutritious. Variety is best

Your temps are spot on but with heating on 24/7 mist at least once a day to keep the air a little humid. You don't need the moss, but some good sphagnum moss will do you good for keeping humidity up. This is a different moss than what's included in the kit, you might do better with this but when using it be careful the frog doesn't eat any, so feed by tongs. With the other moss moulding it was probably kept too wet or have you reduced ventilation? Make sure not to reduce any ventilation when using the ceramic in this size of tank because this will trap heat and prevent a thermal gradient.

You should use the dechlor to be safe, chlorine is most dangerous to tadpoles but not healthy for juvenile and adult frogs either. Frogs need high-quality water with out any of the nasty chemicals in order to thrive. It's just good practice to dechlor the water unless it has been ran through a filter or is good quality bottled spring water.

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## Cory

Hi, I agree with Jason that everything pretty much sounds ok and that hes probably just settling in. And I'm surprised this guy that sold you the frog said not to use declorinator, not using it with water that has chlorine and cloramines in it is one of the most common reasons of frogs getting toxed out syndrome. If you haven't covered 3 sides yet this helps with the settling in and also if you have him somewhere theres lots of noise or traffic its better to have him somewhere quiet. Hope he starts eating for you and everything works out. Oh and just in case you didn't know yet when he does start eating make sure he gets calcium+D3 and his multivitamins, and not on the same day unless its something like Repashy Calcium Plus that is mixed at the proper ratios so it doesn't make him sick.

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## sciflux

> With the other moss moulding it was probably kept too wet or have you reduced ventilation?


Yes I did because it helped me trap in some of heat that was being pushed down in their by the ceramic heater.

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## sciflux

Two more questions...

Would I still need to dechlorinate water that I'm using if it's distilled water instead of tap water?


Should I just throw out the eco earth and start over again with a fresh brick since I didn't dechlorinate the water that I used to make my frogs eco earth the first time i setup his tank?

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## sciflux

> Hi, I agree with Jason that everything pretty much sounds ok and that hes probably just settling in. And I'm surprised this guy that sold you the frog said not to use declorinator, not using it with water that has chlorine and cloramines in it is one of the most common reasons of frogs getting toxed out syndrome. If you haven't covered 3 sides yet this helps with the settling in and also if you have him somewhere theres lots of noise or traffic its better to have him somewhere quiet. Hope he starts eating for you and everything works out. Oh and just in case you didn't know yet when he does start eating make sure he gets calcium+D3 and his multivitamins, and not on the same day unless its something like Repashy Calcium Plus that is mixed at the proper ratios so it doesn't make him sick.


I purchased a UVB light. The guy said that I wouldn't have to worry about my frog getting enough calcium if I got the light for my tank.

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## Jason

Dont cover the screen, in such a small tank they heat builds up quickly. If you find that you can't keep the temperature up without the tank drying out quickly then it's best to use another heat source. Also these frogs urinate a lot into the substrate so that and stagnant air is not good either. Distilled water is best avoided as it as it doesn't contain all the minerals needed. Spring water or treated tap water is better. 

The insects need to be gutloaded and calcium/vitamin dusted and the UVB light helps use the calcium. However, I'm not aware of any studies showing that these frogs even use UVB or at what levels they need. They are large and although they'll take insects, they also eat fish, reptiles and amphibians in the wild and D3 (the vitamin for Ca absorption) is present in these food items. Reptiles or frogs that are herbivores or insectivores that seldom take veretebrate prey items use UVB to make for a lack of D3 in the diet

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## sciflux

Update:

I bought new eco earth and I decided to use spring water instead of treated tap water. I've been experimenting with different insects and so far he's rejected roaches and crickets, but he's eating super worms for some reason. I'm also dusting the superworms as well. The supplement has Calcium with vitamin D3. Now I have a new problem. Can you guys please tell me what's wrong with my frogs eye?

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## Cory

For the feeding I would try nightcrawlers instead of just supers if he seems to eat worms. The supers if he eats to many can lead to impaction because they are high in chitlin. Fr the eye I'm not sure but being an eye I wouldn't hesitate to bring him to vet. Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like the bad eye isn't dialateing am I correct? And did you just notice this or has it been like this since you got him? And one more thing, on that same side of the bad eye does his side look bigger then other? It kind of looks like it in the picture.

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## Cory

To me he has an mild eye infection or he has somehow damaged his eye, or has got something in it. You can take a eyedropper and try to clean it out with some distilled water, just let it drop as if you were using visine. You don't want to squirt water right in there like when your misting,he really wont like that. If this doesn't help and its not a case of something being in there you will need a vet. If its a mild bacterial eye infection you will need Ciloxan 0.3% which is prescribed by a vet or something similar to this product, and if it is an eye infection this could be contributing to him not eating. Or if he has damaged the eye you will also need a vet to look and see what part of the eye is damaged and how bad it is. For the side if it is bulged out abit try giving him a bath in some warm water no higher then his chin, he may need to poop and this will help. Or you can add a couple drops of honey in the bath and this helps to get them to poop sometimes also. If you add the honey make sure to give him a second bath to wash off the honey. If he doesn't go in the water check his terrarium a little bit after you put him back, sometimes they wait and go when they are back in the comfort of there home. If the sides ok and and its just the picture disregard the bath part.

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Tyrrell187

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## CarolinaFrogger

I would avoid using distilled water, it is devoid of nutrients, minerals, and salts and will readily absorb these from the environment which in turn means your frog gets less of those nutrients.  For many years I have used water that I bring to a boil for 30 minutes then allow to cool open overnight (I do 10 gallons at a time) when it is cooled I treat it with aquarium conditioner and have never had a problem. If you are worried about bacteria, you can mix 1-3ml of 3% peroxide for every gallon of water, but wait a couple hours before putting it in your enclosure (this is also great to reduce mold and algae growth).

A periodic luke-warm bath goes a long way for frogs or any other amphibian or reptile, it helps them relax and can assist in passing waste.

It is not uncommon for frogs to go off feed for periods of time, as long as they are not showing visible signs of stress or weight loss, it is not really a concern.  I feed primarily night crawlers with the occasional other insects and rare pinky.  My old frog used to slow down in the winter and eat less often, he could be harassed into eating by rubbing the worm on his lower lip, but after a couple years and more experience I learned that "force feeding" was probably unnecessarily stressing the frog and I stopped.  For several years he only at a couple times between October and March, but once it got a little warmer he would eat like a champ.

As for the eye, I would consider putting him in a "sterile" enclosure for a little while with paper towel substrate and water, you can scrunch up the towel so he can nestle into it. I would just use a plastic shoe box.  Give him a bath, feed him, and let him stay in the shoe box till he has defecated a couple times (clean up after each time obviously, and change out the towel). You may find that he just got a little something in his eye, if it isn't looking better after a couple days to a week, consider talking to a vet.  It looks like he is just not opening his eye all the way, in which case it is likely something agitating it.

Make sure the frog is in total darkness at night and quiet, then mild lighting during the day.  Pacman frogs are not active diurnal predators, they sit on muddy banks under cover and ambush prey, they don't like attention and the really don't like bright light. I have a lit tank and a lot of live plants to provide shade and cover.

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## Cory

I wasn't telling him to soak his frog in distilled water, I was telling him to just use it on his eye. And abit of distilled water ( a couple drops ) wont make him ill. When you go to the vet this is what they would use to do an eye flush.

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