# Frogs & Toads > Pacman Frogs >  Had to save him...

## Heather

I went to the local petstore this evening to get crickets fir my retf's. I found this poor little guy in a small cricket keeper with small rocks for substrate and his water dish had slimy green algae water. I had to buy him. 

The guy there was clueless and first wanted to sell him to me with the so called tank he was in, eugh!!! Then when I said no thanks he wanted to put him in a fish bag for me to take him home in!!!! Seriously!?!?! I asked him to put him in a small box and just carried him the rest of the way through the store. 

I was not quite ready to get a pac yet  but just couldn't leave him there. 

Here he/she is. Any idea of what sex he is? 

He's a beast! Tough little guy. Didn't mind me picking him up either. He soaked and ate and is currently just relaxed by his water bowl. 

I hope he'll do well.

Oh! What's an appropriate number of crickets and size crickets for him daily? He ate 5 smalls and one med-large. He's an eating machine, lol! But I don't want to over feed him either. Are crickets and earthworms best?

Thanks so much!!!  :Big Grin:

----------


## Sublime

Looks like a male C. Cranwelli to me.  That's terrible the living conditions, he was in.  Can't believe he hasn't already developed some form of a bacterial infection.  Size crickets, probably 3/4 right under adult.  Glad you picked him up, that's awesome you have a pacman now.

----------


## Heather

Thanks! How can you tell male? I'm hoping cuz I'd like to name him Tank. He's a toughy. I agree. His water didn't even look like water. He couldn't even burrow. He was tucked part way in the rocks. He looked so uncomfortable. And he was under bright lights with no where to relax or get away from the light.

----------


## BG

Wow . I can't believe you have a packie now. I'am so jealous. :Big Grin:  I was going to get one today too.lol.. Heather,i love the v marking on his head. He also has some hi lights between the brown markings. Thats going to be an awesome pacman,and very lucky to have a mommy like you.  Good for you on your wonderful discovery. I realy like him.

----------


## Don

Nice Heather
      Just watch your fingers :-)    George will tell you.....  they are fast.

----------


## Sublime

I read on another forum once, talktothefrog by a guy named Steven Busch or it might of been Ed Clark that you can distinguish the two sexes fairly accurate by looking at how the nose protrudes from the head.  If from the nostrils down pretty much goes just straight down flat, then it's a male like how yours looks in the pictures.  Females tend to protrude farther out to the end of their mouth rather then straight down.  It shouldn't be full relied upon, but they said it worked with most cases of their pacmans.  Wow if I saw him in those conditions I might of had to pick him up to, enjoy him  :Big Grin: .

----------


## Ebenezer Frothingham

> Thanks! How can you tell male? I'm hoping cuz I'd like to name him Tank. He's a toughy. I agree. His water didn't even look like water. He couldn't even burrow. He was tucked part way in the rocks. He looked so uncomfortable. And he was under bright lights with no where to relax or get away from the light.


Does he croak or ribbet? I think the females are mute, but the males make sounds

----------


## Ebenezer Frothingham

> The guy there was clueless and first wanted to sell him to me with the so called tank he was in, eugh!!! Then when I said no thanks he wanted to put him in a fish bag for me to take him home in!!!! Seriously!?!?! I asked him to put him in a small box and just carried him the rest of the way through the store.



That store clerk sounds like a clueless moron. who clearly didn't give a poop  about the well being of the animals in the store

----------


## BG

I second that.


> I read on another forum once, talktothefrog by a guy named Steven Busch or it might of been Ed Clark that you can distinguish the two sexes fairly accurate by looking at how the nose protrudes from the head.  If from the nostrils down pretty much goes just straight down flat, then it's a male like how yours looks in the pictures.  Females tend to protrude farther out to the end of their mouth rather then straight down.  It shouldn't be full relied upon, but they said it worked with most cases of their pacmans.  Wow if I saw him in those conditions I might of had to pick him up to, enjoy him .

----------


## BG

Heather its going to feel like glue onyour hand when he turns on ya.lol  :Stick Out Tongue: 


> Nice Heather
>       Just watch your fingers :-)    George will tell you.....  they are fast.

----------


## Brian

Congrats on the impulse frog purchase :Smile: ! I hope you gave the pet store a talking to or you might end up buying another one the next time you go in :Stick Out Tongue: 




> Thanks! How can you tell male? I'm hoping cuz I'd like to name him Tank.


The sex doesn't matter for that name, look up "tank girl - Google Search". (I'm only slightly ashamed to admit I loved the movie and I have yet to read the comics it's based on).

----------


## Heather

Ha ha! Yeah, no doubt that guy was an idiot! I have a few other choice words in mind that I shouldn't say! For my purposes I guess the sex doesn't matter but I'd like to know. He's so cute! I just love him! Ooh, I hope he doesn't bite me, lol!!! So far, so good. But time will tell. He's a beast...dives at those crickets with some force. He ended up catching the cricket and licking the glass. He had me cracking up, lol! I'm glad I saved him  :Smile: . No croaking as of yet, but I've only had him a few hours. I just turned off the lights. 

Question...my good buddy is having trouble getting his new 1 1/2" baby to eat. He just text'd me. It's been 4 days. Should he force feed? And if so, how? or should he wait it out longer. We're both concerned.

----------


## BG

Don't wait to long . They can become skin and bones in no time. Believe me on this one.

----------


## Heather

Thanks George! He got one in him, thank goodness!  :Smile:

----------


## BG

He'll be allright once he kick starts him up again. Can we see a pic of the lil fellow.

----------


## Heather

I'll ask him to add one today. Time difference is 3 hours behind. He's likely sleeping.

I just love my new baby! He is the cutest little thing ever. Pudgy little guy! He's all snuggled in his substrate with only his eyes and nose peeking out this morning. He looks so comfy  :Smile: . It probably feels so much better than those rough rocks they had him in.

----------


## BG

You see what they do to these guys.Some of these sellers don't care.They only care  about the money so they can get another one to sell. Sounds like tanks is settling in nicely.

----------


## BG

You know Heather I,m just trying to be helpful, I'm not pointing any fingers at any body.   I know when you get a new frog you get happy and want to  see him eat. You can't be breathing on top of him right now  for 10 hours. I'm just talking in general and not towards anyone. You  got to let them get set settled in and a normal pacman will take food everyday. But if you keep him stressed for some reason,he  will not eat.

----------


## Heather

Yes. I agree. He seems very happy now. I have him in a nice dark place and will let him rest  :Smile: . He looks very content. I hope he will do well. I am just very pleased to get him out of that torturous place. I'm glad I stopped there yesterday. I actually very rarely handle my frogs. Even when I clean their tanks I don't take them out unless I have to. As my other babies are doing very well also.

Thanks so much! I appreciate it! And all of the great tips!  :Smile:

----------


## MeTree

Awesome Pacman Frog! Great find!  :Big Grin:

----------


## Heather

Thanks!

----------


## Heather

So guys, what do you think for a name.... I was debating.

Tank or Pudgy?  :Big Grin: 

Since he's a little toughie and is an eating machine I thought tank was a good one. But he's also a little round cutie.

----------


## BG

> So guys, what do you think for a name.... I was debating.
> 
> Tank or Pudgy? :I like  it and its sweet too.
> 
> Since he's a little toughie and is an eating machine I thought tank was a good one. But he's also a little round cutie.


I like puffy better.  i

----------


## BG

I'm sorry . I ment to say pudgy.

----------


## Heather

Lol! Let's see what the overall consensus is  :Smile:

----------


## Heather

Well, sorry George, I just had to name he Tank. He's a toughie. Solid little fella. And an eating machine. Nothing about him is delicate, lol! He's so cool! Tried to attack the water when I filled his little watering hole, lol!!! He cracks me up! Hope I never get a chomp, lol!!!!  :Big Grin:

----------


## Heather

Pudgy just doesn't fit his personality, ha ha! Maybe my next baby can be a Pudgy  :Big Grin: .

----------


## BG

He looks like a little tank. I like his yellow stripes.

----------


## Heather

Thanks! He's a cute little stinker, lol!  :Smile:

----------


## BG

Heather take alot of pics cause they grow overnight,literally.lol

----------


## Heather

I'll try but I dont want to irritate him. As of right now he doesnt seem to mind me at all, esp at feeding time  :Smile: .

----------


## Colleen/Jerrod

Tank is an asesome name for this beautiful rescue. I rescently recued a baby Green C. Cranwelli. I love the color scheme on this guy. Congrats on the awesome find. I can't stant them being kept in such poor conditions and the stores don't do anything about it. Mostly because they know nothing about the keeping of these creatures. I'm glad you saved him.

----------


## IvoryReptiles

Nice Frog!!

next time you do handle him/her take a look at it's front feet and the outer side of the "thumbs"

This is what it should look like if it is a male. Notice the Nuptual Pads.....dark spots on an Albino & a Green.



These are the "Thumbs" on a Green & Albino female.


Tank looks to be large enough that if it is a male, he should already be showing signs. When we started with the cranwelli, we found out we had a male one rainy night when he started calling...........at 3 in the morning in our bedroom. LOL

----------


## Heather

Thanks guys! 

Ah, I'll check out his feet tonight at feeding time. He hasn't tried to chomp me yet, ha ha! So I'll try to sneak a peek. He doesn't seem to be fearful at all. He does not even jump away from me. I'm fairly sure it's because of his poor previous living conditions. Otherwise he would likely have died by now. He was not given any shelter or privacy.

I thought I heard a noise two nights ago but it didn't sound like a croak, more like a squawk kind of sound. Then I didn't hear it again so I thought maybe it was something else. It has been raining here the last three days, however. I will open my bedroom window tonight and see if I get a response. 

 It is odd though my RETF's have been awake for more hours than usual, although nothing in their environments have changed. Perhaps a coincidence though. 

He's definitely a cool pac. I am lucky to have found him  :Smile: .

Hey! Question...he shifts burrowing spots daily and I am presuming he leaves me little "presents" in each hole? So I have been scooping each little spot when he moves to his next spot and then just spreading the clean substrate again. Is that appropriate?

----------


## IvoryReptiles

That's fine Heather. We change out the substrate once a month or more because the ammonia from the urine can build up and become toxic. You can usually tell by the smell........clean coco fiber smells earthy, when it's going bad it smells it!!
The squawking sound could very well have been him vocalizing.

Pacman Mating Calls - YouTube

Did it sound anything like this??

----------


## Colleen/Jerrod

> Well, sorry George, I just had to name he Tank. He's a toughie. Solid little fella. And an eating machine. Nothing about him is delicate, lol! He's so cool! Tried to attack the water when I filled his little watering hole, lol!!! He cracks me up! Hope I never get a chomp, lol!!!!


Lol! I love it. I've never heard of a Pac attacking pouring water. That's awesome.

----------


## Heather

It was funny! It startled me!  Ha ha! Little guy's probably delirious from that crazy pet shop! :/ I'll see if he does it again tonight. He was still soaking last night when I went to bed so I didn't bother him.

----------


## Colleen/Jerrod

> It was funny! It startled me!  Ha ha! Little guy's probably delirious from that crazy pet shop! :/ I'll see if he does it again tonight. He was still soaking last night when I went to bed so I didn't bother him.


Sounds like he is doing very well. He'll be doing much better now that you saved him from that terrible store. Their personalities are awesome.

----------


## BG

Like i said,your frogs have a good destiny.

----------


## Heather

He definitely is a feisty little guy. It's pretty cool. My RETF's are so mellow. Quite the difference.

----------


## hophappygirl

That is really cool. He is a cute little guy. What petstore was that? they are not doing a good job of taking care of their animals.

----------


## Heather

Heartland Pets

----------


## Sublime

They showed a lot of "heart" for that pacman, huh?  What a joke.  Now he's actually being taking care of by someone who has a heart.   :Stick Out Tongue:

----------


## Heather

Okay. Here's a picture of his little foot. Does it look as if he's a male? I haven't heard any more noises. 

Crazy little guy is just looking out at me. He is not fearful at all. Odd.

----------


## BG

> Heartland Pets


Yea ok Heartland pets ,just like farmfresh markets. What a joke is right.!!

----------


## Heather

Ha ha!!! Yeah if you like frog legs, yikes!!!  :Frown:

----------


## Colleen/Jerrod

> Ha ha!!! Yeah if you like frog legs, yikes!!!


Ouch! Too far. Lol!

----------


## Heather

Yep! : /

----------


## BG

Your pacman is a male.. 99%

----------


## Heather

Nice : )

----------


## Heather

Tank is growing so fast. I'm so glad I purchased him! He is an awesome frog! He's pretty active for a pac. Well, at feeding time, anyway. I love my little guy!  :Smile:  Here are some updated pictures...

----------


## MeTree

Oh my goodness! Is that a quarter? Tank certainly gotten huge!  :Big Grin:

----------


## Heather

Yeah, it's a quarter! He sure has  :Smile: .

 He's such an awesome frog. He's so easy to care for because he follows his own routine. He always soaks after he eats and then poops by morning. After he soaks he'll hop around a bit and then go burry. 

He's almost kinda friendly for a pac. He doesn't mind me cleaning his home at all. He just hops around a bit.  He never cares that I'm in his house, lol. And he doesn't seem to get scared or care too much when I measure him either. 

I love when he sits at the front of his home peeking out the glass  :Big Grin: . Too cute!

----------


## Capojames

welcome to the pac life

----------


## Colleen/Jerrod

Awe! He is growing so fast! And he seems to have a great personality. You two are lucky to have each other!

----------


## Heather

Thanks James  :Smile: ! 
I love my RETF's too, but they are so mellow. They are beautiful and calm. Tank is fun because he is a bit more active and is definitely an aggressive eater. He's fun to watch.

----------


## Heather

Ah, thanks Grif!  :Smile:  It sure is fun  :Big Grin: .

----------


## Guenhwyvar

not sure on the nose thing, but it seems to apply to mine. Males have fatter thumbs and darker beards. It may not apply until he's about half his adult size or near breeding age. He's gorgeous, his eyes look like they are pointier than most I've seen. My guys eyes aren't pointy at all.

*edit* 
His/her nose looks long not short. According to that nose rule, the females have sloping noses like that and males have short flatter snouts.

----------


## Heather

What does yours look like? Is yours male or female?

----------


## Guenhwyvar

I'm pretty sure mine is male as his thumbs have plumped up and he has a dark beard.

----------


## Heather

Aw!  :Big Grin:  Yours is so cute! I love the shape of his face  :Smile: . Have you measured him/her?

----------


## Heather

Ours have very similar features. Could be brothers, lol!  :Smile:

----------


## Guenhwyvar

I was looking more closely at the photo of your guy's foot and I think he has nuptial pads. If that's the case then your frog proves that the nose trick is faulty. He's very pretty. I like the square face of my guy, it makes him look like he's giving me an evil grin almost. Thanks for the compliment^^ I'm sure he's about 2in now, he was just bigger than a quarter when I got him.

----------


## Heather

I think so too  :Smile: .

Yeah, your little buddy's face is adorable! Especially from a side view. What a cutie!  :Smile:

----------


## Sidius

Cute little guy you got there, looks like a permanent "please feed me" face.  The very first post sounds exactly what I seen yesterday when I went to get another uth.  The closest fish/pet store from me is one I don't go to a lot because I disagree with the way they keep their animals...they stock pile them and don't have room for proper housing.  I went in and grabbed the heater and the employee asked what it was for, told them pacman and he said they just got a few in little over a week ago so I walked over.. they had 4..and sure enough all in small maybe 4inch by 8inch containers, gravel with a little bit of water and that was it. The smallest about the size of a silver dollar and the largest was an albino around 4inches in length.  I've lost a couple plecos due to moving and having my filters cycle, so planning to change a 30gallon over to a terrarium and save one of those myself.

----------


## Colleen/Jerrod

I hope you do save one sidius. I rescued my baby cranwelli from poor housing at a petsmart.

----------


## Heather

I hope you do too. You'll love the little guy. They're so neat to watch when they eat. Thank you for the compliments on my little guy. I feel lucky to have been there when I was. It seems most of us have similar stories.

----------


## chocoboFFA

i see this all the time at the local store and beg them to stop it..... id probly have like 10 of them in a huge tank just chilling if i could but when i came home with red eyed frogs one day the bf wasnt vary happy.... or when he woke up to an anole looking at him from the tank lol

----------


## Heather

Lol! Completely understandable. Since my princess Tank, I have adopted 2 other pacs and 6 retf's. I now have 13 frogs  :Big Grin: .

----------


## Heather

Updated pics...

----------


## Heather



----------


## Colleen/Jerrod

So cute!

----------


## Lija

so pretty :Smile:

----------


## Pyxiefan001

Kudos to saving him, but I would monitor him closely especially if he's been living on rocks. I'd worry that he might've been impacted.

----------


## deeishealthy

> Kudos to saving him, but I would monitor him closely especially if he's been living on rocks. I'd worry that he might've been impacted.


Seeing as how that was back in 2011, I'm pretty sure the danger of impaction has passed, LOL.  

I almost rescued a poor little green tree frog today from a pet store.  They have him in a small tank with a whole slew of anoles that are all in the trees.  The lone frog was sitting all by himself in the middle of the substrate (it looked like bark mulch) on the floor and he was dark brown.

----------


## Heather

No rocks for my babies  :Smile: . She's been comfy cozy in a 29 gallon palace with Eco earth since  :Smile: .

----------


## Heather

> Seeing as how that was back in 2011, I'm pretty sure the danger of impaction has passed, LOL.  
> 
> I almost rescued a poor little green tree frog today from a pet store.  They have him in a small tank with a whole slew of anoles that are all in the trees.  The lone frog was sitting all by himself in the middle of the substrate (it looked like bark mulch) on the floor and he was dark brown.


They just don't get it. This pet store finally took their rocks out after me saying several times that they are not safe. I finally showed them a photo of a members frog from here that ended up needing surgery due to ingestion of rocks. Now they have theirs on reptile carpet, which is safer, but no nice substrate to burrow in  :Frown: . 

This is the photo that I shared with them from here...

I apologize, I can not remember the members name.

----------


## Heather

Tank's tank  :Smile:

----------


## Lija

don't you just wish sometimes you are your frog lol i do sometimes, what a life- temp and humidity are perfect at any given time, food is coming like a clock, someone cleans your home all the time :Frog Smile: 
 nice enclosure, obviously very happy frog!

----------


## Heather

You're not kidding, lol! Living in the lap of luxury  :Big Grin: . A fine mist overhead twice a day as perfectly timed. A delicacy of perfectly chosen dubias and worms, delivered just as the sun goes down, just after a nice soak in your warm jacuzzi  :Big Grin: . Ahhh, the life  :Smile: .

----------


## djmosier

He's beautiful! Congratulations!  :Smile:

----------


## Heather

Thanks! She's the queen of the household here, ha ha! Spoiled  :Big Grin: .

----------

