# Frogs & Toads > Pacman Frogs >  Tongue sticking out of mouth

## Wizzlewuzzle

This is my second day as the owner of a pac man frog, and I was hoping my first post would be a general introduction, but I'm afraid he's having a problem already.  I put a few calcium dusted crickets in his tank this evening, and he tried to go after one, but he missed and got a tongue full of coconut fiber instead.  He seemed to be trying to spit some out/brush it off, and I figured he'd go on as usual once that was taken care of.  Shortly after, he went into his water dish, which did at least clean his tongue off nicely.  Again,  figured it would go back to normal soon.  Several hours later, though, the tongue is still out and I'm getting worried.  He has not shown any interest in eating since the tongue incident, and he is still in his water bowl.

Here is some setup info, if it makes a difference.  He is in a larger sized critter keeper with a shallow water dish on one end and a hermit crab heating pad on the opposite end.  Moist coconut fiber is what I have in there for the burrowing substrate.  In the middle, I have gauges to check the temperature and humidity.  Humidity is currently around 80, temp 75 which I think is a little low on the temp?  I don't know how old he is, but I am guesstimating his size at maybe 2 1/2 inches.  Btw, I keep saying "he" but he could be a she for all I know.  He has not eaten since I have had him (this is his second day with me), but the lady at the pet store said he ate two crickets on the day I brought him home.  He has not pooped that I am aware of.  I have looked, but am not 100% positive that I would recognize frog poop.   Thank you in advance for any advise you can give me!

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## JIvoryII

pics would give us an idea whats going on. I will say it doesnt sound good.. but with out seeing it I dont know what to tell you.

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## Wizzlewuzzle



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## Wizzlewuzzle

I put him in that other tank for a minute and took it out on the porch so I could try to get a decent picture with the ipad

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## Wizzlewuzzle

Ok, update.  I managed to gently help him get the tongue back in his mouth, and I'm going to take him to the vet on Monday (closest frog-treating vet I could find is an hour away and I can't make it there before they close) to check out his tongue/mouth situation and just have his health in general checked out.  Until then, though, do you guys have any advice on what I should do about feeding?  Should I offer him crickets again? Some other type of food?  I'm afraid we'll have a repeat of the tongue incident, and it scared me to death.  I just want to do what is best for the little guy.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Ok, update.  I managed to gently help him get the tongue back in his mouth, and I'm going to take him to the vet on Monday (closest frog-treating vet I could find is an hour away and I can't make it there before they close) to check out his tongue/mouth situation and just have his health in general checked out.  Until then, though, do you guys have any advice on what I should do about feeding?  Should I offer him crickets again? Some other type of food?  I'm afraid we'll have a repeat of the tongue incident, and it scared me to death.  I just want to do what is best for the little guy.


He looks pretty emaciated. I recommend giving him a Luke warm de-chlorinated Pedialyte soak.

You'll need to go buy some UNFLAVORED Pedialyte. Prepare a solution at a 10 to 1 ratio. So for every 10 ounces of De-chlorinated water add 1 ounce of UNFLAVORED Pedialyte. The water should be just slightly warm to the touch and no deeper than up to the frogs chin. This will provide much needed electrolytes and some nutrients to give him a little energy boost. The duration if the soak should be 20 minutes.

Be sure that you buy UNFLAVORED PEDIALYTE. It will be clear and say unflavored on the bottle.

Let us know how well he reacts to the bath.

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## Wizzlewuzzle

Thanks, Grif.  I happen to already have an unopened bottle of unflavored pedialyte (2 young kids), so I'll get right on that.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Thanks, Grif.  I happen to already have an unopened bottle of unflavored pedialyte (2 young kids), so I'll get right on that.


Excellent!!  :Smile:

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## Wizzlewuzzle

Soak is done!  He seemed to enjoy it, which figures since he spends most of his time sitting in his water dish anyway.  This may just be wishful thinking on my part, but he seems to have a little more energy than he did before the soak.  Can't believe, btw, that I have forgotten to mention his name.  My daughter named him Pacman--Packy as a nickname.   :Smile:

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## arielgasca420

check out the care article on this website for pacmans. it gives a lot of info on husbandry

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## IvoryReptiles

It's possible that the tongue swelling is from having bitten his own tongue too. It happens. I hope he recovers and grows healthy under your care!! Keep us posted on his progress!

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## Wizzlewuzzle

I tried to get him to eat a worm tonight, but he showed absolutely no interest in it at all.  So I tried crickets again, since he at least tried to eat one last night before he hurt his tongue, but he ignored the crickets too.  I'm worried about his lack of interest , since as Grif pointed out, he looks kind of emaciated. Maybe because his tongue still hurts, even though it is back in his mouth? Really hoping there isn't something serious going on with his mouth.  Hopefully the vet will be able to help on Monday.  Any advice on helping the journey to the vet (2 hours round trip) be as stress-free for him as possible?

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> I tried to get him to eat a worm tonight, but he showed absolutely no interest in it at all.  So I tried crickets again, since he at least tried to eat one last night before he hurt his tongue, but he ignored the crickets too.  I'm worried about his lack of interest , since as Grif pointed out, he looks kind of emaciated. Maybe because his tongue still hurts, even though it is back in his mouth? Really hoping there isn't something serious going on with his mouth.  Hopefully the vet will be able to help on Monday.  Any advice on helping the journey to the vet (2 hours round trip) be as stress-free for him as possible?


You can use a critter keeper with just moist paper towels as substrate so he/she doesn't dry out and so some humidity will be in the keeper. Cover the keeper so that the Sun doesn't shine on him/her, but keep him/her warm just not hot. make sure the keeper is secure so it doesn't bounce around a lot. It is nearly impossible to keep stress levels low while taking them to the vet. Mine is just 5 no urea away and they'll still be pretty unhappy about all of it.

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## BlueisallIneed

Your doing the smart thing, just soak him and wait till you can get to the vet. I wouldn't offer any food for a little bit, maybe a dy or so.

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## Wizzlewuzzle

> You can use a critter keeper with just moist paper towels as substrate so he/she doesn't dry out and so some humidity will be in the keeper. Cover the keeper so that the Sun doesn't shine on him/her, but keep him/her warm just not hot. make sure the keeper is secure so it doesn't bounce around a lot. It is nearly impossible to keep stress levels low while taking them to the vet. Mine is just 5 no urea away and they'll still be pretty unhappy about all of it.


Thanks, Grif.  I already feel about Packy the way I feel about my kids--I want to keep them safe, healthy, happy.  Just in this situation I feel so helpless having to wait for the vet.  If I could trade with Packy and make me the one who is underweight with an injured tongue, I totally would.  Thank you again, though.  Having a plan for the upcoming vet journey helps me feel a little bit less ineffective.

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## Wizzlewuzzle

Thank you very much also to blue, both the ivories, and ariel.  I really appreciate the advice and encouragement!

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## Colleen/Jerrod

You're welcome.

Try to remain calm. They can sense emotions and become stressed. I've been here before and save my oldest female from dying. I had to force feed her for 2 months straight and she finally pulled through. Now she's the Queen of my Pacman Frogs Lol!! She is also really calm and doesn't mind being handled because I had to so much when she was sick. I did what I had to, to save her.

I commend you for your efforts.  :Smile:

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## Wizzlewuzzle

Just got back from the vet.  They said that Packy has a bacterial infection on his tongue, and they gave him some antibiotics.  They said hopefully his appetite would be back in 48 hours but that I could try force feeding him in the meantime.    Edit:  I put half a baby nightcrawler in his mouth, and he ate it!  It feels good for him to finally eat something, even if I had to put it in his mouth for him.  Should I let it go at that for now?  Is half a baby nightcrawler sufficient or should he eat more?  He is 2 1/2 inches long (I measured and it turns out that my "guesstimate" was a good one) and as you can see in the pictures earlier in this thread, underweight.  The vet seemed kind of vague/unsure about how much he should be eating.

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## BlueisallIneed

Aw that is great that it can be treated and he ate!!!!  :Smile:  hope your little baby gets well soon!!!!!

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Just got back from the vet.  They said that Packy has a bacterial infection on his tongue, and they gave him some antibiotics.  They said hopefully his appetite would be back in 48 hours but that I could try force feeding him in the meantime.    Edit:  I put half a baby nightcrawler in his mouth, and he ate it!  It feels good for him to finally eat something, even if I had to put it in his mouth for him.  Should I let it go at that for now?  Is half a baby nightcrawler sufficient or should he eat more?  He is 2 1/2 inches long (I measured and it turns out that my "guesstimate" was a good one) and as you can see in the pictures earlier in this thread, underweight.  The vet seemed kind of vague/unsure about how much he should be eating.


Yes give him more. He will need the strength to recover. He is large enough to eat about 1 1/2" night crawler pieces. You can give him about 3 pieces this size per day. Be sure to dust one piece with calcium every other feeding and one piece with a multivitamin for reptiles/amphibians once per week. Be sure not to dust with both at the same Time in the same feeding.

Keep us posted.

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## Wizzlewuzzle

> Yes give him more. He will need the strength to recover. He is large enough to eat about 1 1/2" night crawler pieces. You can give him about 3 pieces this size per day. Be sure to dust one piece with calcium every other feeding and one piece with a multivitamin for reptiles/amphibians once per week. Be sure not to dust with both at the same Time in the same feeding.
> 
> Keep us posted.


Thanks, awesome info to have!  I was kind of wanting to give him more, but then I got concerned that I'd be overfeeding, so I thought I'd better ask you more experienced folks.

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## Wizzlewuzzle

When I was giving Packy his third worm piece this evening, he kind of lunged forward as soon as I placed a bit of it in his mouth.  I don't know if he was finally excited to eat or if he was angry and trying to get me back for force feeding him, but either way, it's the most "spunk" he has shown since I've had him, so I'm feeling positive.  :Smile:

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> When I was giving Packy his third worm piece this evening, he kind of lunged forward as soon as I placed a bit of it in his mouth.  I don't know if he was finally excited to eat or if he was angry and trying to get me back for force feeding him, but either way, it's the most "spunk" he has shown since I've had him, so I'm feeling positive.


That is a good sign. Keep up the good work.

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## Wizzlewuzzle

Looking a little healthier or just wishful thinking?

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## Ra

> Looking a little healthier or just wishful thinking?


 Its progress, how long is he about two inches? why not just give him a whole nightcrawler?

 If he continues to be think consider a parasite problem.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Looking a little healthier or just wishful thinking?


If he seems ti be more active by Pacman standards and doesn't seem lethargic and over all acts normal besides having to be force Fed it is definite progress.

Rat's suggestion is a good idea. offer him a whole night crawler. Just make sure its not too large. Some of the ones I get are the size of small snakes  :Smile:

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## Wizzlewuzzle

Thanks y'all, I'll try a whole one this evening.

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## Wizzlewuzzle

Another picture of Packy.  Also wanted to say that after this evening, I will never again doubt my ability to recognize frog poop.   :Smile:

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## Ra

lookin better, much less emaciated.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

I agree with Ra. Looking much better. Keep it up!!

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