# Frogs & Toads > Pacman Frogs >  Juvenile pacman frog not eating

## POLISWAG

He's about 2-3 inches. I spray his tank at least 3 times a day. He lives in a 10 gallon, plenty of shade spots and dirt to completely bury himself. I tried small dubia roaches and mealworms but he just slaps them away. His tank is right next to a heater. What's wrong with him? I've only had him for 3-4 days now.

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## Cory

Hi ,if you have only had him 3 to 4 days he may be still adjusting, some of them go through this and others eat the first night home. And if hes a juvenile 3 to 4 days isn't to bad without food. Your humidity I would try and keep around 75% and your heat should be around 82f to 84f, I keep mine at 82f. If his temps are to cold he wont want to eat and if he does eat it wont digest properly and you don't want the food to sit in his system for to long. The heat is very important. Try and put the tank in quiet a room if it isn't because loud noises and traffic will scare him and stress him out, if he gets very stressed for long periods of time his immune system will weaken and he more the likely become sick. Also if you cover 3 sides of his enclosure this helps reduce stress and helps them settle in. Just keep offering and he should eventually take it.

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## POLISWAG

Thank you for the info!  :Smile:  how many more days do you recommend that I should wait?

And about noise, I can't really control that. I have 2 loud parrots who are almost always making sounds. My room is the only spot I can keep him in.

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## Cory

If he doesn't eat something for you in the next couple days then there could be something else wrong but for now I wouldn't worry to much and just keep trying. If the noise is just the parrots he may get to used to it due to it always being the same noise. Its more loud voices and sudden loud noises and banging that you would have to worry about.

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POLISWAG

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## POLISWAG

And one more question that I forgot to include in my other reply is, am I supposed to feed him if he's all the way at the bottom of his bedding all the time? I feel kinda bad for digging him out of his home and bothering him.

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## Cory

You can just uncover his head so his eyes can open and so his mouth is exposed and clear of coco fibre and that's good. As long he can see it that's all that counts, and ya completely uncovering will freak him out and just take him longer to settle. If he hasn't pooped for you since you have had him and he doesn't eat tonight try and give a warm bath tomorrow with some honey in it and he may go to the bathroom and once he has emptied out he may eat. So put about 4 drops of honey in warm bath of declorinated water no higher then his chin and let him sit in there for 20 mins or till It gets cold. After this put him in just a normal bath of declorinated water for another 20 mins to rinse the honey water of him. While doing this you can put a towel over his bath to keep the heat in and help him to relax, and don't worry even if he doesn't have to go the honey wont hurt him. Oh and sometimes they wont go in the water but wait till you put them back in there home so if you try it and he doesn't go in the water make sure you look around his terrarium later to see if he went in there.

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POLISWAG

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## Cory

Oh and when your clearing the dirt out from around his mouth you may want to use the back flat end of your tongs, thays how I do it. You don't want to poking around down there and end up pulling your finger out with the frog on the end of it. At 2 to 3 inches your going to feel it. I have got bit and it doesnt hurt a lot but it also doesn't feel good either.

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## POLISWAG

Thank you for the info, I'll wait and see.

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## POLISWAG

Update:

My frog still seems ignore the food. Whenever I bring mealworms up to him, he closes his eyes, as if it's going to hurt him. Force feeding seems to work, but I still worry if he's ever going to eat by himself.

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## Cory

What are the temps in the enclosure? and have you found poop at all since you have had him?

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## POLISWAG

I'm not sure about the enclosure temp but my room temp is somewhere in the 80's. 

Even if he has pooped, there would be no way of telling with all the bedding and decorations.

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## Cory

You need to know what the temps in the enclosure are and what the humidity is, this is very critical and important. To hot or to cold will make him go off food, to cold he cant digest properly and to hot will start to dehydrate him. And you need to look for his poop to see if he went, sometimes if they move holes that means they pooped in the old one or he could of trampled over it and partially buried it. If he hasn't pooped give him nice warm soak and see if goes in there, if he is full he wont want to eat. And I suggest you get those gauges as soon as you can.

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## POLISWAG

I did as you said and put him into a small tub of warm water, got a cup and splashed some of it onto his back and it turned out he was shedding. I kept splashing him until all of the shed skin came off by its self. After that he became much more livelier. 

I also gave gave him a mealworm. He still seems scared of his food, so I had to force it into his mouth. He seems to have gotten used to being forced as he starts eating right away once the food is in his mouth.

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## Cory

Hi, the warm bath was more to see if he would go poop but if he needed to shed its good he was able to do so. The shedding shouldn't make him not want to eat though unless you try to feed him while in actual shed. I have fed mine after or before shedding with no problems so that shouldn't be what is making him not want eat. Have you got those gauges yet?

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## Cory

If you can fill these questions out as best as you can this could help determine what is wrong also.


1.   Size of enclosure

2.   # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences

3.   Humidity

4.   Temperature

5.   Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish

6.   Materials used for substrate

7.   Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials.
_- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv._

8.    Main food source

9.    Vitamins and calcium? (how often)

10.   Lighting

11.   What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure

12.   When is the last time he/she ate

13.   Have you found poop lately

14.   A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)

15. Describe frog's symptoms and/or recent physical changes; to include it's ventral/belly area.

16. How old is the frog

17.   How long have you owned him/her

18.   Is the frog wild caught or captive bred

19.   Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats

20.   How often the frog is handled

21.   Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area

22.   Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc)

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## AKFROG

I wouldn't feed him mealworms. Their bodies are hard to digest. I would try crickets and night crawlers. :Embarrassment:

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## POLISWAG

I just answered the entire thing, and then when I decided to add the photo, it bugged  :Mad: 


Here's a photo of him

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## Cory

Ya that has happened to me before after typing something once I went to post it it buggered up and didn't end up doing it, I now copy it before posting just in case. From the looks of your terrarium the cocofibre looks abit dry, you never answered about the gauges either. If ypu haven't got them you should, as I mentioned before its very important to know the exact temps and humidity. You could maybe add a hide for him or another plant in that area were he is sitting to give abit more cover. Also you can cover 3 sides of the enclosure so he cant see out in all directions and this will help him relax. I looked at the pictures of him in your other thread and if he hasn't really been eating he does look like he has something in him from the way his sides are sticking out. Did you ever try the honey bath I suggested? I'm thinking he could impacted from something he ate before you got him and this could be why he is refuseing the food. Also I cant see a water bowl, do you have it taken out or do you just not have one?

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## POLISWAG

The reason the bedding is dry is because, I hadn't misted at the time.

I haven't given him a water bowl because I fear that he won't use it and will just hide under the bedding all the time.

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## POLISWAG

1. 10 Gallon tank

2. He's the only frog in the tank.

3. Unsure

4. Unsure

5. Misting the tank 4-5 times a day

6. Coconut fiber

7. See picture

8. Mealworms, trying to start up a dubia colony so I can feed him dubia roaches as a main diet.

9. Dust his food every meal

10. None

11. Nothing (yet)

12. Today

13. No

14. See picture

15. Cowers away from food, closing eyes, going into defensive mode in response to his food.

16. Unsure, definitely a juvenile, still has, what looks like a tail stub.

17. 1-2 weeks now

18. Unsure

19. Wax worms. 

20. Only during feeding.

21. Low traffic.

22. Not much besides just misting the tank.

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## Cory

Hey, sorry I'm just getting back to this now. Been busy putting together a terrarium for my bearded dragon. I noticed from your answers that you still don't know what the actual temp is in the enclosure, did you up getting gauges? if not again this is very important and if he is to hot or to cold this could really put him off food. Mealworms aren't the greatest for food for these guys because they have a hard time digesting the exo skeleton and it makes them become impacted, which reminds me did you ever the honey bath. For your water you just said your misting but didn't mention were the water is comeing from, meaning is it tap or spring etc. And are you using any declorinator to take out the clorine and stuff. And the bump on his bum is his tailbone.

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## POLISWAG

I plan on getting the gauges tomorrow. I haven't had time to do the honey bath yet, but I would like to know how you actually do it. Do you just a pour a bit in with the water? and for the water, I don't really know if it contains chlorine or not. But I've heard that it's safe to drink, plus I've been using the same water on my other pets, and they've been fine.

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## Cory

For the honey bath take whatever you use for baths and add about 4 nice drops of honey into some warm declorinated water no higher then his chin.  Let him sit in here for about 20 mins in a nice quiet dark room, you want the bath to be as stress free as possible and you can cover the container with a towel to help keep the heat in. After about 20 mins in there you take him out and then just give him a normal bath with warm declorinated water to wash the honey residue off. Sometimes they will go in the bath or if he is like mine he will go when he gets back into his tank. Sometimes you need to do it a couple nights in a row but it usually works after one, and that's if he even has to go and if he doesn't do worry the honey wont hurt him. For your water if your using tap water you need Declorinator, my city water here is safe to drink but it still contains clorine which isvery bad for the frogs. Amphibians skin is a lot more sensitive then most reptiles and due to them absorbing water through there skin they have no way or choice to avoid the bad stuff in it. If I were you I would buy some repti safe just to make sure, its not very expensive and a little bottle will last along time.

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POLISWAG

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## POLISWAG

Well I got those gauges today. The heat is in the 70's and the humidity is in the 80's. 

I'll try the whole honey thing, and same with the dechlorinator. I'll update if anything new happens.

Thank you  :Smile:

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## Cory

Now that you got the gauges if you can try to get his daytime temps up around 82f and let it drop down to around 78f to 77f at night. He may be just having a hard time digesting what he has ate before you got him and the few mealworms you were able to force feed him. The heat helps with digestion so if its to cool he wont digest fast enough making him feel full longer. Your humidity 80% is the highest you want to go, anything higher they can get a respiratory infection if they are constantly sitting in it. I aim to try and keep mine around 75% mark and I seem to have no issues.

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## POLISWAG

Well I gave him the bath, and that sure was something..

I let him bathe and after I came back, I decided to feed him with my fingers, and he went ape crazy..

For some odd reason, whenever he sees a finger he just goes on a killing spree mode. He didn't want to eat the food because he was too busy leaping, attacking, barking, and attempting to bite at my finger. Yet when I use the tweezers, he just cowers away once again. I ended up force feeding him again.

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## Cory

If hes afraid of the tongs you could always put him in a separate container for feeding that doesn't have substrate in it and just let the food go and see what he does. Do you know what the store was feeding him before you got him? By the way he goes after your finger makes me wonder if they were giving him a lot of pinkies, your finger looks a lot like pinky. And if they were giving him a lot of them he might try to refuse anything else till he gets what he wants.

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## POLISWAG

When he was attacking my fingers, it seemed more like he was protecting himself. He was standing up on his legs, hissing and lunging while barking. 

At the store he was fed crickets. I don't like dealing with crickets because they can be annoying to work with.

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## POLISWAG

And i'm going to be honest, but pacman frogs are probably the most offended frogs I've ever seen  :Wink:

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## Cory

Ya that's what they do when they aren't happy with you so your right he didn't think your finger was food. And yes I agree they very easily offended. L.O.L Did you happen to try and feed him again last night and try to do it a different container? And you are trying to feed him at night or during daytime hours.

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## POLISWAG

I only feed him once a day to avoid over feeding. I haven't fed him today (yet) but I will try what you mentioned, putting him in a separate container with his food. He doesn't really have a schedule, I just feed him any time. But usually at night.

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## Cory

Ya you don't want to feed more then once day. I usually wait about an hour after lights go out and for the temps to drop a couple degrees and I don't usually have any problems. And feeding at night like your doing is the best time feed, you wont get much if you try during the day. When you feed next time in the container after you put his food in there try leaving the room or backing away so he cant see you, I have heard of some pacman frogs that wont eat when your watching. Hopefully you have some luck.

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## POLISWAG

I'm just curious, does he need a heat mat? his cage heat is still in the 80's. I've ordered one for my roaches on ebay, but it won't be coming until probably next month.

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## Cory

If your already in the 80's you shouldn't need one.

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## POLISWAG

I left him with his food last night, but with no success. He was only interested in my fingers.

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## DakotaRae

I would stop force feeding your animal as it is highly stressful and you've ignored multiple attempts to inform you that mealworms are not the best food option, or even really all that viable. If you don't want to deal with crickets then try plain old night crawlers or even one of the powdered varieties of Pacman chow. Frogs are extremely delicate, you need to be buying spring water for him for all applications of water involving him. Also those sticks really aren't doing anything for his enclosure seeing as Pacman frogs do not climb. Good luck with your new pet.

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## POLISWAG

I've already mentioned that the mealworms aren't his staple diet. And the sticks are decorations.

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## POLISWAG

Got some canadian nightcrawlers today for him. He seemed to like them.

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## Cory

Did he eat them on his own?

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## POLISWAG

Nope. He first attacked it because he thought it was a finger. I set it there with him for about 20 minutes. I also shut the bathroom lights off and waited. He still hadn't eaten it.

I plan on giving him a male dubia roach today since I have too many of those. Hopefully he'll mistake it for a cricket and eat it  :Wink: 

Another thing is, he's already grown an inch  :EEK!:

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## Cory

Now that you just mentioned he has grown another inch it made me think of something. If he was around inbetween 2 and 3 inches when you got him that would more then likely make him a juvenile. They should be fed every 2 to 3 days. And if you force fed him that worm you need to stop force feeding and let him chill. If you got him 2 weeks ago and you have been trying to feed him every night since 1. he is probably full 2. he is probably scared and severely stressed out. I would leave him be for a few days and then see what happens when you try to feed. Force feeding should only be done when the frog is in dire need of food and visually has lost weight. It is very stressfull and if he gets to stressed it lower his immune system and then he will vulnerable to becoming sick

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## Pyru

Personally I would make sure my humidity/temp are spot on and leave it be. I would also suggest some more plants for cover and cover 3 sides with something. I imagine it doesn't feel very secure and that's probably part of the problem. Also look into Canadian nightcrawlers/similar as a staple. Varied diet is good, but it doesn't get much better than earthworms as regular food source imo.

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## POLISWAG

Does he really need places to cover when he just hides himself under his bedding all day and never comes out?

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## Cory

Ya even though they bury in the substrate they still like plants. If you can find a couple with big leaves that would be really good. When they come out at night they will sit under them and all 3 of mine bury under theres during the day. My big female if I take her favourite one out or move it she will pace the front of the tank till its put back in the tank or till I put it back in its normal position. but I must admit out of three she is also the grumpiest and it doesn't take a lot to annoy her.

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## POLISWAG

GOOD NEWS!!

He finally ate on his own! instead of force feeding I gently shoved the roach near his mouth repeatedly until he got angry chomped down on it. From now on I'll try to keep feeding him less often. And I'll add more plants.

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## Cory

Hey that's good to hear!! Try feeding every second night and see how that goes, and if he doesn't take it then don't stress and try the next. What you did is an actual way a lot of people will get there frogs to eat when they are hesitant, but its more rubbing under the chin/lip then bumping. That or touch his foot with it, it doesn't always work and I know it sounds weird but they don't like it much and don't worry he wont bite his own foot. If you notice while feeding that he tries to push it away or bats it with his foot while in front of him, this means he isn't interested and isn't hungry. And again glad he finally ate own his own, sometimes it takes awhile but they usually come around.

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POLISWAG

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## POLISWAG

I'll try that  :Smile:

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