pacman refusing to eat

[salamanderguy]

my pac man frog is refusing to eat i dont know what to do could it be that the temputure is to low it is uasully around 68'f

 

[John]

That is a little low for them but I doubt it's the cause. When was the last time it ate, how frequently do you feed it and under what conditions is it kept?

 

[salamanderguy]

the last time it ate was 16 days ago. i keep it on a bed of coconut fibre with a water dish
i feed it about twice a week.

 

[John]

Is the frog discoloured or look strange in any way? If you try to pick it up what happens? (Don't get bitten)

 

[falconlb45]

is it burrowing completely under the substrate?
and if it is, does it look like its coverd in a plastic looking skin?
and yes, that temp is a bit on the low side- try to get it up around 75-80 degrees
depending on how old the frog is, it can potentially go for a few weeks without food
when i kept horned frogs i had one that would regularly ( about 3- 4 times a year) go into hibernation
dissappear for a few weeks, then pop up hungry as ever.

 

[salamanderguy]

he looks a bit faded and if i pick him up he just sits there. he is about 1-2 years old. he looks a bit thin and is not burrowing should i try to lower the temp to get him to hibernate?

 

[John]

Sounds like a pretty sick pacman. Not sure what you could do other than take him to a frog-savvy vet (if you find one let us know because they're pretty rare).

 

[radtad]

You might want to try raising his body temp by putting him in a shallow dish with dechlorinated water and slowly increasing the water temp. This will sometimes inprove the guy over all. 68 is quite low for them and if he is skinnny you do not want him to hibernate he will not have the body fat to survive and you could lose him altogether. Once his temp is up he should be ready to eat.

 

[tmarmoratus]

If force feeding is necessary, I've always found horned frogs to be quite willing eaters once their mouths are open. My trick is to gently rub the space between it's lips with my finger (caution: this method can lead to bitten fingers) until it opens it's mouth, then quickly placing the food in it's mouth before it bites down.

 

[falconlb45]

he looks a bit faded and if i pick him up he just sits there. he is about 1-2 years old. he looks a bit thin and is not burrowing should i try to lower the temp to get him to hibernate?

no, do not lower those temps!
if anything, increase them, get them to at least 75f
I agree completely with what radtad said-
I'd take it a step further and set up a sick tank, moist uncolored paper towel as substrate and a low water dish.
youll have to change the papertowels every day

 

[salamanderguy]

today he just randomly started eating i had moved him to a container with a fish tank heater in a bottle of water to raise the humidity and the temputure and he ate a cricket i guess he was trying to hibernate and the warmer temp got hin eating .

 

[Mike Gent]

Our Horned is even worse!

Hello to you all,

I read this thread with interest as we also have a Horned who is doing strange things!

We have had him for approx 1 year and he is (I'm guessing approx 1.5-2 years old). He always was typical of this species...in other words ferociously hungry...always.

However about 2 months (Yes months!) ago he stopped eating and just spends days and days sat in his water bowl!

Weird thing is that he looks fine...he is still fat (ish!), has good colour, moves rapidly enough if disturbed, has good skin texture with no visible signs of problems...but he hasnt eaten for 2 months!

And whats with him always sitting in his water bowl?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks,

Mike.

today he just randomly started eating i had moved him to a container with a fish tank heater in a bottle of water to raise the humidity and the temputure and he ate a cricket i guess he was trying to hibernate and the warmer temp got hin eating .