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 #1812090


Peas_on_earth
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 Is it hibernating? Maybe?

I just got a baby pacman...it’s an albino about 2 inches big. I have it in a glass tank with ubv light and temp around 80 during the day, 70 humidity, and about 72 at night. I have eco earth substrate and fresh water as well as a hut thing for it to hide. At the store, they had it in a plastic container with water on the bottom. The minute I got him home, it burrowed into the substrate with its eyes peeking out. Hasn’t eaten anything I’ve offered him, and I’ve offered him plenty of options.

is it hibernating? sick? it looks fine...skin is well, fat..

not sure what’s going on with him.
07/28/08  09:22pm

 #1812122


Clawedfrogsrule
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   Message To: Peas_on_earth   In reference to Message Id: 1812090


 Is it hibernating? Maybe?

He sounds like he’s just settling in to the new home, and it seems like he appreciates the substrate very much :D The petstore was wrong for just having him in water, they need to have land access and a place to hide and feel secure. Give it a few days to just relax, he should start eating soon and be fine.

Good luck with him, they’re cute little babies aren’t they? :)
07/28/08  09:48pm

 #1812243


JackAsp
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   Message To: Clawedfrogsrule   In reference to Message Id: 1812122


 Is it hibernating? Maybe?

That’s a completely normal postion for them. Even when an established adult is singing away every night, odds are he’ll be half-buried like that while he’s doing it.
07/28/08  11:56pm

 #1812527


Peas_on_earth
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   Message To: JackAsp   In reference to Message Id: 1812243


 Is it hibernating? Maybe?

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feed back. He, or she...unsure yet, is definitely liking the water dish. I try not to touch it too much if at all. it pooped already so I’m sure that’s a good sign.

I have just a uvb light on him and it seems to be warm enough. I don’t want to dry him out or anything with an incandescent bulb. I’m going to try to feed him a pinky tomorrow. That’s what the petstore had him on. I tried feeding him a goldfish and he just jumped out of his water dish and buried himself...feeder fish died...oh well.



07/29/08  11:24am

 #1814523


JackAsp
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   Message To: Peas_on_earth   In reference to Message Id: 1812527


 Is it hibernating? Maybe?

Goldfish are a lot worse for them than guppies. Actually, so are pinkies, but an occasional pinkie is probably better than an occasional goldfish. Your best vertebrate options are guppies or rosies.

With fish, you’ll probably get better results tong-feeding. Just tickle their front paw or the edge of their mouth, and as soon as they feel the slime they’ll devour it! Plus, he won’t be eating out of his toilet.

UVB is a waste of money for frogs. I’m all for it with anything that gets UVB. For example, skinks sometimes suffer without it and sometimes do great without it. So, when I weigh the pros and cons of the situation, my skink gets it. But find one case of a frog that was given enough calcium but was unable to process it because it didn’t have enough sunlight. You can google up horrible pictures of skinks, uros, iguanas, turtles, and a wide variety of other reptiles. With amphibians, nada. Pretty much nobody uses full-spectrum on frogs any more, but the MBD just isn’t out there. If you see a frog with skeletal issues, it means it was fed nothing but crickets and mealworms, with no calcidust. A sunlamp wouldn’t help anyway in that situation.

It worries me more with frogs than it does when people use it with, say leopard geckos, which also don’t need it, because frogs have much more sensitive skins than reptiles. In captivity they live a lot longer than they would in the wild, and therefore have a lot more time to develop health issues from receiving more ultraviolet than they require... the amount they require being "none." I use plain old cheap strip lights (or sometimes old UVB striplights that are over six months old, just to do SOMETHING with them!)

I don’t think it’s a big urgent issue, like you have to run screaming and take the UV light off him right now, but in the long run even a 1 or 2 per cent higher chance of cancer or cataracts is more significant than a 0 per cent higher chance of MBD, once you realize that the big "if some hersp need it, ALL must herps must need it" theory in veterinary science didn’t actually lead anywhere. I mean, a mole is a lot more closely related to me than a frog is to a turtle or iguana, but a mole and I have very different methods of handling the Vitamin D issue.



07/31/08  09:12am

 #1814907


Peas_on_earth
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   Message To: JackAsp   In reference to Message Id: 1814523


 Is it hibernating? Maybe?

I have several tree frogs and I’ve noticed great growth with the uvb light. My room ambient temp is around 80, plus the florescent ligth adding a tiny bit of heat and they love it. All of my durinal animals have uvb. None of my noctural ones have it, like my viper and leopard geckos since they’re hiding from it anyways.

As far as my frogs go, I find them happier with it than without it.

Back to my oringinal question, my baby pacman is still not eating. He’s just buried in his cage until I clean it, then he tries to hop away, then just buries himself somewhere else in the tank. Temp and everything is the same. I’m going to try yet another pinky this weekend and hopefully he’s hungry enough. He’s still round, but i can see a bit of hipbone sticking out his back. I put a waxworm in there before I left so hopefully he’ll have eaten it when I get home later today
07/31/08  03:52pm

 #1815516


JackAsp
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   Message To: Peas_on_earth   In reference to Message Id: 1814907


 Is it hibernating? Maybe?

If he’s eaten pinkies before, then that’s what to start with. They’re over-rated, but at least you won’t be worried about whether or not he likes them.
That weight issue sounds bad though. If he doesn’t eat voluntarily, I’d try forcing it into his mouth. It’s fairly easy to do with horned frogs, and once it’s in they’ll usually just eat it. Some need that extra push to get back on track. A stool check wouldn’t be a bad idea either. The weight loss might be from more than just not eating.
08/01/08  12:45am

 #1818601


Peas_on_earth
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   Message To: JackAsp   In reference to Message Id: 1815516


 Is it hibernating? Maybe?

In the store where I got him, he was just in a container with water at the bottom. So what I did was get a container, put water at the bottom and toss in a pinky like they did at the store and probably what he/she has known to eat all its life. Right after I put him in, he ate! Guess he just needed his dining environment to be the same. So that’s how I’m gonna feed him/her from now on.



08/03/08  07:23pm


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