A few Pacman frog ?'s..

[bamf64]

Im going to be picking up my Pacman Frog soon but before i buy everything i want to make sure a few questions i have are cleared up.

-Would the preferred feeding supplement be Repcal Calcium powder WITH d3?
-How often would i need to dust the food with it^?
-Is there anything else i could use as a staple diet instead of crickets? ANYTHING besides the dang crickets..lol

Any other advice or extra tips for the first few days i have him would be appreciated! This is going to be my first frog so i am excited but a little nervous.

[bamf64]

anyone?

[nachash]

D3 powders are more important for nocturnal animals that don't receive UVB lighting, and pacmans are usually considered nocturnal.
The supplementation schedule is very dependent on the frog's age. If you are receiving a smaller baby pacman frog, then supplement ever other feeding. For older frogs try every week. Also make sure to use a vitamin supplement alongside the calcium. For babies supplement with vitamins once a week, and adults once a month or so.
For staples try a split between these items: Crickets, Nightcrawlers, mealworms. Younger frogs are best left with mostly invertebrate prey. Older frogs can have the occasional small fish or small rodent. Some people steer clear away from fish, but that's up to you. Crickets and mealworms should be gut loaded. If you have a frog, at least a third of it's diet should be gut loaded crickets. I know, they are really annoying and smell bad. Don't count out canned though, some pacmans take to them.
Also, have the setup ready for your frog. Make sure temps and humidity are where they need to be. Make sure it is not too large for the frog you get. Only a larger pacman should be in a 10 gallon tank. Try covering the enclosure with paper on some sides to increase its sense of security. Let the frog adjust to its new home for at LEAST a week without any major disturbances. When trying to feed it, don't hassle it. If it doesn't have a quick response then budging it with food to elicit a reaction will stress it out. Some people use tongs, some use just let the frog hunt. It depends.
When it becomes well adjusted and feeding well, you will need to look into chytrid treatment, as almost all frogs in pet stores have it.
The more questions you ask prior to getting your frog, the more you'll know

[mainbutter]

1) I use mostly calcium WITHOUT D3. Calcium isn't fat soluble, can't overdose. The same cannot be said for D3.

2) Every feeding with calcium, every month or so calcium w/d3. I don't know if the D3 is needed at all, but since I have it on hand, I give it very occasionally, as a little won't hurt.

3) I try not to use "staple" feeders, I find a varied diet is much more important for these guys than many other herps. I do go back and forth between dubia roaches, night crawlers from the bait shop, giant horn worms, and silk worms. Crickets rarely make it into my froggy's diet, not for any particular reason other than that I don't often have them on hand. Sometimes I'll sneak a few crickets from my girlfriend's chameleon food stash just to add more variety.

[nachash]

D3 is needed for calcium absorption, although maybe the diet already has enough without supplementation.
I didn't think dubias would be an option. If your mom won't let you have snakes, will she let you have a dubia colony? Dubias are only cost effective if you have your own colony, especially for a pacman frog.
Mainbutter is completely right about diet variety.

Calcium at every feeding? Do you supplement each item?
Can you gutload nightcrawlers, silkworms, and horned worms? Or is that not necessary?

[bamf64]

I really appreciate the replies guys. Once i get paid today i will be going to the pet store to get some ECO EARTH, plants and decor, a screen top for the tank, the calcium, and the vitamins. (already have tank and UTH).

A few more questions haha...

-When you say "vitamins", what kind of vitamins are those? Do they sell special ones for Pacmen? Or would the blue container of Rep-cal work?

-Does the brand of calcium powder matter as long as its made for herps?

-Since the only problem i have with crickets is the sound they make, could i just feed dead gut loaded ones in the pre-packed container? Are these safe to feed them? I am going to feed live ones if he/she wont eat the dead ones, but just in case..

-how many crickets should i feed per day if I'm dusting with calcium every other feeding?

- How often should i feed superworms/waxworms/nightcrawlers ect..? As suggested i will feed a variety of insects..i just dont know how much of them to feed per day.


sorry for so many questions..i wish there was a care sheet with all the correct detailed information on it but theres not

[mainbutter]

I usually dust one feeder with calcium at every feeding, and about once a month I'll dust two or three feeders with my vit D supplement calcium.

I use Repashy products, their Calcium NoD and Calcium MeD. I've used rep-cal in the past, but have heard complaints particularly from dart frog keepers that it's no good.. apparently the phosphates are pretty high as it is made from ground up oyster shell (if I remember correctly).. however their products say "phosphorous free", so.. *shrugs*

I do not gutload any of my worms, many people use nightcrawlers as a staple for horned frogs with great success, and you can look up the nutrition for the other worms on chameleon forums. It's all great stuff for froggies.

[mainbutter]

A pretty decent care sheet:

http://www.frogfreaks.com/index.php?topic=357.0

[V.Zbaratskiy]

Ceratophris cranwelli breeding