Pacman Frog — Fact Sheet
Ceratophrys cranwelli · Pacman Frog
📋 At a glance
| Adult size | 10-15 cm |
| Lifespan | 8-15 years |
| Lifestyle | Solitary, fossorial ambush frog |
| Minimum adult enclosure | 60 x 45 x 45 cm |
| Temperature | 24-28°C day, 20-24°C night; avoid >30°C |
| Humidity | 60-80%, with moist lower substrate |
| Legal | CITES: not listed; EU: not listed; local rules still apply |
🏠 Setup
- Keep singly; cohabitation risks injury and cannibalism.
- Use 8-10+ cm of moist, diggable substrate with a hide and leaf cover.
- Avoid pure sand, gravel, bark chunks and sticky moss as feeding surfaces.
- Quarantine new frogs 60-90 days with separate tools and easy-clean substrate.
💧 Water and humidity
- Provide a shallow dechlorinated water dish with easy exit.
- Change water daily or immediately after soiling.
- Keep substrate moist below the surface, not swampy or sour.
🪱 Feeding and supplements
- Feed gut-loaded earthworms, roaches, crickets and locusts sized no wider than the head.
- Juveniles eat small meals every 1-2 days; adults usually one moderate meal every 5-7 days.
- Dust juveniles with calcium at most insect meals; adults need calcium 1-2 times weekly and multivitamin every 2-4 weeks.
- Use D3 more deliberately if no UVB is provided; do not overuse high-D3 products.
🩺 Watch for
- Metabolic bone disease: tremors, soft jaw, swollen limbs.
- Impaction: bloating, straining, no stool after substrate or oversized prey ingestion.
- Obesity from frequent large meals or rodents.
- Red belly, sores, swelling, foul skin or prolonged refusal to eat: seek an amphibian vet.