Albino Pacman Frog Care For Beginners [Care Sheet]
Maximum owners prioritize buying an albino Pacman frog over a regular Pacman frog. After all, its beautifully colored skin tone and different eyes make it unique from its other species. But, albino Pacman frogs demand some extra care and maintenance. So, the beginners often ask for a perfect care sheet for albino Pacman frog care.
Hence, I’ve done some researches to know detailed information about albino Pacman frog care.
In this article, you’ll get a complete care sheet for beginners. You will know about their terrarium condition, feeding guide and regulations, and several other aspects of health care.
So, let’s check it out without any further ado.
Why Do Albino Pacman Frogs Need Special Care?
While choosing an albino Pacman frog to buy, you must be mesmerized by seeing several colorful ones. For example- plain yellow-colored regular albino Pacman frogs and apricot albino Pacman frogs, strawberry pineapple albino Pacman frogs with a pink tone, etc.
Besides, you’ll notice that the blood vessels are visible in their eyes. As a result, their eyes look red.
All of these special features of albino Pacman frogs are due to the lack of pigmentation. The muscles, nerves, etc of the eyes, ears, and skin aren’t entirely developed, for this lacking. Along with these, these frogs tend to face several health issues. That’s why albino Pacman frogs need special care.
Hence, they require special facilities, compatible habitats with proper conditions, etc. If you fail to take special care of an albino Pacman frog, this frog won’t survive.
Care Sheet For Beginners: How To Take Care Of Albino Pacman Frogs?
Albino Pacman frogs have almost a similar habitat setup as regular Pacman frogs. But, certain conditions and requirements are pretty different. So, let’s continue our exploration.
Housing
In the case of a terrarium choice, the albino Pacman frog doesn’t require any exception. Just like other regular Pacman frogs, albino Pacman frogs remain inactive and idle all the time. Hence, they do not require much space.
Usually, the experienced owners suggest buying a terrarium of 10 gallon capacity for an adult albino Pacman frog. Besides, choosing a glass terrarium with a with-fitting tight lid will be a perfect choice if you live in a cold country. Otherwise, it’ll become hard to heat up in case the terrarium is of plastic materials.
Moreover, choose a lid for your albino Pacman frog terrarium wisely. The very first condition is that the cover or lid has to be fitted over the terrarium. Secondly, you should buy a screened tank lid. Then, the air of the terrarium will not become too stagnant.
Before buying a terrarium, make sure that it has good accessibility and is easy to maintain. As the albino Pacman frogs are prone to infections, it’s necessary to clean the tank, water, and substrate regularly. For this, good accessibility to the terrarium is a must.
If you are a beginner and just starting with Albino pacman frogs, I’ll recommend to get a starter kit to keep your costs checked. I’ll highly recommend the Zilla Terrarium Starter Kit. With this kit, you’ll get a 10 gallon glass tank, bulb, heat mat, humidity & temperature gauge as well as odor absorbing liner. A pretty good deal in my book!
Lighting
As stated before, albino Pacman frogs lack pigmentation than regular Pacman frogs. It results in their sensitive eyes and skin. The researchers and experienced owners suggested not to add any bulb in your albino Pacman frog terrarium.
As their eyes and skin are light-sensitive, regular light in the room is perfect for them. If you want to add any light, don’t choose any daylight or white bulb. Instead of these, you can use red or black moonlight or a 25-30 watt blue part bulb. Some owners suggested using a 25-watt incandescent red bulb too.
Moreover, reptile sunlight bulbs emit UV rays which are detrimental to the albino Pacman frog’s health. The pale skin of albino Pacman frogs can not endure the rays.
Again, the ultraviolet of sun rays causes a severe negative impact on their skin because it has no such protection. A long term exposure to sunlight can cause skin cancer. Hence, you must not keep your albino Pacman frogs under direct exposure to sunlight.
Usually, the Pacman frog needs lighting for the day and night cycle. The last thing to warn about lighting is that you must not ever put your albino Pacman frogs under bright light.
Besides, you can notice their discomfort as their large pupils tend to shrink tiny. Also, bright lighting can cause blindness of albino Pacman frogs.
If the albino Pacman frog terrarium is bioactive, you can add a very low voltage LED light. Make sure that it doesn’t put any harm or negative effect on your pet frog.
Do Albino Pacman Frogs Need UVB?
Although regular Pacman frogs can endure UVB, UVB lighting causes harm to albino Pacman frogs.
The experienced owners recommended not to use any UVB/UVA in the albino Pacman frog terrarium. As the regular light of the room is enough for the albino Pacman frogs, they do not need UVB.
If you look at their natural habitat, albino Pacman frogs usually hide under the earth on the floor of the rainforests by digging. That means these frogs aren’t used to exposure to UVB rays.
Although 1%-2% exposure to UVB rays doesn’t seem to cause any harm, UVB rays over 4%-5% can cause fatal damage to their eyes and skin.
Substrate
Before choosing comfortable bedding, or substrate for your albino Pacman frog, there are several things to keep in mind.
Among lots of substrate options, choose such substrate which remains moist for most of the time. Again, the bedding must not have any sharp edge or toxic materials.
For albino Pacman frogs, you can choose substrate from the options of coconut fiber, coco husk, sphagnum moss, soil, pit/perlite mixture, tree bark, leaf litter, etc. Most importantly, the substrate has to be almost 3-4 inches deep. In other words, it should be as deep as its height.
Almost all owners of albino Pacman frogs shared their experiences where their frogs remain burrowed all day like regular Pacman frogs. These frogs come out of the substrate only at night.
Since these frogs spend the maximum time of a day burrowing in the substrate, you must keep the substrate moist or heavily damp.
Another significant thing to remember is that albino Pacman frogs have too much sensitive skin. So, you have to change their substrate regularly to avoid any risks of infections.
Again, using orchids or other tree bark or moss as substrates is pretty risky. If your albino Pacman frog eats small pieces of the substrate with food, these will cause impaction.
So, choose such substrate wisely that is hard to eat or digestible.
My Recommended Substrates:
For a moss based bedding, I recommend Zilla Moss Bedding.
For a coconut fiber based bedding, My recommendation is Zoo Med Eco Earth Coconut Fiber.
Temperature
Generally, regular Pacman frogs require 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit to survive.
In the case of Albino Pacman frogs, they do their best in the temperature of 72-74 degrees Fahrenheit. But, you should make sure that the temperature doesn’t exceed 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Since the skin of albino Pacman frogs is pale, they can’t tolerate high temperatures at all.
There are always two options to ensure the proper temperature for them. One way is to add a heat lamp to the Pacman frog terrarium. Then, another way is to add a heat lamp in the room.
So, you can go for adding heat lamp in the room if the room is too cold. Otherwise, the skin of the albino Pacman frog might not tolerate the direct heat.
If you add any heat lamp, maintain the temperature below 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep a reptile thermometer to monitor the terrarium temperature regularly.
Humidity And Water
Humidity is a significant factor to keep your albino Pacman frog healthy. Maintaining proper humidity in the terrarium is somewhat of regular work. Again, there are risks of the growth of bacteria in the substrate because of extreme humidity.
Albino Pacman frog requires a 60%-80% humidity level in the terrarium. You should try not to let the humidity drop below 65%. Again, you must ensure the ventilation of the terrarium to get rid of stagnant air.
To keep the humidity level high, you can mist twice a day for 5-10 seconds. But, excess misting can make the substrate overly wet. This can cause several bacterial or fungal infections of your albino Pacman frog.
If you live in a cold country, you may need not misting twice daily. So, keep a hygrometer to check if the humidity is too low. Then, you can mist the tank immediately.
Nevertheless, many owners suggested keeping a digital hygrometer instead of an analog hygrometer. Because an analog hygrometer seems not to show accurate humidity.
You can also keep a shallow water bowl with clean, dechlorinated water in the terrarium to promote the humidity level. Besides, make sure that the water is free of chemicals, like chlorine, ammonia, nitrate, etc. It’ll be best if you use spring water.
Again, you must change the water regularly. Albino Pacman frog loves to spend time in the water dish. Also, these frogs poop in the water dish. As a result, the water gets dirty, and it needs to be changed frequently.
Otherwise, this water will be responsible for your albino Pacman frog’s sickness.
With this Exo Terra Combometer, you can measure both temperature and humidity in digital screen. It also comes with a remote sensor as well as programmable memory setting feature!
Feeding
Albino Pacman frogs tend to suffer from various health issues due to their lack of pigmentation. Hence, as an owner, you need to ensure to fulfill their needs of nutrients. For this, a good feeding guide can help you know what to feed them, the schedule, etc.
The food list of the albino Pacman frog is pretty similar to the regular Pacman frogs. Besides, the amount or quantity of foods depends on the age of your albino Pacman frog.
Among the staple foods, you can feed crickets, nightcrawlers, locusts, dubia roaches, etc to your albino Pacman frog. Besides, you can give these frogs silkworms, earthworms, hornworms, etc as their treats. To provide a vast diet, you should also add caterpillars, grasshoppers, snails, etc. Occasionally, you can give rodents, pinkies, etc too.
Make sure that their diet is full of varieties. That will ensure to get proper nutrients. If you notice your albino Pacman frog getting obese, you should cut some foods from the diet.
Many Pacman frog owners recommended not to feed superworms to your albino Pacman frogs. Also, if your albino Pacman frog is still a baby, don’t give it mice.
However, some breeders and Pacman frog owners feed mice to their adult albino Pacman frogs regularly instead of worms. But, these mice lack calcium and some essential nutrients.
As a result, those albino Pacman frogs suffer from several calcium deficiency diseases. Hence, it’s better to feed one mice in a month to your pet.
How Often Do Albino Pacman Frogs Eat?
The feeding time and amount vary accordingly to their age.
If your albino Pacman frog is a baby, you need to feed the baby every day. Once the baby frog becomes half years old, feed them every 3 days. Usually, the experienced owners suggested feeding an adult albino Pacman frog every 2-3 days.
In the case of the baby albino Pacman frog, you can give 3-4 medium crickets at each feeding. Otherwise, an adult albino Pacman frog can eat almost 5 crickets at a time.
If your pet albino Pacman frog doesn’t eat food within 15-20 minutes, you should remove the food.
Supplements
As regular foods can’t ensure the needs of nutrients properly, dietary supplementation is a must for all Pacman frogs. Since albino Pacman frogs are prone to illness, your special concerns must not skip from their supplements too.
You should dust the food with calcium supplement at each feeding before giving them to albino Pacman frogs. Also, make sure that the calcium supplements are phosphorus-free and contain vitamin D3.
Besides, you should give your pet albino Pacman frog multivitamins once a week. Make sure that the multivitamins contain vitamin A, vitamin K, minerals, and so on.
Also, you can try to buy this multivitamin as powder forms and dust the frog food with multivitamins before feeding.
Handling: Can You Hold An Albino Pacman Frog?
An important thing that you’ve to keep in mind is that Pacman frogs aren’t the kind of pets whom you cuddle or hold often. Albino Pacman frogs aren’t any exception.
Without any emergency or solid reason, you should not hold your albino Pacman frog. Moreover, the skin of the albino Pacman frog is pretty sensitive. So, if you hold your albino Pacman frog, its skin will absorb the chemical, toxin, etc from your hand. Consequently, it can cause the death of your pet.
Albino Pacman frogs like solidarity, just like other regular Pacman frogs. Also, if you startle the frog by sudden touch or holding, it may bite you as its defense mechanism. So, it’s better to avoid human distance from albino Pacman frogs.
If you want to hand-feed or replace the frog while cleaning the terrarium, you can hold the albino Pacman frog, wearing gloves in your hands.
Common Diseases Of Albino Pacman Frogs
Lacking pigmentation makes albino Pacman frogs sensitive. On top of that, incoordination of humidity, temperature, unclean substrate, etc cause several diseases.
So, let’s take a look at the following chart about some signs of common diseases of the albino Pacman frog and their solutions.
Signs | Diseases | Solutions |
---|---|---|
Weight loss, redness, swelling, sores, bleeding from the mouth, etc. | Bacterial or fungal infection | You need to seek help from a professional veteran immediately. Make sure that the substrate is not dripping wet. Besides, change it every month. Also, keep the tank clean. |
Hard lump in the belly, no stool, loss of appetite | Impaction | Place your albino Pacman frog in a bowl of lukewarm water with honey. Then, massage the sides of its belly gently. Don’t forget to massage without wearing gloves. After a while, take your frog to another warm water bath without honey. |
Drooping jaw, brittle bones, | Metabolic Bone Disease | Dust each food item with calcium supplements with D3 and multivitamins regularly. Also, consult with a veteran. |
Drooling, lethargy, etc. | Respiratory Infections | You have to make sure that the humidity of the terrarium remains in the ideal range. |
Inactivity, weight loss, loss of appetite | Parasitic Infections | There’s no alternate to keep all the components of the terrarium clean to avoid this. Besides, take suggestions from a doctor. |
Stretching out hind legs | Toxic Out Syndrome | Place your albino Pacman frog into fresh, dechlorinated, clean water. Besides, keep the entire terrarium clean and change the substrate regularly. |
Abnormalities in skin, weakness, loss of appetite, etc. | Skin Cancer | It happens in the case of albino Pacman frogs especially. You should be concerned about their lighting. Moreover, you should consult with a veteran to take the necessary steps. |
Why Is My Albino Pacman Frog Turning Green?
After feeding your albino Pacman frog, you might notice that one side of your frog is turning green. After a while, it becomes as normal as before. This entire situation may surprise you if you don’t know its reason.
If you see your albino Pacman frog turning green, it’s completely natural and fine. It happens during their food digestion. So, you might usually notice your albino Pacman frog turn green after feeding it.
Usually, their sides or the top of their heads become green in such a situation. When their food digestion is entirely complete, their usual coloration returns again. You’ll notice that their sudden-changed green portion becomes yellow or orange again as before.
Most Popular Pacman Frog Morphs: Infographic
Want to get a printable version of this infographic? Click here! [If you want to use this infographic on your website, please link back to this post as the source!]
Final Words
You have to take good care of these frogs, and then, this beautiful, calm frog will be a good pet for the long term. Albino Pacman frogs will also accompany you for long 10-12 years as regular Pacman frogs. All they need is a little bit of extra care and concerns.
About Author
Hello, I’m Muntaseer Rahman, the owner of AcuarioPets.com. I’m passionate about aquarium pets like shrimps, snails, crabs, and crayfish. I’ve created this website to share my expertise and help you provide better care for these amazing pets.
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