How To Find Out The Age Of Your Pacman Frog?
For every pet owner, it’s absolutely necessary to know the age of their pet. It is closely associated with their care, internal physiology, size, metabolism, diet, and reproduction. Knowing the age of your Pacman frog will help you to choose better and appropriate options that will be favorable for your frogs. On the contrary, not knowing the age of your frog can prove to be harmful.
You can find out the age of your pacman frog by its physical attributes. Some physical characteristics appear at a certain age while some disappear. The different stages of growth and onset of the reproductive period also help to find out the age of Pacman frogs.
The article below might help you to find out the age of your Pacman frog.
What Are The Methods Available?
Finding out the age of your Pacman frog is never an easy task. You need to observe your frog closely to know how old it is. But some external and behavioral characteristics of Pacman frogs appear at a certain age, which helps their owners to determine their age. Let’s point out some of these methods:
- The growth and size of your Pacman Frog.
- The onset of Reproduction.
- Croaking.
- Dietary preference.
- Behavior.
- Special extrinsic features.
- Phalangeal Skelelotochronology.
Observe The Size Of Your Pacman Frog
One of the easiest ways of determining the age of a frog is by observing its growth and size. But this might be a very tough method. There are a lot of factors that affect the normal growth of Pacman frogs. So the age to growth ratio is never a variable figure.
Aside from this, there are a lot of species of Pacman frogs available on our planet. These species of Pacman frogs differ in size and growth. Pacific horned frogs can get only up to 2-2.5 inches, whereas Brazilian Horned frogs can grow as big as 10 inches.
If given the right care and optimum environments, a Pacman frog will reach its maximum size by the end of its first year.
Again, the answer differs from species to species, even from individual to individual. Some Pacman frogs may reach their fullest size within the first six months.
During the age of 4 months to 12 months, observe the size of your Pacman frog. It’s the period where it reaches its full growth. A Brazilian horned frog will grow from 2.5 inches to 10 inches. So expect your frog to grow more than half an inch a month.
You must know the age of your Pacman frog while buying it from the pet stores. Measure its size and make a chart. If you don’t know the age from the beginning, there’s nothing to worry about. Keep updating the chart until your frog stops growing.
Now calculate the age of your frog from the end. It’ll most likely stop growing at the age of 6 months or 12 months depending on the species. Do some research on the growth rate of different species of Pacman frogs.
Your Pacman frog might grow slower than usual. It happens in most cases. The frog growth rate is closely associated with its diet, environment, tank setup, and mental health. So this method may not be a one hundred percent dependable one, but yet, it works.
The Onset Of Pacman Frog’s Reproduction Helps To Know Its Age
It’s another popular method of knowing the age of your Pacman frog. Frogs appear with completely different physical and behavioral characteristics during mating seasons. They start calling their female mates loudly to attract them.
Depending on the weather and your region, your Pacman frog will start mating and spawning at the age of Two or Three. It depends on the species you own.
So, closely observe the behavior of your frog around other female or male frogs. They usually spawn in the rainy seasons, from February to March.
Pacman Frog Croaking Is A Clear Indication Of Age
Croaking is a special kind of verbal communication in frogs. Male Pacman frogs croak for many reasons. So, this special feature will help you to find out the age of your Pacman frogs.
Male Pacman Frogs start croaking at the age of Four to Six months. It’s important to know the fact that, female and baby Pacman frogs do not croak.
Your frog will start croaking during the rainy seasons, especially before and after thunderstorms. They will croak loudly if given the right stimulations. The sounds of vacuum cleaners, blow dryers and dog barking will stimulate your frogs to croak.
Dietary Preference Will Help You To Know Your Frog’s Age
Frogs prefer different types of diet at different ages. Frog aged less than four months prefer a different diet than that of a 6-12 months aged frog.
The first group prefers smaller insects and less quantity. Once a tadpole is big enough, it’ll start eating. Baby frogs aged below four months will eat:
- Wingless fruit flies.
- Pinhead crickets.
- Flies.
- Spiders.
- Springtails.
- Small worms.
Frogs aged more than six months eat a large variety of insects. They can literally eat everything below their size, even their tank mates! They usually eat:
- Large Crickets.
- Fruit flies.
- Mealworms & Waxworms.
- Dubia roaches.
- Brine shrimps
- Feeder fish.
- Mice.
This difference in diet will help you to determine which age group your frog belongs to.
Behaviors Of Pacman Frogs At Different Ages
Pacman frogs are aggressive in nature. They like to hunt for their food. And do not interact quite well with other frogs or humans.
Young, juvenile Pacman frogs are physically more active than aged Pacman frogs. They like to climb, leap more frequently. But they are less aggressive during feeding insects. They are more afraid and take more time before going for their food.
Aged Pacman frogs are a bit calm and less active. They prefer darker places to hide and do not show up frequently. But they are so aggressive while eating. They hunt down those insects without giving it a second thought.
Special Physical Appearances
Frogs show up special physical features at a certain age. Deep observation of these features will help you determine the age of your Pacman frog.
Nuptial buds are one of those special features. It’s widely known as a thumb pad. It’s a special feature that appears before mating season. It’s only present in male frogs. It generally appears at the age of 7 months or more.
Importance Of Knowing The Age Of Your Frog
To give your frogs proper care and environment you must know the age of your frogs. Just like us, humans, frogs need different types of care at different ages.
A young, juvenile frog needs more care and is more prone to diseases and dangers. They require a different kind of tank setup. Their diet also differs from the aged group.
Older Pacman frogs require:
- More food, water, and light
- Warmer environment
- They should be fed at least two major meals a day
- More energy and proteins to survive. Their diet should include various types of insects.
Conclusion
The age of your Pacman frog is quite a tricky thing to find out. But it holds enormous significance, like the diet, care and other physical activities are closely related to it. So if you are still ignorant of your Pacman frog’s age, apply every method mentioned above, to find out the age of your Pacman frog. Or else, your ignorance may cause the life of your Pacman frog.
Knowing the age of your frog will facilitate the growth of it, help it to have a healthy life, keep it in a proper environment and keep your frog happy.
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.
Disclaimer
This site is owned and operated by Muntaseer Rahman. AcuarioPets.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site also participates in other affiliate programs and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies.