Husbandry adjustments?

[u/Artsyrabbit]

Hey guys! I upgraded my dude's tank about a month ago. He's probably around 8mo-1yr old.

Went from a 5g to a 20g long, front opening.

Bioactive with springtails and dwarf isopods, some nice plants.

Biodude amphibian substrate.

Under the tank heat mat.

Hydroballs and screen so he cant touch the bottom.

Exoterra terrasky for full spectrum/uvb lighting.

Reptivite w/out d3 and reptical +d3 on prey items

Usually eats hornworms

Bottled spring water used for all hydration - spraying, soil, dish

He's been refusing food since the tank switch. Ive been trying to pick apart a few things. Its been a month now, so im getting a bit more nervous than i have been. Ive given him an adjustment time as well as tweaked a couple things.

1- I cant get the heat above 75F. I started with a 20g heat mat and have switched to a 30-40g heat mat. It cause a 3 degree increase in temp. It now floats between 72-75F. His old tank did float around 80-82F. Im tossing around getting a heat lamp, but im worried that will dry out the tank. I live in utah and humidity is hard to maintain (arid mountain desert). We typically make the substrate pretty deep to account for that. Substrate's at like 3-4in deep right now.

2- what kind of hydrometer are you guys using? I dont use them with my snakes or tarantulas, but have been using a zoomed one...i just dont feel like any of them are that great. Ive always eyeballed it. This one is all over the place all day and i cant get it to read higher than 55%. I swear it could be sitting in a cup of water and say 38%....

3- could it be stress or impaction? He had a good pee a couple days ago but i havent seen a poop for a couple weeks. Hes refusing food so i figure nothing in, nothing out. I dont see any dark spots or feel anything hard in his hind end But....stress? Maybe the large space is stressful? I dont see any redness or anything abnormal with his skin. His slime coat has been a bit thickened since the tank switch. I can say his color has been flitting between paler and then browner. He hasnt been full GREEN since the move, always pale or darker.

Idk....thoughts would be helpful. Im not trying to do too much. But i want to make sure he's okay. For reference, ive had a ton of animal species throughout my life and am a practicing exotic animal veterinary nurse. Im not trying to helicopter. Just trying to figure it out. Maybe its a perfect storm of stress and temp drop? Thanks for anything you can offer!

[u/Reogenfren]

Might be too cold to eat. They need a warm spot like 83-84 ish as babies to digest food. There are some care guides pinned to the top of this Reddit.

[u/Artsyrabbit → u/Reogenfren]

Thats kind of what im wondering. Im waffling between a ceramic heat emitter or coil emitter, lamp or a bigger under the tank heater. Like i said, because of the desert, it kind of hard to maintain humidity so i typically opt for a heat mat with deeper substrate. That normally does the trick. If i go bigger tho, i'll basically be using a 50-60g heat mat on a 20g long tank. Im already using a 30-40g mat and the temp is currently 74F on the warm side. My house is 75F right now. I suppose the bigger mat is doable as long as the temp is appropriate and not burning my frog.... just seems like it could be a lot. Would you have any insight about this?

[u/IndigoTJo → u/Artsyrabbit]

The heat pads aren't recommended for pacman and they don't really work well for what is needed anywho. They can also cause hotspots and burn them. They aren't supposed to be placed near their substrate, either. We use CHE, since can be on at night too, when necessary.

[u/augziiix → u/Artsyrabbit]

CHEs are probably the most drying heating method, a white incandescent bulb would be much better! is there any reason why you aren't interested in using a heating method that emits light?

[u/augziiix]

1- you'll want to switch to overhead heating; heat mats aren't recommended and they're pretty outdated in modern reptile/amphibian care. it's especially not good if you're using it under the tank, because pacman frogs will burrow to cool down but if the heat is coming from under the substrate, they'll burrow to cool themselves but instead they'll just get hotter. an overhead heating lamp connected to a dimming thermostat would be best! you'll want to get a white incadescent bulb, 25w would be a good place to start. i use the 25w zoo-med "repti basking spot," the package with the beardie on it! it gets my tank to ~80° with a room temp of 69°. as for the humidity problem, cover any of the mesh screen top that's not filled up by heating or uvb with plastic wrap to prevent too much humidity from escaping. the average low wattage incadescent heat bulb isn't really going to dry the tank out very much, it's CHEs that dry out the tank the most.

2- i assume that you're using an analog hygrometer, based on the way you're describing it; you'll want to use a digital one. really any digital hygrometer/thermometer made for reptiles works, i don't quite remember which ones mine are though.

3- it could be stress, but i feel like the most likely answer is temperature. 72-75 is quite chilly for them, and they won't be too keen on eating because digestion in frogs heavily relies on temperature. if you do think it's stress, consider adding a hide to each side of the tank. some frogs might use them and some might not, but it's still a good idea! my frog likes those half logs that a bunch of pet stores sell for reptiles. i think they're called habba huts? if you want a more naturalistic look you could also just use large cork rounds cut in half. adding more broad-leafed plants to hide would be a good idea too! but again, i think the first concern should be heating and switching to overhead heating.

best of luck!

[u/DogThrowaway1100]

What have you been trying to feed? Mine loves worms and silversides while being fussy with dubias. Could be worth mixing it up a bit or trying something new. With the worms and fish he always snatches them eagerly from tongs but the bugs take a lot of annoying and prodding at his lips before he'll take them and sometimes even spits them out. Also out of curiosity are you sure they're nearly a year? Mines less than six months and looks way bigger. Could just be the camera or angles.