Pacman(horned) frogs

Question
Hi, thanks for your help, I've seen that article, everyone always says dont touch reptiles/herps... but everyone does. I can use plastic disposible gloves when I hold him so I don't hurt his skin or mine... bites don't scare me... I've handled baby pacmans in the shops and am not afraid of being biten anyways. Can you really put crickets in the fridge to slow them? would they be really really slow afterwards.. I just plain hate crickets & grass hoppers lol. Would an under tank heat pad work fine for him? what about bedding and what type of cover on the tank(wire?) I hope to hear from you again soon.




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Followup To
Question -
Hello, I have taken an intrested in pacman frogs, I'd like to get an albino one as a pet but have questions first:

I want to be able to handle it for five/ten minutes a day or at lest every two days... could I do this if I am careful and don't let him get cold?

Also what temp would he need?

I know they eat al sorts of things but was wondering if I could use a diet mainly of meal/king worms with some canned bugs dangled in front of him as a diet? I am not cricket friendly... dead ones are ok thou.

I really want one but am scared of crickets... please help me.
Answer -
Hi,
thank you for your question.
Horned frogs are aggressive or at least always hungry and they will bite when handled - they will try to eat almost anything. Since they have (small) teeth, their bite can be painful. So handling a horned frog is never a good idea, if you need to move it around, use a small box and coax him into it with the feeder tongs. Apart from that, all frogs are slightly toxic which may cause an allergic reaction with you and their skin is very sensitive to soap and the oils our skin produces, so touching them often can hurt them. Apart from that, they won't get tame and handling will be just stress.

They need a temperature between 77-83°F. Horned frogs tend to get fat anyway, so a diet of mealworms and zophobas is not a good idea. Canned insects are good to have in the house in case you cannot get live bugs when the pet shop doesn't have any or something, but shouldn't be a regular part of the diet, too. They need to be fed a variety of live insects and, for adult frogs, the occasional baby mouse. You can put the insects in the fridge to make them sluggish, that way they are easier to handle.
Here's an good article on horned frogs:
http://www.anapsid.org/ornatacare.html

I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer

Answer
Hi,
I'm sorry this took a bit longer, I wasn't able to access AllExperts for some reason.
I know that many people handle their herps, but that doesn't mean that it's something the animal enjoy. They are basically wild animals and while many (by no means all species) tolerate handling, it's still means stress for most of them. Frogs have the instinct to stay in one place even when a predator is near, that's why they seem so tame.

After one or two minutes in the fridge the crickets will be in a torpor and not able to move. They warm up fairly quick, but it will last long enough that you can handle them without problems.

A heating pad that is under half the tank is fine, but I prefer mounting them on the sides of the tank because many herps will dig down to cool off and horned frogs do so, too.
For bedding, I'd use coconut fibre substrate like Forest Bedding/Eco Earth and offer some moss and leaves for the frog to hide in. They need a humidity of around 70% (relative humidity), so you will need a lid that keep the humidity in the tank. Plexiglass will work fine, but make sure that there are ventilation openings so that the subsrate won't mold. A mesh lid can be covered with saran warp - doesn't look as nice as a plexigalss lid, but works just as well.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer