What to do with a "sleeping" pacman?

[diabolique]

Hi people,

due to Eyespy's reccommendations in regards to substrate on my last post I elected to change my pacmans frog substrate to a mixture of soil (80%) and Exoterra's "Jungle Earth" (20%) which is soil and woodchips. After my frog figured out what had happened he went and buried himself in the substrate. That was in early September.

I haven't seen him since.

Once a week I gently disturb the earth over top of him just to check and see if he is alive, and when I do this he starts making loud "growling?" noises. So then I cover him back up and and he stops and then we go throught the same thing the following week.

The tank that he is in does have a water bowl which i am diligently cleaning and keeping fresh water in even though he hasn't been using it for over a month. It also has an undertank heater on one half of the tank, (which he is now nestled up close to).

I have been watering the substrate as well, not soaking it but moistening it. Is this the proper course of action? or should I let the substrate dry out? I do not know how to care for him during this period of time.

I think he has eaten like 4 earthworms in the last 2 months total. Before he went into his little "sleep" I was offering him food and he would not eat. And now obviously he is not eating either. Oh I guess I should probably mention that he is approximately 3 years old, and I am assuming a male otherwise he would be bigger.

Is this normal behavior? How do I take care of him at this point?

Thanks in advance for your responses

d

[eyespy]

It's very normal behavior, so just let him decide when brumation season is over and let nature take its course. The substrate watering is a good idea. Eventually the "right" combination of temp and humidity will give your frog the signal that spring has arrived. When that happens, he'll want to soak off the hardened mucus coating and then probably eat it, so keep a soaking dish on hand as you've been doing, just in case he wakes up when you're not there to see it.

Frogs that brumate tend to live significantly longer than those who stay awake most of the year, so brumation is a good thing!

[foman]

another way to tell sex of a pac frog is the males have black spots under their chin, and males will croke females don't.