Cranwelli jewel horn frog "apricot" - Ceratophrys cranwelli

The Apricot Pacman Frog Ceratophrys cranwelli has a particularly whimsical body shape and a strikingly large mouth. Its beautiful and intense coloration is unparalleled. The large frog comes from the South American rainforest. It is also known as the Cranwell's decorative horned fro g. The horned frogs get their name from the fact that they have two horn-like peaks of skin above their eyes. The name pacman frog comes from their very large mouths.

Apricot pacman frogs have an apricot to orange-red body base color and slightly lighter orange-red, brightly edged pattern spots. These decorative horned frogs can reach up to 22 cm in body length - that's very respectable for a frog! The males remain much smaller than the females.

The Apricot Pacman Frog is an aggressive and territorial loner. Within its range, Cranwell's Horned Frog will not tolerate conspecifics, and nasty fights can occur. Smaller conspecifics are simply eaten. Socialization with other terrarium animals is also not advisable because the Cranwell's Horned Frog is extremely voracious and can handle surprisingly large animals. Smaller reptiles such as geckos are on its menu, but very large reptiles can in turn severely stress the frog. Cranwell's Jewel Horn Frogs should therefore definitely be kept in a single species terrarium .

Despite its considerable final size, a single Apricot Pacman Frog can be kept in a terrarium 60 x 30 x 30 cm or larger. Pacman frogs are not motion artists and spend more or less all day in one place, half buried in the substrate, lying in wait for their prey.

The Apricot Pacman Frog cannot swim and is therefore content with a shallow bathing dish in its terrarium. The terrarium for the Jewel Horned Frog can be well planted, the carnivorous frogs do not go for the plants. The tank can be decorated with roots and other shelter. Because pacman frogs like to partially burrow to lie in wait for prey, the substrate should be high enough. A loose, absorbent substrate such as coco humus or leaf litter is optimal for keeping South American ornamental horned frogs. Additional heating is not absolutely necessary in a terrarium for ornamental horned frogs, depending on the room temperature. Appropriate lighting is only needed if the terrarium for the Pacman frog is planted appropriately.

The Pacman frog, as a typical rainforest inhabitant, needs a high humidity of 70-90%. The daytime temperature should be 22-28 °C, a night set back to 20-22 degrees is advisable. In winter, lowering the temperature to 15 °C sends the frog into hibernation, which can significantly prolong its life.

Jewel-horned frogs are perching hunters that can handle surprisingly large prey with their large mouths. However, the voracious frog can be easily acclimated to frozen foods in the terrarium. Pacman frogs eat insects such as crickets, grasshoppers or cockroaches, now and then also like worms or a small frog mouse. They will also gladly take thawed smelts. What exactly an individual pacman frog likes to eat, you have to try. Horned frogs in the wild eat reptiles, other amphibians, insects, worms and co. Adult specimens even cope with medium-sized rats. The food for the Pacman frog in the terrarium should be enriched with lime powder and a vitamin preparation.

If the pacman frog is about the size of a 2 euro piece, it needs food every two days. As the size increases, it is enough to feed the Jewel Horn Frog every 3-4 days. The  pacman frog will accept food from tweezers after some habituation. Attention, these frogs can snap, and because they have teeth, you can feel their bite quite well, especially when the animal is already bigger!

Breeding of the Pacman frog is almost impossible in the hobby because of the strong aggressiveness towards conspecifics. Often the female simply eats the smaller male. To get pacman frogs in a mating mood, a cool dry period with a maximum air temperature of 15 °C and short-day lighting is initiated in the terrarium. After some time, the temperatures are increased again, the frogs are fed with high quality food and the lighting is changed back to long day. More intensive sprinkling simulates the rainy season. Unfortunately, some pacman frogs do not get into the mood even then; they often need hormone stimulation to initiate courtship and mating. The tadpoles are highly cannibalistic among themselves.