Cranwelli jewel horn frog "coffee" - Ceratophrys cranwelli

The Coffee Pacman frog Ceratophrys cranwelli is notable for its whimsical body shape and strikingly large mouth, which explains its name. The other name,"Cranwell's Jewel Horn Frog," refers to the two peaks of skin above the eyes and the beautiful, intense colors displayed by this large frog from the South American rain forest....

Coffee Pacman frogs display all coffee colors from latte to "black, no sugar." On a light brown ground, these beautiful horned frogs have dark brown to almost black, light edged pattern spots. Cranwell's Jewel Horned Frogs can reach a body length of up to 22 cm - a very decent size for a frog! Females grow significantly larger than males.

The Coffee Pacman frog is a territorial loner. The frog does not tolerate any conspecifics in its area and can beat them up badly. Socializing with other animals in the terrarium is also not a good idea. The Jewel Horn Frog is extremely voracious and can handle surprisingly large animals.  Smaller reptiles such as geckos, for example, will be eaten sooner or later, and large reptiles can severely stress the frog. Jewel horn frogs are therefore definitely a case for a single species terrarium.

Despite its size, a single Coffee Pacman frog can live in a surprisingly small terrarium: 60 x 30 x 30 cm is sufficient as a minimum size, because pacman frogs are not motion artists. The large colorful frogs are lurker hunters and actually sit in one spot all day waiting for prey.

The pacman frog does not swim, so a shallow water dish in the terrarium is sufficient. The terrarium for the carnivorous ornamental horned frog can be well planted, the frogs do not go to the plants. Roots and other hiding places will suit the frog. Pacman frogs like to partially burrow into the substrate to lie in wait for their prey in a camouflaged manner. Therefore, the substrate should be piled high enough. A loose, absorbent substrate such as coco humus or leaf litter works well in the terrarium for the South American ornamental horned frog. Heating is not essential in the terrarium and lighting is only needed if the terrarium is planted for the Coffee Pacman Frog.

As a rainforest dweller, the Pacman Frog depends on a high humidity of 70-90%. The temperature should be 22-28 °C during the day and may drop to 20-22 °C overnight. In winter, the temperature is lowered to 15 °C and the lighting time is shortened to allow the frog to hibernate.

Jewel-horned frogs, as perching hunters, can eat surprisingly large prey with their large mouths. In the wild, adult pacman frogs can even handle medium-sized rats! Furthermore, they also eat other small vertebrates, amphinians and reptiles, insects, worms and more. The voracious frog is easy to get frost food in the terrarium. Pacman frogs also like to eat crickets, grasshoppers or cockroaches, occasionally worms or even a small frosted mouse or thawed smelt. You can even feed the Coffee Pacman frog specifically with tweezers after some habituation. What exactly this individual pacman frog eats, you have to try out. It makes sense to enrich the food animals for the Pacman frog in the terrarium with lime powder and a vitamin preparation.

If the Pacman frog has reached about the size of a 2 Euro piece, it should be fed every two days. When the frog grows larger, it is enough to give the Jewel Horn Frog food every 3-4 days. The Coffee Pacman frog will even eat its food from the tweezers after some habituation. Attention, Coffee Pacman Frogs will sometimes snap at your hand, and you can feel the teeth quite well, especially when the animal is already a bit bigger!

Coffee Pacman frogs are very difficult to breed. Often the frogs even need hormone treatment, because they can't get into mating mood any other way. Because they are so aggressive within the species, it can still happen that the larger female simply eats the smaller male. Pacman frogs, in order to get into mating mood, also need the simulation of a cooler dry period with a maximum of 15 °C air temperature and short day lighting in the terrarium. After some time, the temperatures are raised again, the lighting is switched to long day, the terrarium is sprinkled extensively and the frogs are well fed with high quality food. If the mating is successful, the tadpoles show strong cannibalism among each other.