Cranwelli jewel horn frog "green" - Ceratophrys cranwelli

The green pacman frog Ceratophrys cranwelli is quite close to the green-brown wild form with its dark brown spots, but its base color is a relatively pure, brilliant green. The markings are brown or, in some specimens, dark greenish brown. The Pacman frog has a truly whimsical body shape, two horns made of skin flaps, and a strikingly large mouth. Cranwell's Jewel Horn Fro g displays beautiful, intense colors. Originally, the Jewel Horned Frog comes from the South American rainforest.

Cranwell's Jewel Horn Frogs reach a body length of up to 22 cm - so they are very large frogs! The females of the Pacman frog grow much larger than the males, which remain somewhat smaller.

The green pacman frog also shows itself as a territorial loner in the terrarium, which does not tolerate conspecifics around it. Fights usually end badly, smaller conspecifics are simply eaten. Also other animals should not be placed in the terrarium with the horned frog - smaller reptiles and amphibians will be eaten, large reptiles on the other hand consider the horned frog as prey or at least stress it very much. Therefore, the green pacman frog should definitely move into a single species terrarium.

Despite the considerable size the green pacman frog can reach, it can be kept in a relatively small terrarium: 60 x 30 x 30 cm is sufficient as a minimum size for it. Pacman frogs are not fond of movement. They belong to the lurking hunters or Ansitzjägern and therefore squat actually the whole day half buried in one place and wait for prey.

The Pacman Frog is a non-swimmer and therefore only needs a shallow water dish in the terrarium. Because the pacman frog is a pure carnivore that does not nibble on plants, the terrarium can be planted rainforest style. The Jewel Horn Frog is grateful for roots and other hiding places and needs a substrate that is suitable for burrowing. An appropriately high mounded loose, absorbent substrate such as coco humus or leaf litter works well for a terrarium with the South American Jewel Horned Frog. Terrarium heating is not essential if the room temperature is appropriate. A planted rainforest terrarium for the green pacman frog will of course need appropriate lighting.

The green pacman frog is a rainforest inhabitant and therefore needs a high humidity of 70-90% in its terrarium. The temperature is 22-28 °C during the day and can drop to 20-22 degrees overnight. In winter, the frog should be sent into hibernation. This is done by lowering the temperature to 15 °C and shortening the lighting time accordingly.

Jewel horn frogs can catch and swallow amazingly large prey with their wide mouths. In the wild, adult pacman frogs will eat up to medium sized rats! Their diet includes small mammals, amphibians and reptiles, worms, insects and more. The voracious green ornamental horned frog adapts well to frozen and live foods in the terrarium. Pacman frogs like to eat crickets, grasshoppers or cockroaches, every now and then an earthworm or other worms and for a change a small frosted mouse or thawed smelt. The food for the green pacman frog should be enriched with lime powder and a vitamin supplement.
The green pacman frog will even specifically take food from the tweezers after some habituation. What exactly the individual pacman frog likes, you have to try out.

A small pacman frog up to the size of a 2 Euro piece is fed every two days, with increasing size then only every 3-4 days. Attention, jewelry horn frogs can bite. You can definitely feel their teeth, especially when the frog is already a bit bigger!

Green pacman frogs are almost impossible to breed in the hobby. The highly cannibalistic females sometimes just eat the smaller males. They are also difficult to get into a mating mood and often even need hormone treatment. To get in the mating mood, pacman frogs need a simulation of the cooler dry season in their native habitat. To do this, lower the air temperature to a maximum of 15 °C and switch the lighting to short day. When the temperatures are raised again, the lighting is switched to long day at the same time and the terrarium is additionally sprinkled more heavily. The frogs are well fed with high quality food. If, contrary to expectations, mating is successful and eggs are laid, not all obstacles have been overcome - the tadpoles are already highly cannibalistic among themselves.