Cranwelli jewel horn frog "pikachu" - Ceratophrys cranwelli

The colors of the pacman frog Ceratophrys cranwelli "Picachu" remind of the cute Pokemon Pikachu. It is intensely yellow with reddish to brownish markings. However, the Picachu Pacman Frog not only impresses with its interesting color, but also with its unusual body shape: the mouth of Cranwell's Jewel Horned Frog from the South American rainforest is impressively large, and it also has two interesting horns made of skin flaps above its eyes.

Female Cranwell's ornamental horned frogs can grow up to 22 inches long. Males remain slightly smaller than females, but are still impressively large.

The Picachu Pacman Frog is a territorial loner and will not want to share its terrarium with any of its conspecifics in the long run. Smaller mates are often simply eaten, while it sometimes fights with conspecifics of about the same size, which do not end well for at least one of them - the Picachu Jewel Horn Frog is therefore kept individually in the species terrarium. Socialization with other terrarium animals should also be avoided - Cranwell's Jewel Horned Frog is known to simply eat smaller reptiles and amphibians. Larger reptiles, on the other hand, would often perceive it as prey on their part, or at least stress the frog severely.

The Picachu Pacman Frog is a rather quiet fellow as a lurker or hunter in wait, and despite its size, it is happy in a terrarium with dimensions starting at 60 x 30 x 30 cm. The very chilled Picachu Pacman Frogs like to sit partially burrowed in a spot waiting for prey.

The Picachu Pacman Frog is a non-swimmer and therefore only needs a bathing opportunity. A shallow water dish will suffice for him for this purpose. As a pure carnivore, the Picachu Pacman Frog can be kept in a rainforest planted terrarium. The Picachu Jewel Horn Frog really likes roots and other hiding places as shelters. The substrate in the terrarium for the colorful ornamental horned frog needs to be absorbent and rather loose. It should be high enough so that the frog can burrow well - coco humus or leaf litter are ideal. A terrarium heater is not absolutely necessary for the ornamental horned frog if the room is warm enough. Lighting in the rainforest terrarium for a Picachu Jewel Horned Frog should generally be based on the needs of the plants.

The Picachu Pacman Frog depends on a high humidity of 70-90% in the terrarium. It needs a day temperature of 22-28 °C and a night temperature of 20-22 degrees. In winter, the Picachu Jewel Horn Frog is sent into hibernation. To do this, lower the terrarium temperature to 15 °C, change the lighting to short-day lighting, and water less.

South American ornamental horned frogs in natural rainforests eat small vertebrates such as small mammals, amphibians and reptiles and, depending on the size of the frog, worms, ants and other crawling insects. The wide mouth can accommodate surprisingly large prey; adult pacman frogs can handle even medium-sized rats! The menu of the large-mouthed frogs in the terrarium includes frozen food or live food: crickets, grasshoppers or cockroaches, earthworms or other worms, small frost mice or sometimes thawed smelts. After some habituation, the Picachu Pacman Frog can even take food from tweezers. Pacman frogs often have quite different food preferences in the terrarium, you have to try it out. It is always a good idea to enhance the food for the Picachu Pacman Frog with lime powder and a vitamin supplement.

A small Picachu Pacman Frog should be fed every two days until it reaches about the size of a 2 Euro piece, then only every 3-4 days. Attention, ornamental horn frogs can bite. Especially the teeth of the larger frogs can be felt quite well on the finger!

 Picachu pacman frogs are a bit more difficult to breed. The partners should be about the same size, otherwise it can happen that the cannibalistic female simply eats the smaller male. Cranwell's Jewel Horned Frogs do not get into the mating mood until they have gone through a seasonal simulation of the cooler dry season in the habitat. To do this, they require hibernation at 15 °C terrarium temperature, short-day lighting, and less humid conditions. However, some specimens do not get into the mood even then, but require additional hormone treatment. To initiate the mating season, the onset of the rainy season is simulated after hibernation: The frogs are fed richly, the temperature in the terrarium is gradually increased, the lighting is changed to long day and the terrarium is again more heavily sprinkled. The tadpoles of the Cranwell's decorative horned frog are highly cannibalistic among themselves.