Cranwelli Jewel Horn Frog "strawberry" - Ceratophrys cranwelli

The colors of the Strawberry Pacman Frog Ceratophrys cranwelli "Strawberry" are reminiscent of the delicious little fruit: The base color is reddish, and the reddish to brownish markings are reminiscent of strawberry seeds. However, the Strawberry Pacman Frog not only has an interesting, highly attractive color, but also an unusual body shape with a giant mouth and funny skin flaps above the eyes that look like horns. The wild form of the Cranwell's Jewel Horned Frog, which grows to an impressive size, comes from the South American rainforest.

Female Strawberry Jewel Horned Frogs can reach a total length of up to 22 inches, while males remain slightly smaller but still grow to an impressive size.

The Strawberry Pacman Frog is a loner that is incompatible with conspecifics and will not want to share its terrarium with other terrarium animals in the long run. Smaller terrarium mates are often simply eaten, while the Pacman Frog sometimes fights fiercely with mates of approximately the same size. Larger terrarium animals such as large reptiles, on the other hand, will eat the Strawberry Horned Frog or stress it greatly. Therefore, the Strawberry Horned Frog is always kept singly in the species terrarium.

The very calm Strawberry Pacmanfrog is a lurking or sitting hunter, which is not very eager to move and can therefore be kept in a terrarium with the dimensions from 60 x 30 x 30 cm despite its size. The really chill Strawberry Pacman frogs usually sit partially burrowed more or less motionless in one spot waiting for prey to pass by.

As a non-swimmer, the Strawberry Pacman frog only needs a bathing opportunity in a shallow bowl of water. Because the large frog is strictly a carnivore, the Strawberry Horned Frog can be kept in a nicely planted rainforest terrarium. The Strawberry Jewel Horned Frog loves roots and other hiding places, which it uses as shelters. The substrate in the terrarium should be absorbent and burrow-friendly rather loose. In addition, the layer must be high enough so that the frog can dig in well - coco humus or leaf litter are suitable except well. Terrarium heating is not necessary for the Jewel Horned Frog if the room where the terrarium is located is warm enough. Rainforest terrarium lighting for a Strawberry Jewel Horned Frog is basically based on the requirements of the plants maintained in it.

The Strawberry Pacman Frog needs a high humidity of 70-90% in its terrarium, a daytime temperature of 22-28 °C and a nighttime temperature of 20-22 degrees. In winter, it is necessary to allow the Strawberry Jewel Horn Frog to hibernate. To do this, lower the terrarium temperature to 15 °C, change the lighting to short day and sprinkle much less.

Wild South American Jewel Horn Frogs feed on small vertebrates such as small mammals, amphibians and reptiles, but also worms, ants and other insects depending on the size of the frog. Their wide mouths can accommodate surprisingly large prey; adult pacman frogs can even eat medium-sized rats! The menu of the frogs in the terrarium includes frozen food or live food: crickets, grasshoppers or cockroaches, earthworms, other worms, but also small frost mice or thawed smelts for variety. After some habituation, the large-mouthed Strawberry Pacman frog will even take its food from tweezers. Pacman frogs have different food preferences, what exactly this frog likes you just have to try. It is very useful to prepare food for the Strawberry Pacman Frog with lime powder and a vitamin preparation.

While the Strawberry Pacman Frog is still small, it is fed every other day until it has grown to about the size of a 2 Euro piece. After that, there will only be something to bite every 3-4 days. Attention, jewel horn frogs can be biting. Especially the teeth of the bigger frogs can be felt quite well on the finger!

Strawberry Pacman frogs are not so easy to breed. The partners should be about the same size, because much smaller frogs like to be eaten by their cannibalistic counterpart. Cranwell's jewel horn frogs enter mating season after the dry season. To do this, allow them to hibernate at 15°C terrarium temperature, slightly drier conditions, and short-day lighting. Then switch back to long day, raise the temperatures again and water more intensively. The feeding of the frogs is additionally made very rich. Some specimens, however, even then do not get into the mood, they then need hormone treatment. The tadpoles of the strawberry ornamental horned frog are strongly cannibalistic among themselves, this should be taken into account during rearing.