What Do Pacman Frogs Like To Eat?

Last Updated on May 26, 2021 by cmoarz

PacMan frog is a generic term given to the horned frog, a large terrestrial frog from South America. They are called horned frogs because of the horn-like features over their eyes. The “PacMan” nickname was given due to their ferocious appetite and largemouth which resembles that of pacman.

What do pacman frogs eat?

In order to feed that ferocious appetite, you need to know what they eat. The wild diet of these frogs is composed mainly by ants, termites, beetles, and other invertebrates but will also include small vertebrates such as lizards or snakes that are unfortunate enough to bump into one.

This is generally what a wild Pacman frog would eat in their natural habitats of South America.

However, in captivity, they are known to eat everything from live insects and worms to dead mice in larger species.

This is not an exhaustive list, but some of the most common things you can feed a Pacman frog in captivity are:

Insect protein

When choosing an insect to feed your pacman frog, You should remember to match the insect with the size of the frog. Smaller pacman frogs will eat smaller insects and vice versa.

This can range from ants, feeder crickets of various types and sizes, mealworms, Dubai cockroaches, superworms, earthworms, etc. You want to be sure any insect you feed your frog was bred for the purpose of being a feeder insect, otherwise, you run the risk of infecting your frog with the parasites that are often inhabiting those insects.

Pacman frogs prefer their insects to be raw, although they may eat dead insects, it’s not preferred and you should stick to live feeders only aside from small exotic snacks.

Larger proteins

Adult pacman frogs are usually large enough to eat larger proteins. These frogs will gladly eat mice, small birds, fish, etc.

While you won’t find many owners feeding their pacman birds, You will often find them being fed mice and fish. The same rules apply as insects, match the prey to the frog’s size and feed accordingly. They prefer live animals and those animals should be raised as feeders to avoid parasites. In the case of frozen pinkies, the frogs love them and don’t necessarily have to be alive.

Popular choices for fish include guppies, goldfish, and other small feeder fish livebearers of the appropriate size.

If Pacman frogs are not fed an appropriate amount of food, they may resort to cannibalism.