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Chacoan Horned Frog (Pacman Frog) (Pikachu)
Ceratophrys cranwelli "Pikachu"
The distinctive Pikachu morph. A spectacular, solid bright-yellow variant of the Chacoan Horned Frog that is extremely popular in the terrarium hobby.
Class:Amphibia
Order:Anura
Family:Ceratophryidae
Subfamily:Ceratophryinae
Genus:Ceratophrys
Species:Ceratophrys cranwelli "Pikachu"
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
60 - 80 %
Day temperature
24 - 29 °C
Night temperature
20 - 26 °C
UVB
None - Low
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Native to the semi-arid Gran Chaco region of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Brazil. Unlike rainforest frogs, they inhabit dry savannas and scrublands, spending dry seasons buried underground in a cocoon of dead skin cells to prevent dehydration.
Taxonomy and Genetics: A member of the Ceratophryidae family, popular as the Pacman Frog due to its round body and massive mouth. The 'Pikachu' morph is selectively bred for its intense, solid bright-yellow coloration, which mimics the famous cartoon character. It reaches up to 15 cm in length.
Behavior and Habits: A sedentary, burrowing ambush predator. They spend almost their entire life buried in the substrate, waiting for prey to pass. They do not jump or climb, but crawl slowly. Males emit a loud, bark-like mating call during seasonal rains.
Morphology: Females are much larger, rounder, and heavier than males. Males are smaller, develop dark coloration on their throats, and have nuptial pads on their thumbs during the breeding season.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: Requires a horizontal terrestrial enclosure (minimum 45x45x30 cm). Provide a deep (10-15 cm) substrate of damp coconut fiber or peat moss to allow burrowing. Do not include climbing branches or rocks. A very shallow water dish is required, as they are poor swimmers.
Lighting and Heating: Requires warm temperatures between 26 and 28°C during the day. Do not use under-tank heating mats, as they will overheat the frog; place heating mats on the side of the terrarium. Provide low-intensity lighting with a 5% UVB source.
Humidity and Hydration: Maintain moderate humidity levels between 60% and 70%. Avoid waterlogged, muddy substrate, which fosters bacterial skin infections. Mist the enclosure daily with declorinated water, ensuring good ventilation to keep the air fresh.
Feeding and Supplementation: Highly voracious. Feed on crickets, roaches, earthworms, and occasional feeder fish or mice. To prevent impaction from swallowing substrate, feed them using tongs. Dust prey with calcium and vitamin D3 supplements three times a week.
Compatibility: Strictly solitary and cannibalistic. They will consume any tankmates, including other Pacman frogs of similar size. They must always be housed individually.
Health and Common Diseases: Prone to toxicosis and red leg syndrome from dirty substrate; change the soil regularly. Avoid handling to prevent damaging their sensitive skin, and beware of their strong bite, as they have sharp odontoid projections in their jaws.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Native to the semi-arid Gran Chaco region of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Brazil. Unlike rainforest frogs, they inhabit dry savannas and scrublands, spending dry seasons buried underground in a cocoon of dead skin cells to prevent dehydration.
Origin
Selective breeding and cultivarsExtra-Amazon South AmericaNorth AmericaCosmopolitan or introduced
Amphibian profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 15.8 cm
- Lifestyle/Microhabitat
- No verified data available
- Activity cycle
- No verified data available
- Sociality
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Toxicity
- No verified data available
- Life stage
- No verified data available
- Handling tolerance
- No verified data available
- Brumation
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
The catalog's scalar value is 15.8 cm. The AmphiBIO v1 source reports a maximum adult measurement of 15.8 cm for this species, recorded as snout–vent length (SVL). These figures are not interchangeable: the first is the profile's editorial reference, whereas the second is a published maximum under a specific measurement convention; differences among sources can reflect sex, population, life stage and measuring method.
Image gallery
Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.
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