Pacman Frogs are very popular among frog lovers. These guys have a unique look akin to their namesake from the same video game. Due to their unique look and inactive nature, their popularity has only grown among pet owners. One of the reasons people want to own them is to breed them.

But identifying the gender of Pacman frogs poses some problems. If you own a Pacman frog, knowing how to identify the gender of your Pacman frog will help you breed them along with some other issues. The method of doing so includes seeing their size, finding out whether they croak or not, noticing their skin color, etc. There are some other ways to do it as well which I will discuss below. 

Let’s take a look at how you can determine your Pacman frog’s gender and why you should do it. 

How to identify the gender of your Pacman frog

Ways to identify a Pacman Frog’s gender

Ways to identify a Pacman Frog’s gender

Determining a Pacman frog’s gender takes some patience. It’s best to wait until the frogs reach sexual maturity for identifying which frog is male and which one is female. Usually, Pacman frogs reach sexual maturity at the age of one year or 16 months, so waiting until then is recommended. You can look for signs when they are juveniles, but it would be like determining whether a Targaryen child would be good or bad since you can’t be sure.

Here are some ways to determine the sex of a Pacman Frog:

1. Their size

One of the most common and popular ways to determine a Pacman Frog’s sex is to notice its size. Female Pacman frogs are considerably larger than their male counterparts when fully grown. An adult female Pacman Frog grows to seven inches in length. On the other hand, a male Pacman Frog will not exceed 4 inches even when fully grown.

When we are on this topic, let’s make one thing very clear. Pacman Frogs are voracious eaters. They will not spare anything that comes to their huge, gaping mouth’s radius, which includes smaller Pacman Frogs. So it’s a must to keep male and female Pacman frogs separate once their gender has been determined.

2. Their Colors

Another accurate and popular method of seeing whether a Pacman Frog is male or female is to see what color they are. When it comes to male Pacman frogs, they resemble the original Pacman from the video games. Their skin becomes various shades of green, especially lime. They also have a dark patch on their chests, which is sometimes referred to as their beards.

The female frogs, on the other hand, are quite bland when it comes to their color. The skin color of the females is tan-ish. Also, they don’t have any dark patches on their chests, rather their chests are completely white. 

3. Whether they croak

The behavioral patterns of a Pacman frog also help to determine their sex. One such behavior is croaking. As you know, all frogs and toads like to croak mainly as part of their mating rituals. In the case of Pacman Frogs, it’s the males that croak. On the other hand, the female Pacman frogs don’t croak at all. 

4. Their nuptial pads

All amphibians such as toads and frogs have nuptial pads on their feet. When a Pacman frog reaches sexual maturity, you can tell that it’s a male if it has a bump or a dark spot on its forelimbs. Sometimes the color of the nuptial pads will not be dark, but you can sense them due to their bump-like texture. The females of this species, on the other hand, do not have any such bumps.

5. Texture of their skin

The color of the skins of Pacman frogs isn’t the only indicator of their sex. The skin texture also indicates which gender the frog belongs to. The male Pacman frogs have skins that are a bit rougher than their female counterparts. Also, males of this species begin to develop patches on their skins that are rough as well. So these things can denote whether a Pacman Frog is male or female. 

6. Their nose shape and throat color

The final indicators of a Pacman Frog’s gender are its nose shape and throat color. When it comes to the nose, a female Pacman frog will have one that is shaped like a triangle. On the other hand, the males’ noses are pretty flat.

The throat color is a very clear determiner of the sex of a Pacman Frog. The skin of the male Pacman frogs’ throat is loose and is in stark contrast to that of their bellies. On the other hand, the female frogs have a similar colored throat and belly. 

The necessity of learning a Pacman Frog’s gender

The necessity of learning a Pacman Frog’s gender

Now you know how to tell the male and female Pacman frogs apart. But why do you need to differentiate between them in the first place?  Here are a few reasons why:

1. To ensure proper housing

The proper housing of Pacman frogs can be discussed in two parts. First, is the size of the enclosure. It is documented that Pacman frogs are not the most active kind of frog. So usually it means that they don’t need much space to live in. But all that changes when frogs of different genders are kept in one tank. 

As I mentioned earlier, female Pacman frogs can grow to almost double the size of their male counterparts. So if a male Pacman frog and a female are kept in a tank, the female frog will need more space than the male one. If you keep a couple of female frogs in a 10-gallon tank, the competition for space will be even more. This will result in the frogs being stressed out.

The second reason has been briefly discussed above, it’s their huge appetite and tendency to eat anything they can get their mouths around. If a female frog and a male frog are kept in a tank and the female frog is twice the size of the male one, it will almost surely prey upon the male frog whenever it is hungry. Now that won’t be a pretty sight, will it?

These are a couple of reasons Pacman frogs’ genders must be known before housing them.

2. Making sure of Minimum noise

Male Pacman frogs will surely croak when they reach sexual maturity, that’s a given. Yes, they don’t croak relentlessly like some other frogs, but they do croak nevertheless. This may create some disturbance for you especially if their tank is near or in your bedroom. So knowing the Pacman frog’s gender is a must if you want a sound and uninterrupted sleep.

3. Breeding the frogs

One of the most obvious reasons for knowing a Pacman Frog’s gender is when you need to breed them. Pet frogs are bred all over the world. This not only lowers their price but also protects some rare species. Pacman frogs are no exception to this.

But breeding a frog, or any animal for that matter requires that the animal’s gender is known beforehand. You can’t have two Pacman frogs of the same gender in a tank and expect them to come out with a brood of little frogs. Yes, some frogs can change sex in a single-sex environment to reproduce, but Pacman frogs can’t do that. 

Final words

Although seeming like a trivial matter at first, knowing the gender of Pacman frogs is a big issue. You have to know the right way of identifying the gender of your Pacman Frog for various reasons including the frogs’ housing and breeding. The sex of a Pacman frog can be determined by seeing the color and texture of their skins, their sizes, and their behavioral patterns among other methods. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *