
At the same time, it is the males who get spots on their finger pads, and who have spotted chests. That’s a big frog! The males, though, tend to grow to just half the size of the females.
#Green pacman frog full#
The females of this voracious frog species can grow up to a full 8 inches in length. In an optimized environment, with the right conditions and supplies, they have been known to live up to 15 years! In the wild, however, they usually live just 1 to 4 years. How long do pacman frogs live?Ĭaptive pacman frogs typically live 6 to 10 years. Like I said previously, it is the pacman frog’s appearance which lends it its common name. They are typically brightly colored on top, with a cream underbelly, lightly speckled with auburn. Their bodies are very stout and bottom heavy, and their mouths open very wide when they eat. Their wide, bulbous bodies are topped off with two bulging, cherry-like eyeballs, which look like they could be stuck on with glue. In fact, there are at least 18 popular color morphs within the pacman species, ranging from strawberry, through tomato, yellow-orange, mint green, all the way to a colorless albino. Pacman frogs vary in color from mature green to dazzling orange, with all the hues in between. But then again, the name is slightly misleading. Pacmans aren’t particularly social, or snuggly. Some pacman frog owners report frequent positive handling, but these testimonies are fairly few and far between.

One important thing to note early on, however, is that if you are looking for a frog to handle on a regular basis, or perhaps to snuggle up on the sofa with, this is not the frog for you. Its convivial nature, delightfully cute exterior and docile temperament mean that it sits firmly on the leaderboard for best pet frog.

Pet owners all over the United States are waking up to the humble pacman frog. They are more properly known as South American horned frogs, and more scientifically known as Ceratophrys (but Pacman frog is easier to remember, and probably more fun to say). What is the scientific name for Pacman frog? ‘Pacman frog’ is something of a nickname. While the pacman frog isn’t quite as yellow as the Pac-Man (and real life pacman frogs don’t eat aliens, either), the resemblance is totally there especially while eating.

So why do we call them pacman frogs? Well, you guessed it: it’s a reference to the popular arcade game character, whose round yellow head opens to a 45 degree angle on one side. They’re all closely related, but actually different frogs – they vary in color, pattern, and a little bit in shape and size. What is a Pacman Frog? The common name “Pac-Man frog” actually refers to a collection of eight species under the Ceratophrys genus.
