Hello all, i am trying to get my cham, a one year old Nosy Be panther (Female) to start to eat out of a cup. she is having trouble catching her food lately and i think that if her food is stuck in a cup she will have a easier of a time to catch her food. I already took her to the doctor about her trouble catching food, but all he said is that she might have a nerve disorder and hopefully it will fix itself. He still gave her a shot of vitimin E to help the nerve stimulation. When she tries to get her food she misses by as much as an inch! this is very frustrating for the both of us! But if anyone knows how to introduce a cham to a feeder cup it would be very appreciated.

Cup feeding sometimes requires a little experimenting.

I would be worried about your chameleon consistently missing its food. Did your veterinarian do any tests? You may want to post some details on your setup and husbandry methods. There are different conditions that can cause this, most of which are above my understanding. However, one common cause is MBD. The little bone that a chameleon uses when shooting its tongue can be affected by a calcium imbalance.

Ya, i took her to a vet and he messed around with her tongue and her eye. He has had a lot of chameleon experiance before, he owned a vailed. He manually pushed out her tongue from her mouth and noted that it twisted to the right, and that her right eye has limited movement. This led him to believe that she is having trouble sending out nueron signals to the right side of her head. Like i said in the other post he gave her a shot of vitamins to help. That was about a week ago and there has been no noticable difference. I have always given her supplements. I use "Zoo Meds Reptivite" Should i change the vitamins that i ues?

Also do you have any advice how to introduce cup feeding?

She is currently in a mesh cage (48*36*24), or so, with stable humidity and temp.,she is a nosy be panther cham about one year old. Though i built a new cage for her, that is somewhat larger which is why i really want to start to cup feed. the new cage is about 5' tall x 3' x 3'. any help would be appreciated, right now the cup is in the lower half of the cage and she hasn't even given it a sedcond glance...

Brad, MBD could cause this, but wouldn't it also show in the chams movement. If the cham is moving fine and it's just missing her food, it's most likley do to something else. The doctor may have been right, i am no expert though. Best of luck to you and your cham!

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In the past, I have had to experiment with cup locations. A location near a favorite spot usually seems to work. Adding multiple cups until your chameleon catches on might help as well. Chameleon News describes an option: Quick Feeder for tough customers.

cool that sounds good, i will try to keep on moving it around untill it works.

hey WestCoast what is MBD, i have heard people talk about it, but i dont know what it really is, could someone please explain it to me, in as much detail as possible, thanks

MBD is Metabolic Bone Diseas. It is usually a calcium defcientcy. During growth (Rapid Especially) The calcium intake can not keep up with the bone growth. Bones get weak to the point that they are rubbery or even break. Bone density is really low. It can also lead to organ and tissue issues. Most of the problem with MBD is improper (if at all) suplimentation and lighting.

MBD can be avoided by Providing, UVB light, and proper suplimenting and gutload. You also need to control the growth of your cham. Not giving it every feeder it wants in one sitting. Give it enough that you are still encouraging growth, but not gourging your cham.

MBD can also develop in adults, but it isnt over night. It is a disease that happens over time. Thats why suplimentation and light are a key in keeping these chams (and other herps) healthy.

Frank

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1.0 Chamaeleo calyptratus

Life is a chameleon, who's color is fit argument for fools.

thanks for the info frank, but how would MBD be linked to a cham missing its food?

The way the tounge works is that it is for lack beter terms Springloaded (not really a spring, but just an example). The tounge muscle is pushed back on a bone in the head and then released. If this bone is deteriated or is flexible from MBD then the "Allignment(if you will)" will be off. The cham thinks it is shooting at the feeder, but the accuracy is off due to the bone being weak or disformed.

Frank

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1.0 Chamaeleo calyptratus

Life is a chameleon, who's color is fit argument for fools.

that sounds very possible, are there many visual signs of MBD? she looks very healthy. Other then the fact that she has so much trouble getting her food